It’s hard to believe with all the makeup brands certified Clean at Sephora, none of them were started by a Black founder. Of course, Sephora stocks other stellar Black-owned products but the “clean” cosmetics space has been pretty white—until now. LYS Beauty is coming to Sephora. The brand was founded by makeup-artist-turned-beauty-exec Tisha Thompson, who has 15 years of experience in the clean beauty industry at brands such as PÜR. She aimed to bring inclusive, accessible makeup to the masses that’s actually good for your skin. We’d say she did just that.

“I am so incredibly excited to release a line that truly fills the white spaces in the industry from affordable product innovation to inclusive marketing representation,” Thompson said in a statement. “The basic goal of most consumers remains the same throughout the years: to desire to feel confident in the skin we’re in. This collection takes a literal approach to helping our
consumers achieve that goal with formulas that satisfy your beauty wants, while taking care of your skincare needs in a very affordable way.”

The first rollout includes the hero foundation, as well as primer, blush, bronzer, setting powder, lip gloss, mascara and makeup brushes. Yeah, she’s not starting small. All the products have the Clean at Sephora label and are free from more than 50 ingredients (including fragrances), such as sulfates (SLS and SLES), parabens and phthalates. LYS is also vegan and cruelty-free, as well as made in recycled packaging.

Ready to try it out? Get all the details below and shop the line when it hits Sephora’s website on February 19.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Triple Fix Serum Foundation

There are 35 flexible shades with a buildable, light-to-medium coverage with a natural skin finish. Turmeric provides antioxidant power, while hyaluronic acid and avocado oil locks in hydration.

LYS

Higher Standard Satin Matte Cream Blush

This satin-matte blush, in six shades, features a buildable, creamy formula. Kaolin clay reduces excess shine, while avocado oil hydrates and vitamin E calms and soothes.

LYS.

No Limits Matte Bronzer

Use this buildable matte bronzer to sculpt and define the face. It contains niacinamide to reduces the appearance of pores and limit shine, green tea extract for antioxidant power and sodium hyaluronate to plump fine lines.

LYS.

Secure Skin Gripping Serum Primer

Keep your makeup on all day but treat skin concerns, too. Niacinamide reduces the appearance of pores, while an AHA fruit blend smooths texture and vitamin C-rich grapefruit extract brights.

LYS.

Speak Love Glossy Lip Treatment Oil

This high-shine, clear lip oil features nourishing nut oils, cold-pressed chia seed oil and vitamin E to hydrate and plump lips.

LYS.

Triple Fix Setting Powder

This translucent, pressed setting powder—in four shades—blurs the skin and locks in makeup.

As you already know, attracting Mr. Right into your life can be a bit challenging. Unfortunately, growing up with fairy tales as children and romantic movies as an adult, you probably got an unrealistic picture of who men are and how they operate in the dating world.

Just think Hallmark Movies. Your heart just pitter-patters when the couple falls in love, right? The movies make it seem as though chemistry, not getting to know someone, is the secret for finding love.

Looking for Prince Charming

I know when I first started dating I was definitely looking for Prince Charming to just show up on my doorstep. In my dreams, he’d sweep me off my feet and take care of me forever, financially and emotionally. Oh, and the other part of that dream was we would never argue.

Funny dream and totally unrealistic for finding and keeping love in your life! I was forgetting something important in this equation. I wasn’t looking at what I was going to contribute to the relationship, only what he was going to offer me. For some crazy reason, I figured my presence would be enough.

Waiting for the Perfect Man

Today, this scenario makes me laugh, but at the time, I really believed the perfect man would just walk into my life and I’d know him the second we met. Sound familiar? Fortunately, I’ve learned a lot since then. To attract Mr. Right, I realized I had to stop letting men choose me.

My power came from having a clear vision of who Mr. Right was beyond a couple of qualities I thought were important at the time. I had to dig deep on this and I ended up figuring out a formula called a Quality Man Template that showed me exactly who the right man was for me.

How to Find a Quality Man

My Quality Man Template is a comprehensive tool that includes looking at patterns in men you’re attracted to, your deal breakers, the qualities you want in a man, the values that are important to you and how you want to feel around him.

This dating tool does two things for you. It sends a message to the Universe that this is who you are looking for. And it keeps you from getting involved with the wrong men over and over again. Now I have a question for you.

What Makes Your Guy the Right Man for You?

So, what makes your guy the right man for you? Is it his values? The way he looks? The way you feel when you’re around him? Is it a man who can afford fine dining or expensive vacations? Or is it what he does in life?

Does he have any of your deal breakers? Is he anything like the last man you dated? A woman settles when she doesn’t honor her deal breakers thinking a man will change…he doesn’t!

Part of the reason you might be failing at finding Mr. Right is most of us get into a pattern of attracting the same man over and over again without even realizing it. At first, he seems so amazing, until the same issues you had in your last couple of relationships come back up again to haunt you.

It wasn’t until I created a patterns chart in my Quality Man Template that I was able to clearly see how and why I was doing this.

Take a few minutes to think about whether you’ve been dating the same wrong men over and over again. It’s really important because the type of men you’re most attracted to are probably the worst men for you.

Why? Because if you’re type worked, you’d be with your type right now. If you can expand beyond your usual ‘type’, you’ll have far more quality men to chose from. In my opinion, there is a guy out there who is right for you.

Just make sure you have a clear vision of who the right man is for you so you can see him.

Do you have a clear idea of the man you are looking for in your life? Have you been looking for the same type of wrong man all your life? Have you given up on finding a man in your life, or keeping a positive attitude? Please share some of your experiences and insights you gained in the comments below.

It’s hard to believe with all the makeup brands certified Clean at Sephora, none of them were started by a Black founder. Of course, Sephora stocks other stellar Black-owned products but the “clean” cosmetics space has been pretty white—until now. LYS Beauty is coming to Sephora. The brand was founded by makeup-artist-turned-beauty-exec Tisha Thompson, who has 15 years of experience in the clean beauty industry at brands such as PÜR. She aimed to bring inclusive, accessible makeup to the masses that’s actually good for your skin. We’d say she did just that.

“I am so incredibly excited to release a line that truly fills the white spaces in the industry from affordable product innovation to inclusive marketing representation,” Thompson said in a statement. “The basic goal of most consumers remains the same throughout the years: to desire to feel confident in the skin we’re in. This collection takes a literal approach to helping our
consumers achieve that goal with formulas that satisfy your beauty wants, while taking care of your skincare needs in a very affordable way.”

The first rollout includes the hero foundation, as well as primer, blush, bronzer, setting powder, lip gloss, mascara and makeup brushes. Yeah, she’s not starting small. All the products have the Clean at Sephora label and are free from more than 50 ingredients (including fragrances), such as sulfates (SLS and SLES), parabens and phthalates. LYS is also vegan and cruelty-free, as well as made in recycled packaging.

Ready to try it out? Get all the details below and shop the line when it hits Sephora’s website on February 19.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Triple Fix Serum Foundation

There are 35 flexible shades with a buildable, light-to-medium coverage with a natural skin finish. Turmeric provides antioxidant power, while hyaluronic acid and avocado oil locks in hydration.

LYS

Higher Standard Satin Matte Cream Blush

This satin-matte blush, in six shades, features a buildable, creamy formula. Kaolin clay reduces excess shine, while avocado oil hydrates and vitamin E calms and soothes.

LYS.

No Limits Matte Bronzer

Use this buildable matte bronzer to sculpt and define the face. It contains niacinamide to reduces the appearance of pores and limit shine, green tea extract for antioxidant power and sodium hyaluronate to plump fine lines.

LYS.

Secure Skin Gripping Serum Primer

Keep your makeup on all day but treat skin concerns, too. Niacinamide reduces the appearance of pores, while an AHA fruit blend smooths texture and vitamin C-rich grapefruit extract brights.

LYS.

Speak Love Glossy Lip Treatment Oil

This high-shine, clear lip oil features nourishing nut oils, cold-pressed chia seed oil and vitamin E to hydrate and plump lips.

LYS.

Triple Fix Setting Powder

This translucent, pressed setting powder—in four shades—blurs the skin and locks in makeup.

The past year has taken its toll on our mental and physical health – as well as affecting our relationships and our finances. This has left the majority of us hoping for clear signs that 2021 will be the year when we’ll finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the future, it can sometimes feel difficult to stay focussed, motivated, or inspired. While this is perfectly natural, there are a few things that you can do to foster hope, and to help the rest of the winter months feel a little brighter.

On that note, here are 4 ways to find inspiration during these difficult times.

Prioritise Your Health

When it comes to feeling motivated, our health can play a significant role. For instance, if we feel tired or run down, then we might have a lower mood, and feel less like doing anything that doesn’t involve curling up under a blanket.

When our mental and physical health is suffering, it can also make it more difficult to enjoy the little things, like going for a relaxing walk or cooking our favourite food. And it’s these little things that tend to keep us feeling positive and inspired.

Taking Care of Physical Health

Looking after our physical health generally means making sure that we’re getting enough exercise, sleep, and nutritious food, to keep your energy levels up and your immune system boosted. If this feels like a lot to tackle all at once, then why not start by being more active?

Doing regular exercise can help us sleep better and encourage us to make healthier food choices.

Looking After Mental Health

When it comes to looking after our mental health, we can often help ourselves by learning how best to manage feelings of stress and anxiety, making time to do activities that we enjoy, and trying to stay as connected as possible to the present moment, rather than worrying about the past or future.

Create Positivity Around You

It can be difficult to stay motivated and inspired if our immediate environment feels negative, which is why it’s a good idea to try and create as much positivity around you as possible.

Limiting Self-Criticism  

This could mean limiting how much time you spend listening to and reading negative news. Or choosing to fill your mind with information from positive people, books, and films instead. It could also mean paying closer attention to how you talk.

For example, do you spend a lot of time criticizing yourself or those around you? If yes, then try your best not to. When you feel yourself going to think or say something negative, why not stop and consider how you could change it by putting a positive slant on that thought or comment instead?

And if you can’t, then consider whether it’s something that is really worth a thought at all. Taking more control over negative thoughts and comments can be challenging, but you might be surprised at how positive your outlook on life can become once you do.

Exposure to Positive People

The same can be said about the people you talk to or spend the most time with. If you spend a lot of time interacting with people who have a tendency to moan or complain at every opportunity, then you might find that you too begin to feel incredibly negative yourself.

It can be helpful to consider who you speak to most and how the attitudes of these individuals make you feel. Then, if possible, try to spend more time talking to the people in your social network that speak and act positively.

There are often people in our lives who can do wonders for helping us to feel motivated and inspired, and it’s important to nurture our relationships with them.

Make a Vision Board

Although the future feels uncertain, this doesn’t mean that you should let go of your goals or ambitions, however large or small these might be. Goals and ambitions are what drive us forward. They give us meaning and purpose and encourage us to get up and out of bed every day.

Of course, some of our goals might be on hold at the moment while we’re spending more time at home. But we can still take certain steps to prepare ourselves for life post-lockdown. This could mean taking the time to reflect on what you really want from this chapter of your life, and what your interests and passions are.

Or perhaps it might mean arming yourself with new knowledge and skills that you can take out into the world once you’re able to. We might not be able to take the large strides towards our goals and ambitions that we would usually – but often, we can still take small steps to help us inch closer to where we want to be.

Creating a vision board is a great way to stay focussed on your goals and keep hope alive. It can also act as a daily reminder that our current situation isn’t permanent.

Put Together a Reading List

Whether you read a non-fiction book about a protagonist who overcomes a significant challenge to reach a better day, or a fictional autobiography about an individual that you admire, who has been through life’s ups and downs and always comes out stronger on the other side, reading is a fantastic source of inspiration that can leave us feeling uplifted and hopeful.

While our world might feel much smaller at the moment, because we’re spending so much time at home, reading can help to expand it by taking us to faraway places, introducing us to new possibilities, and showing us different perspectives on the world.

Have you struggled to stay inspired over the last year? Do you have any additional tips that have helped you stay motivated? Please share them with the community!

Typical Valentine’s Day makeup consists of red or pink lipstick and some rosy eyeshadow. But we can do more this year. Because why not? We’re stuck at home anyway and probably can’t have the epic Galentine’s Day blowout. Whether you’ll be alone hanging with friends on FaceTime or with a partner IRL, ColourPop’s Valentine’s Day collection will help take your makeup to the next level.

The massive line (did you expect anything else from ColourPop?) includes three new five-pan shadow palettes in natural, soft pink and bright pink shades. There are also three new Pressed Powder Blushes in adorable heart-shaped compacts. Ready to channel your inner E-girl? Finish with a heart-shaped face stamp.

Fourth Ray and SOL Body brands are also getting in on the Valentine’s Day action with skincare kits in V-Day-themed totes, as well as highlighter and dry oil to help your body glow. Finally, don’t miss the heart-shaped mirror to up your TikTok makeup tutorial game. All of these products are great for year-round use—not just on V-Day. Shop just some of our favorites, below.

Source: Instagram

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

S.W.A.K. Shadow Palette

With five matte and metallic shades.

Pink Heart Face Stamp

The long-wearing QT Mark Face Stamp now comes in a pink heart.

Check In Lux Gloss

A warm mauve with a silver sheen.

My Type Pressed Powder Blush

A warm true pink.

Red Pocket Lippie Stix

A creamy true red.