The Superwoman Times - Issue 01

THE STORY OF YENSA

Our founder, Jennifer Yen, walks us through her journey of bringing YENSA to life.

After giving birth to my daughter, I was faced with the same troubled skin I had when I was an actress wearing heavy makeup for 15 hours a day. The inspiration for YENSA came from my mother who followed a 2000-year-old practice, rooted in Chinese Medicine. “Zuo Yue Zi,” also known as “Sitting the Month,” is when a new mother “sits out” for the month after childbirth to rest and heal the body by integrating Superfoods into one’s daily routine.

Inspired by Superfood Traditions and Asian Rituals, this lifestyle was lived by generations of

Owomen in my family, and it restored my complexion and confidence. My skin glowed from the inside out, and I knew I had to share this with women everywhere. At YENSA, we work with top chemists from Korea, France, Los Angeles, and beyond to create clean, luxurious products that are steeped in Superfood Science and Asian Rituals for a modern, diverse world.

I hope we inspire you to face the world with confidence, and thank you for letting me share the Superfood Glow with you!

MEET OUR FOUNDER Jen created YENSA back in 2018 with a mission to promote graceful aging and inspire confidence in women. Every product is formulated with a unique blend of 8 Superfoods to protect and nourish skin.

SUPERWOMAN SPOTLIGHT

We interview 8 Superwomen in our community that inspire us the most!

ver the years, YENSA has been lucky enough to cultivate a diverse, tight knit community of strong and inspiring individuals whom we like to call our “Superwomen.”

For this issue of TheSuperwoman Times, we interviewed eight Superwomen–Jennifer, Janci, Dee, Julie, Kara, Tiffany, Brianne, and Meighan–to learn about their definitions of beauty, how they overcame personal hardships, and the heroes they look up to in their own lives. We share their unique perspectives with the hope that they will empower you, our readers, to live your own stories with courage.

QUESTION 1: Beauty has boundless definitions. What does beauty personally mean to you?

Janci: Beauty to me is loving myself. I am a cancer survivor, I am a mother, I am a disabled woman who was blinded in an accident. For many years, I didn’t love myself. When I turned 40, I did a lot of searching, and I found that I am worthy, I do love myself, and I am beautiful. I love to share my experience and my passion for mental health with other women. I love to be an advocate for strong women. That’s beauty.

Kara: For me, beauty is as much about personality and values as it is about external factors. Kindness, compassion, humility, strength of character… these are the traits that can take physical beauty to the next level.

Tiffany: Beauty to me means confidence. It means being comfortable in my skin, in my natural beauty, and in what I wear. It’s enhancing myself and my personality. It’s not hiding who I am. Beauty can literally be anything. It’s what we choose to see in ourselves and other people.

Julie: Beauty goes well beyond just being skin deep, but as a woman in my mid-40s with aging skin, it is important for me to nourish and, most importantly, protect the face I put forth each day.

IT’S SUPERFOOD SKINCARE,

SKINCARE, NOT MAKEUP.

Jennifer: The industry I’ve chosen has historically been unkind to women and people of color. In the rare times that I’ve been able to get a foot in the door, I’ve been extra conscious that I have to bring my best self to the table because the opportunity may not come again. Feeling beautiful in these times has translated into being confident, capable, and powerful, so I can walk away knowing that–if nothing else–I’ve made a lasting impression.

Janci: For many years, I never put myself first; I always put others before me. It wasn’t until I started taking care of my fatherin-law, who is a double amputee, that I realized in order to take care of him, I had to learn to take care of myself. It was a 24/7 job, but I knew I was the only one that could do it. I found a community of like-minded people who encouraged me to get onto Instagram and do reviews and take time for myself. Through that, I grew a lot, and I began to love myself. My husband and I started a nonprofit for veterans with PTSD and their families because it’s a struggle that we went through as a family, and we felt like we could help others. There are so many tragedies that led me to the place where I am today, but they also created the woman that I am today, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Beauty and Instagram is an escape for me to just talk about what’s made me feel better about myself and try to share it with other people. Maybe it’ll help them.

Tiffany: I grew up not appreciating my personal beauty. Growing up, the standard of beauty was definitely more Eurocentric features, which I do not have. I am very much a Southeast Asian woman of color. I very much look Filipina in my features, and I feel like kids back in the day, and even now, were bullies. But I’ve definitely grown into my beauty and what I believe is beautiful. There’s confidence in appreciating who you are, what you look like, and where you come from. I truly believe now that a lot of my confidence and beauty is shown outwardly because I stayed true to myself. I never steered too far from what I was, and even if people didn’t like it, I still did it. My personal beauty started there, and it was mainly based on being myself and highlighting my unique features.

Julie: For three years, I have hosted an annual fundraiser for Positive Period Packs that go to girls in a Title 1 (at or below poverty) school district. We ensure that these girls have the necessary feminine products during the long holiday break that they may not otherwise have access to. It has grown to include fun beauty products,

usually sample size, to nurture and empower young girls’ confidence. Nothing exudes beauty and confidence more than a young girl with a huge smile, rocking her new tinted lip gloss.

Kara: I don’t talk about it often, perhaps I should, but I am in recovery from substance use disorder. I spent 9 years of my life addicted to drugs. It nearly killed me. Had I not gotten pregnant with my daughter, I would likely not be here today. She genuinely saved my life and put the world into perspective for me, by giving me something worth fighting for. She was also the reason I began my beauty journey on social media; I wanted to feel more confident in my own skin so that my little girl would have a positive role model, and I wanted to help others like me to feel that confidence as well.

Meighan: I’m a 43 year old Registered Nurse. I contracted COVID in January 2021 and didn’t fully recover. By April, I had lost use and all feeling in both legs and was unable to lift my arms above my waist. I was so alive and young when I got sick. I’m now learning to live with disability following central pontine myelinolysis (CPM), multiple sclerosis (MS), and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). I also have other autoimmune diseases and very impaired memory and cognitive function because of the MS, all of which combined required me to learn how to walk, think, and use my hands again. I’ve lost my hair from the treatments I receive to stop the progression of my disease, and I’ve felt so ugly until just recently. I’m a grandmother, a wife, and I was an RN. I had to learn that how I feel and what I believe about who I am is truly what makes my beauty obvious to others, and it’s not been an easy road. I still give up every single day. I admit that I’m still very ashamed and embarrassed in public places because I don’t want to be pitied or even noticed every time I almost fall or get confused and forget words. But

I’m still trying.

Brianne: I guess the biggest challenge I’ve conquered would be beating stage 3 lymphoma. At the time of my diagnosis and throughout my entire treatment, I was misdiagnosed as stage 4, which made it even harder mentally, but in that moment, all you can really do is put everything to the side and just say “What do we need to do to beat this?” I also thought that sharing my journey, given my following in modeling, would help someone not feel so scared or alone if they ended up in my shoes. I wanted to shed light on the things you don’t really know about that come with treatment, like PET scans, ports, and weird side effects. I shared

what was happening with my skin and tried to post as many authentic pictures of me in my process–my bald, beautiful self smiling and embracing life and not trying to hide the scars and physical effects of cancer. I learned to embrace that being bald means you’re a fighter. I don’t think people should hide that. I just hope people know that beauty really is from a place so deep within us that once you connect with it, no one can take it away from you... losing your hair, the texture of your skin, the color of your skin, whatever... None of that can touch your actual beauty. Your mindset is everything, so even in the face of such darkness you still need to give yourself those happy moments to hold on to.

GOODBYE DARK CIRCLES, HELLO SUPER BRIGHT UNDER EYES

A 3-step guide to looking like you got a full 8 hours of sleep!

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Use fingertips or YENSA’s Skin on Skin Concealer Brush to gently pat our Super Bright Serum Silk Under Eye Corrector under the eye, starting from the outer corner and blending inward. This is a weightless, full-coverage correcting cream that conceals, brightens, and neutralizes the under eye area.

For extra coverage, apply your favorite YENSA Concealer on top. For a hydrating, brightening effect powered by Vitamin C, use our Super Serum Silk Concealer. To blur imperfections and minimize the appearance of fine lines and pores, use our Skin on Skin BC Concealer.

CHOOSE YOUR SHADE

INFUSED WITH 8 SUPERBLACKS ESSENCE

FAIR

LIGHT

MEDIUM

DEEP