What Karamo Brown of Queer Eye Can’t Live Without

My favorite cologne in the world. It’s masculine with a little bit of sweetness to it. I’ve been using it for three years, and any time I walk in a room, everyone — any man or any woman — will say, “What is that smell?” I think it’s especially important for men to find a fragrance that works with their body chemistry. My boyfriend was actually using another Dolce & Gabbana, I think it was the One or the regular Pour Homme, and I tried it and liked it, but it didn’t quite work on me. So I actually went into the store and tried a few versions until I found exactly what I needed.

I own about 70 L.A. Dodgers snapbacks in different colors. I’m a big sports fan, and they’re one of the things you can use to feel cool and sexy and on trend and shade your head from the sun. I have a bald head, so it keeps me from getting sunburned. I actually alternate between the red with white letters and the navy with white letters. Oh, and I really hope people don’t keep the stickers on the brim anymore. Please tell everyone to stop doing that. That was cool in 2002 maybe. Now in 2018, to still have the stickers on your hat is out of order.

Bomber jackets for me are the new blazers. They’re something I can wear with suit pants or slacks — or I can go really urban with it. I think as men, we don’t have the little black dress that women do to go from day to nighttime, but the bomber can be the LBD for men. It helps elevate even the most simple all-black outfit or dress up a T-shirt. PLUS, I’m always cold. I don’t know if you know this, but it was 100 degrees while we were filming the show (summer in Georgia), but I wore a bomber at all times because I’m always cold. Bombers are really light, almost like windbreakers, so it was fine.

Editor’s note: Karamo couldn’t say who makes all of his bomber jackets, but with some Google Images searching, we were able to find that lots of his favorites come from ASOS. (See this jacket that’s unfortunately now sold out here.)

I love these candles. I’m surrounded by them. I discovered them at a candle shop in L.A., and what I love about them is that each scent is really unique. I like walking into a home where each room has a slight scent that doesn’t overpower the room and doesn’t spread through the whole house. So I have one of these in the living room and one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom, and each one has a different smell and different feeling. Now I have a candle brand.

Oh my gosh. The worst thing. I hate chapped lips. It bothers me so much because it’s like cents for a tube. Just use some Carmex! Use your Carmex! It’s just better when you’re talking to people or kissing people. I don’t know what the medicated formula in Carmex is but it heals my lips immediately. I have it on me at all times.

This has been my godsend recently because I do a lot of speeches, and I need to research things and take notes quickly while I’m on the go. I actually just got one for my son who’s in high school, and he uses it constantly. It’s like a tablet and laptop in one. I’m not even a PC person — I have mostly Apple products, but this is my new obsession. Compared to my MacBook, it’s just much more versatile. I can disconnect the tablet keyboard and hold it while I’m flying, which isn’t true for my MacBook. So that’s it for me.

I’ve been using these since I was 18 — in the episode with A.J., who was coming out, I said to him, “A black man without clippers has a problem.” For men with coarse hair, a regular razor doesn’t pull the hair up from underneath, which is why they get razor bumps on the neck. The Andis gives you a close enough shave by pulling your hair up. The men who use razors are really irritating their skin because unless you have straight hair, that’s going to cause redness and bumps. To anyone who asks me why I have such good skin — it’s because I shave with the right clippers that pulls the hair up from underneath properly. I don’t even use any products, and people are always asking what I use. You know what I do do, though? I take an ice cube and run it across my whole face twice a day. That’s it.

This is my go-to “relax my mind, zone out from work and kids” item. I was actually watching this program where Tiffany Haddish was talking about coloring books that she likes, and I thought, Oh my god, I’m not the only weirdo in the world who likes to color. I’m not an artist making Picassos, but it’s relaxing and soothing to do it, and I want to remind people that when we were kids, there were activities our parents let us do to be more creative and calm down, and we still need to do that today. I’m usually painting words, actually. Last Saturday, I did this big speech, and I was nervous, so I painted some words and abstract shapes. A long time ago, I painted a photo of our family, actually, and it was the worst painting ever. I’m not trying to do that anymore.