LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 16: Sabrina Elba attends Beautycon™ Los Angeles 2023 at The Reef on September 16, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Beautycon™)
LOS ANGELES, CA (LA ELEMENTS) 9/28/2023 – “As soon as I walked into this space,” says actress Tia Mowry, “I was so stimulated in a beautiful way. And why I felt like I was so stimulated is because I see individuality. I think that’s so beautiful the way everyone is expressing themselves through fashion, through makeup, through hair with the way they want to. Nobody is telling them how they should be or what beauty is. And if you ask me what my opinion is about beauty is me no longer having someone else define to me what beauty is. I define to me what beauty is. And I see that in this room and I think that that is just so empowering and sexy and beautiful and magical. “
Beautycon LA was indeed the space for celebrating the kind of beauty that expands boundaries. Attendees were welcomed by CEO of Essence Ventures, Caroline Wanga and Head of Programming for Beautycon, Sophia Dennis. Held at The Reef on September 16th and 17, this beauty festival celebrated the diversity of the women of Los Angeles with their thoughtful selections of vendors and panel discussions. A forum that exemplified Beautycon LA’s mission to bring beauty to the masses. And yes, that includes the unhoused residents of the City of Angels. Among the notable guests who shared their outlook on beauty were homeless advocate Shirley Raines and Tess Holiday, who was named one of the world’s top plus-size models by Vogue Italia.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 16: Shirley Raines speaks onstage during Beautycon™ Los Angeles 2023 at The Reef on September 16, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for Beautycon™)
Shirley Raines founded the non-profit, Beauty 2 the Streetz. This organization provides hair, makeup services, food, clothing and other necessities to the homeless people of Skid row. “When I started this,” says Raines, “people are like, ‘The homeless? Makeup for the homeless? Where are they going?’ Where are you going when you do your hair and put your makeup on? On the couch to watch Netflix? You want to be your very best no matter where you go. And I think what I want people to understand is that they’ve lost so much. They’re judged so much. I don’t give them dignity. I hope I remind them of the dignity they already have. I’m just the messenger. I’m holding up the mirror, shining the beauty, showing them what they already have.”
Would it surprise you to know that Tess Holiday, as famous as she is in the modeling world, still has to deal with situations that are a bit insensitive to say the least? “When I started modeling… it’s no secret that it’s a little toxic. I would show up to these shoots, to these events and guess what? I don’t have anybody to dress me. And that is still the occasion for a lot of things I do. I struggle to find clothes in my size. And I’m not even the biggest size in clothes. So imagine how people who are larger than me feel? You don’t know that you’re not being seen until you realize that ‘Hey. There’s an issue and I want to fix it.’
At one point early in her career, Holiday was working with the powerhouse clothing company, H&M and realized that they didn’t have the size she needed for a particular shoot. “So I asked then for a meeting. In this case I was able to sit down with H&M after what could have been a really bad situation. It was embarrassing for me to be in that situation to say ‘Hey. As your talent this is how I felt. Now imagine how your consumers feel that they’re walking into the stores and there’s no signage for them. There’s no clothes for them.’ It took a little over a year for them to expand to 4x and I’m so grateful.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 16: Kahh Spence attends Beautycon™ Los Angeles 2023 at The Reef on September 16, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Beautycon™)
Celebrity stylist Kah Spence (Latto, Cardi B.) was on the panel, “Hair Talk 101.” He strongly believes that what you put inside your body, affects the way that your hair looks. “The foundation for healthy hair really starts from within,” says Spence. “Your dieting. Your hydration. What you intake. I think that’s what really makes healthy hair.”
And what is the driving force behind his career?
“I really want women to feel beautiful and feel good about themselves. I think that alone is what made me want to pursue this.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 16: Tia Mowry speaks onstage during Beautycon™ Los Angeles 2023 at The Reef on September 16, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for Beautycon™)
Actress Tia Mowry received an especially warm welcome from the Beautycon LA crowd, who were surprised to learn how her battle with endometriosis influenced the creation of her hair care line. After noticing that her symptoms subsided once she adopted a vegan diet, Mowry was inspired to create her vegan haircare line, 4U by Tia.
“I saw that there was this huge void and need for products out there that were really safe, clean and ingredients that were recognizable, science backed, and also accessible, meaning affordable. I started to see how there were many women out there including myself that were having to pay a lot of money for products that were toxic. We need to fix this and basically that is why and how For You was birthed. It’s a hair care line that I’ve launched since January. I’m so proud of this brand! And the ingredients you guys! There’s sea moss, there’s flax seed, there’s rosemary, there’s watermelon and it’s such a great product. And the product is not being sacrificed because of the price. The price point is affordable. It’s about damn time! And to be able to have such a great partnership with Walmart, you guys were able to give me the opportunity to put such an incredible product on the shelves that are affordable that was a need.”
“What I love about the brand as well, is you know my family. We all have different hair textures. My son has a different curly hair texture than my daughter, than myself. What’s so great about these products is that they work on all different types of textured hair. Again, you don’t have to pick a specific brand or product that works on a specific hair type. We worked really hard with scientists. The efficacy is tried and true and it’s affordable and it works amazing.”
Mowry admits that her own personal beauty journey wasn’t easy despite being a beauty entrepreneur. “I didn’t really have a great relationship with myself when it came to beauty in the beginning, meaning especially with my hair. I didn’t see representation when it came to conversations about beauty. Also, whether it was television, whether it was magazines, I just didn’t see representation and I felt like whenever people; would talk about beauty it was focusing more on European standards and I just didn’t see women who looked like me.”
“Also, going to school. I was picked on. Kids would ask questions about my hair. They weren’t very sure about what was going on with my hair. I remember some kids would touch my hair and they would say, ‘Ew” because of the products that I had in my hair whether there was too much moisture, or any of that.”
“But I will say, one thing I am so passionate about is community and I remember my relationship with myself and my hair changed when Instagram came out. I saw all of these women doing something called, ‘The Big Chop’ and they were putting their foot down and saying, ‘We’re no longer going to conform to what other people say beauty is, we’re going to start living out our own truth, celebrating our hair. And that’ exactly what I did. I was like, ‘Wow! This is so amazing seeing all of these wonderful women who look like me, just different curl textures, different communities, and they were embracing themselves and it was so beautiful to see and watch. That was a lot for me and that’s basically when I really started to have and develop a beautiful relationship with myself and living out my authenticity.”
“So basically, what I did was I cut all of my hair off. Prior to that I was just putting a lot of heat on it, straightening my hair, trying to conform and fit in and I just really damaged my hair. And so, when I cut my hair off, I remember just looking for products and doing lots of research when it came to trying to find a product that fit my needs. I saw a lot of stuff out there that was saying that products had natural ingredients, it was clean, but was it really??
Any advice for other blossoming entrepreneurs?
“Number one, you really have to be passionate about what you do. Believe in it. And it’s not about money, fame or success. If it becomes about that then this will be very fleeting for you, I’m sorry. You will put your hands up and you will say, ‘I quit. I cannot do this anymore.’ So, I say my advice to any people out there who want to be an entrepreneur, really take the time to get to know yourself and really see what it is that you are really passionate about. When things are not going your way and I will tell you this: Most of the time, things do not always go your way. You’re always pivoting, You’re always adjusting, you’re always learning, you’re always growing, you’re always trying to find out something different or new. But when you’re so passionate about it, it never feels like work. So I would say really start to figure out where there is a void, where there is a need. If there’s a need out there if there’s a void out there, trust me, people are feeling it and people are seeing it so try to fill that void.”
Beautycon LA vendor booths included Palmers, Differin and Shea Moisture. Guests were especially pleased with the full-size hair care products from Shea Moisture that were gifted to everyone who attended. And that was an area that will hopefully be improved for next year’s Beautycon LA. A huge part of Beautycon LA’s wild popularity stemmed from the vast array of vendors who were more than generous with their products. Those vendors were savvy enough to know that one free gift now translates into future sales and potentially life long customers later. Products from Glossier, biossance and LANNEIGE were inside the VIP gift bags only.
Celebrity guests included singer Kelly Rowland, social media influencer Alabama Barker and platinum recording artist Bia,
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On our cover from left to right: Alabama Barker, Caroline Wanga and Tia Mowry. Photo by Getty Images for Beautycon)
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