JCS Beauty announces inaugural 2021 Nourish & Shine Beauty Scholarship Winners, empowering future black beauty innovators.
JCS Beauty Holdings, LLC is proud to announce the winners of its inaugural Nourish & Shine® Beauty Scholarship. Developed to celebrate and empower future black beauty innovators, the scholarship provides tuition funding to assist Black/African American students in embracing their passion and pursuing careers in professional beauty. The Nourish & Shine®Beauty Scholarship is administered by Beauty Changes Lives.
Introduced in January 2021, this beauty scholarship awards three tuition scholarships of $5,000 and pays homage to the community of Black/African American hairstylists who have supported JCS Beauty as a leader in the curly and textured hair industry. Scholarship winners and their respective cosmetology schools are as follows:
Yetunde Dozier – Continental School of Beauty, Syracuse, NY
While beauty is personal, Yetunde says one thing everyone has in common is a desire to change something about their hair. She is heartened to see more people caring for their natural hair and embracing its beauty. “Two things I’ve learned are that perception is everything and presentation is important,” she says, noting that beauty professionals can help change how people feel about themselves and how they present themselves to others. Yetunde is inspired by the limitless possibilities that beauty presents as a career offering social connections, travel and creative expression. But she sees beauty as much more than a career. “Beauty isn’t just a profession. It is acceptance of who you are and all that comes with it. The beauty in my life right now is that I know where I should be and I’m doing everything I can to get there,” she says. Watch her video below:
Lloya Hopkins, @Theedosoflo – Casal Aveda Institute, Niles, Ohio
For Lloya, beauty is more than a look or a statement. She views beauty as a tool for driving social change and creating community. “I want to make an impact by collaborating with people of all walks of life to crate jobs, build the black dollar and create a center for women to come together,” she says in her application video. Lloya views diversity as essential to beauty and also to one’s individuality and path to empowerment. Her commitment to hard work and achievement is reflected in her conviction, “I believe in myself and will always do things differently. I’m only limited to what I don’t imagine or put effort toward,” she says. Watch her video below:
Ismenia Olavarria, @alljazzedupx3 – Arrojo Cosmetology School, New York, NY
While society often tells women they must be “more” to be beautiful, Ismenia says “being black is enough.” Like many busy moms, Ismenia is a big fan of the braided bun, but she says for many women, braiding is equated with pain. After discovering @mshairandhumor, an Instagram page created by 2016 Beauty Changes Lives winner (Vidal Sassoon) Kamila Gerestant, Ismenia was happy to learn on IG that braids don’t need to be painful. “Like Kamilah, I want to make an impact and help the world see that beauty doesn’t have to mean pain,” she says. As a beauty professional, Ismenia wants to make an impact. “I want people to know you are beautiful as you are; you don’t need to follow society.” Watch her video below:
The Nourish & Shine® Beauty scholarship is named in honor of the Nourish & Shine® textured haircare brand, which launched in January 2021. This product line was designed to help people with textured or curly hair live their “best hair life” with cruelty-free, salon-born, multi-benefit products. In addition to pursuing cleaner formulas and more sustainable packaging, education and social justice are core to the new brand’s identity.
Lynelle Lynch, Founder and President of Beauty Changes Lives says this beauty scholarship is a reminder of the rich contributions the Black/African American community has made to the beauty industry. “The generosity of JCS Beauty is helping to pay an iconic brand’s success forward and empowering the futures of next generation hairstylists,” she says.
About the Beauty Changes Lives Foundation: With a mission to elevate, educate and empower, Beauty Changes Lives is uniting the industry and building awareness of the extraordinary career opportunities in the beauty, wellness and massage therapy industries. Learn more at www.beautychangeslives.org