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Our amazing community is enriched with a wealth of incredible people who have embraced and supported the world of all things trans. Some have pioneered products, some have been and continue to be on the front lines of activism and some have simply given us safe spaces to party….and so much more! They are ALL important and have contributed to the progress that the trans community has made over the years. In my 21 years of being a part of this community, I have met some phenomenal people and through a series of very short interviews I intend to introduce you to some of them.
Who are you and what do you do?
Hi! My name is Jessica Blackler and I’m the Founder of a genderless makeup brand – Jecca Blac
What led you to working with the trans community?
I started off as a makeup artist in film and television. The industry standard techniques I picked up through my training and my work at that time provided me with a very transferable understanding on how to completely transform an individual’s face with makeup. Jecca Blac started off with an educational safe space studio where people who were just at the start of their makeup journey could come to experiment and learn these transformative techniques from me, and I quickly built up a client base which was predominantly made up of trans women and people who were experimenting with their gender expression. I then went on to provide support to prisoners at an all-male B grade prison in Wales, where a group of prisoners had hopes of transitioning and starting a new life upon completing their sentence. I built a strong alliance with the community, which led to me developing our first ever product, the Correct & Conceal Palette– which was the first ever concealer duo developed with makeup wears in mind who wish to conceal beard shadow. This Palette was the beginning of Jecca Blac’s ever growing product collection, and we ensure all of our products are in keeping with where we came from and cater to makeup wearers of all genders, identities and expressions. All our products are also vegan friendly, cruelty free, and designed to be very easy to use!
What is the best thing about working with the trans community?
A highlight for us has been the launch of the Trans Festival – a new annual event which allows our community to come together, learn about the brands that support them, and hear guest speakers such as Juno Dawson and Hannah and Jake Graf. We were lucky enough to have our event in February this year before lockdown hit, and received an overwhelmingly positive community response. Our next Trans Festival is in the early stages of planning, so keep an eye out for updates from us on that! It’s set to be in Q3 of next year, and it’s going to be even bigger and better than our first! It’s amazing to see such freedom and inspiration happening in one event – we and our guests were all so unified and proud and it was wonderful to have such amazing feedback afterwards.
If you could be anyone other than you, who would you be and why?
I’m pretty inspired by Oprah Winfrey – she’s incredible! Who wouldn’t want to be Oprah?!
What is your number one beauty tip for trans girls?
My top tip is to give yourself all the time you need to get to where you need to be, and not to compare yourself to anybody around you! You don’t need to hold yourself to certain standards in order to be doing beauty ‘the right way’ – there is no right way, there is only YOUR way. When it comes to makeup, practice all you’d like at home so that when the time comes for you to step out as your best authentic self, you feel comfortable and confident in putting your best face forward!
And lastly….why do you love The Boudoir London?
I think The Boudoir shares so many of the same values as Jecca Blac – from education to empowering individuals to feel like their best selves in a safe space! It’s important that everybody can feel understood and included and celebrated, and you can tell from the pictures alone on The Boudoir’s Instagram that everybody has a really uplifting, fabulous time with you!
