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Millennial Black women feel they have autonomy and flexibility in navigating beauty standards in their personal lives, according to a new qualitative study. But at work, they feel compelled to adapt to a more restrictive beauty standard.

"Outside of work, they were more expressive with their hair and makeup styles, which aligned with their generation's approach to beauty. They also explored how they fashioned themselves in response to existing beauty standards in public places, but were more self-conscious about their appearance in the workplace," said Jaleesa Reed, author of the study and assistant professor of human centered design in the College of Human Ecology.

The study, "Millennial Agency and Liberation Within Black American Beauty Standards," appears in the new edited volume Embodiment and Representations of Beauty.

Reed, an expert in the processes of self-definition and consumption within Black American beauty culture, interviewed 20 millennial Black American women about their experiences in navigating beauty standards in relation to their identity. The study participants were born between 1981 and 1996, the upper and lower ranges of the millennial generation.

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