Yandy Smith Is Taking The Drama Out Of Skincare

Reality TV star and serial entrepreneur Yandy Smith is serving up serious skin goals with her beauty brand: YELLE Skincare. Smith launched the groundbreaking collection in 2018 as the first plant-based skincare line created specifically for melanated skin.

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In two short years, even in the midst of a pandemic, she is enjoying exponential growth. Company sales are through the roof and her skin is the clearest it has ever been. But, Smith’s journey to flawless skin did not come without any drama. In fact, it took three years of development and trashing her entire first line to get it right. 

But, Smith has never been afraid of a little drama to help uplift and empower women—whether it’s getting arrested during social justice protests or turning up on Love & Hip Hip Hop New York. That may sound a bit contradictory, but as a member of the reality show’s creative crew and an original cast member, she says the original goal was to highlight and showcase the women who served as pillars in the entertainment industry. 

“It’s turned into some other things throughout the time,” she admits. “But, for me, who I am and what I am about hasn’t changed.”

Through YELLE, she’s working to increase representation on the part she feels is often overlooked when it comes to Black beauty: skin. 

Here, we chat about the inspiration behind the skincare brand, the legacy she hopes to leave behind, and the importance of celebrating Black beauty.

SADIAA BLACK BEAUTY GUIDE: Congratulations on your continued success! We love that you are more than a face for a brand. Can you share how YELLE came about?
YANDY SMITH: This was something that was dear to me. When I started [Love & Hip Hop], I broke out really bad. For the first five years, I would just cover up the problem with makeup. After a while, I was just like, these dark spots? That’s not going to be my life. I decided to go and get it worked on at a retail store. Everything was super expensive… The person that walked me around the store… I was asking questions, and they weren’t educated about my skin. Still, I was like, ‘Okay, let me take these products and try to fix whatever problems I have going on.’ 

And they rang me up. It was like $496.03! I won’t be buying this combination ever again. The average working woman, there is no way you can pay $500 a month just in skincare. And the majority of the products that I had were not natural. So that’s when I called some people. I need to find someone who works in natural skincare, I need a consultant; I need to find a chemist.

SADIAA: Now, five years later, you have hit a sweet spot with your line. What are your faves from the collection?
YANDY: I love the serums. We have three different types. Our hydrating serum for dry skin. Our peptide-boosting serum for normal skin. Brightening serum for oily skin. I love the serums so much because they are actually targeted for our issues.

They are also full of hyaluronic acid, which is great for cell reproduction. So as you are trying to heal scar tissue or hyperpigmentation, the serums are going to accelerate the process of generating new skin cells. So, when you want to get rid of all those acne scars, you want to use a good amount of serum because, in an instant, your dark spots are going to go away. I am walking, living proof of it.

SADIAA: Are you looking at adding any new offerings to the mix?
YANDY: My husband did a video the other day. He was like, ‘Yandy, I just need to know what is in this, because remember those dark spots I had the other day? They are all gone. You gotta come up with a men’s line because I need to be a model for the men’s line.’ [Laughs]. . . A men’s line! The men’s line will be more targeted because we need something for razor bumps. We have a scrub for the rougher, tougher skin. We have a toner, too, for men that shave.

SADIAA: What legacy do you want to leave behind?
YANDY: All of who I am, and all of the things that I try to create and be a part of, are to amplify the voices of marginalized people and marginalized communities.With YELLE Skin Care, I felt that we were underrepresented. This myth that Black don’t crack is what was shouted on the hill. We’ll make sure our hair is good. We are spending all this money on hair, but if our face is to shambles who is going to care about having their hair looking good? I wanted to create a line that catered to our skin. Black will crack if you don’t take care of it.

SADIAA: Whew! Many of us don’t focus on that part. 
YANDY: We don’t want to believe that. We have to protect ourselves in the sun. We have to make sure that we are cleansing our face and exfoliating and toning and using a great moisturizer. We can get premature wrinkles. We can get hyperpigmentation. We can get dry skin. We can get acne scarring. We have to take care of it.

SADIAA: You talked about Black women being the backbone of so many things within the entertainment industry. Black women are also the backbone of beauty. Why is it important to highlight that work, as well? 
YANDY: Because we are spending more than anybody! It’s time for us to reap the benefits. We want to own beauty supply stores. We want to have our shelves filled with products that we created because no one knows us like us. It is uber important for us to not just consume this market, but have a piece of the pie. We should be at the front of this table, we should have the seats at this table. We know what we need, we know what works for our hair and everyone else should fall in line. Is that reality with where we’ve come from? Absolutely. We can do some amazing things. We are at the forefront of so many things right now. I feel like we can be at the forefront of business. 

You have entrepreneurs like Supa Cent, Da Real BB Judy. We got Yandy with YELLE skincare. We have so many different brands that are Black women-owned that are kicking doors in. I feel like we can take over the corporate space. We can take over the beauty supply spaces. 

SADIAA: Given your own journey, how would you define beauty today?
YANDY: I think that’s a layered question. Beauty, of course, it starts on the inside. I think it’s all about the legacy we decide to leave behind… It’s important for us to understand we each have a very unique special place here as Black people… The layers and levels of prayer that have happened so that we can be here owning our beauty and accepting our beautiful brownness as powerful, as strong, as resilient… Be proud of it. It is something that we have to always remember—and continue. 

On the outside, beauty is colorful… I would hate to ever be in a world that is colorless… I want to live in a world that is colorful. That is what beauty looks like to me—just all the colors of the world together.