H|S Beauty & Event Decor by Helenyi Santiago

Beauty – Philadelphia

I am an Afro-Latina entrepreneur with the passion of empowering women by making them feel beautiful, “Outer beauty, Inner Strength”. Presently, women are still fighting for equality but still tend to have challenges with empowering one another. I would like to help bridge the gap between all women of color, age, mental health challenges, and overall self-confidence. As women were are compelled to be “caregiver’s” and lack self-care and self-acceptance. We tend to push aside our past traumas and stressors but forget to find an outlet to help us “let go” to drive our truest potential. I have always focused on incorporating the importance of mental health and facing life stressors and trauma as part of the learning process of feeling beautiful inside an out. I began to have a passion for makeup since my early years when living in the Dominican Republic and I would play with my mother’s lipsticks. In 2013, My senior year of high school I decided to do my own makeup for my senior pictures and also do some of my classmates makeup. I am self -taught and learned techniques by practicing on friends and myself, but I’m currently finishing my makeup certification through PB School of Cosmetology. In June 2018, I decided to establish a business as a free-lance makeup artist, event planner/ decorator, and many other services. I also currently work with children with different mental health challenges or that are facing vulnerable periods of their life and need guidance. Therefore, I am exposed on a daily basis to children and parents that have low self-esteem due to; LGBTQ transition, depression, anxiety, domestic violence victims, bullying and more. My ultimate goal is to help women and children with low self-esteem feel beautiful through makeup that would accentuate their natural beauty, and assist them with overcoming and working through trauma or past negative experiences. My work displays my roots and the Caribbean culture as well as my passion for mental health and women empowerment.