10 Millennial Women That Are Kicking Ass and Taking Names

By Sam Alder

If you haven’t heard, March is women’s history month. I have a lot of feelings about these months or ad hoc holidays dedicated to the observance and celebration of minority groups who have contributed plenty of their skills and knowledge to the betterment of society. An issue I have with women’s history month is that it allows people to become socially inclined to only praise women during this short time period.

If you take anything from this article, please continue to support and follow female leaders past the month of March, and encourage your peers to do the same. It was nearly impossible to choose only ten millennial women for this list. There are so many more that exist and I’m uncovering new trailblazers each day, but for now these are my top ten millennial women that are kicking ass and taking names.

1. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Image via Twitter

This influential latina you may have heard of, she’s the 29-year-old Bronx native who was just elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Not only is that impressive on its own, but she’s also a Democratic socialist who unseated a 10-term congressman in NY. If that’s not badass, I don’t know what is.

2. Anna Valencia

Image Via Block Club Chicago

Another feminist politico dream, Anna Valencia was sworn in as Chicago’s City Clerk in January 2017. Her goal is to make city services more accessible to all the people of Chicago. She is the second Latina to hold office for this position and is passionate about women’s rights and the Chicago Public School system.

3. Yiqing “Pocket” Sun

Image via Twitter

This 27-year-old Chinese native immigrated to the US in 2009. She became the co-founder of a multi-million-dollar venture capitalist firm after experiencing how male-dominated the venture capitalist industry can be. Her VC firm,SoGal ventures is a female-led, millennial venture capital firm operating in the multi-million-dollar range.

4. Cassandra Levesque

Image via Twitter.com

At 19 years old Cassandra ran for the U.S. House of Representatives after attempting to abolish child marriage in the state of New Hampshire. She was elected as a Democrat from the Strafford 4 district in 2018.

5. Andreja Pejic

Image via Today.com

This Bosnian-Australian beauty is a top supermodel and now successful actress, recently starring in The Girl in the Spider’s Web. She came out as a trans woman in 2013 and has been one of the most sought after runway models ever since.

6. Jennifer Lambert/Jihan Thomas

Image via Twitter

These ladies are business partners so I’m grouping them together (my article, my rules). They are the co-founders of SWIVEL Beauty. The app connects women of color to hair professionals across the US. If you didn’t know, it’s extremely difficult to find a hair stylist that can properly style black women’s hair. Lambert and Thomas saw an opportunity to fill this need. Even before becoming tech entrepreneurs Lambert attended Harvard Law School and Thomas had an education from the University of Pennsylvania.

7. Tara Baker

Image via Twitter

Frustrated with the state of the current wedding industry, Baker partnered with her fiancé to create a wedding magazine dedicated to LGBTQ+ brides. “Dancing With Her” started as a mini digital magazine and soon skyrocketed to hold a global readership of 85,000 people per month.

8. Alice Brooks

Image Via Bizjournals.com

You might have seen Brooks and her partner on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank. As an ivy league educated engineer Brooks saw a lack of toy options for girls that would encourage them to be creative and explore the world of engineering and building. She and her partner developed Roominate, a now very successful toy line that allows children to create structures with full mechanics and circuits. As a result, Roominate has won Forbes “Top 10 Toys to Watch in 2015,” TIME “Toy of the Year” and 2015 TOTY Finalist.

9. Jessica Williams

Image via Marie Claire

At just 23 years old she joined the cast of The Daily Show as one of the youngest correspondents to ever be hired. Ever since then she has become an iconic ball buster who advocates for women’s equality. Her comedic skills and political know-how have made her a fan favorite and you can currently catch her and her gal pal Phoebe Robinson on their hit HBO stand-up show “2 Dope Queens”!

7 Gift Ideas for the Beauty Lover in Your Life

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Happy Christmas Eve Eve, everyone! We are just two days away from Christmas. And if you’re a procrastinator like me, you’re probably not done with your Christmas shopping yet. Or maybe you already got the wine connoisseur and witch in your life covered, but you’re still wondering what to get for the beauty guru in your life. Don’t worry! I got you covered with some last minute gift ideas that the beauty babe in your life will be sure to love.

1) FOREO Here & There Gift Set, $139

The FOREO Here & There gift set is a duo of the Perfect T-Sonic Cleansing Pair. The gift set includes the FOREO LUNA mini 2 and LUNA play facial cleansing brushes, both in the color fuchsia. The FOREO LUNA mini 2 is suitable for all skin types, has eight adjustable massage intensities, and is rechargeable with up to 300 uses per charge. The FOREO LUNA play is travel-friendly sized, non-rechargeable version of the LUNA mini 2. Both facial cleansing brushes will eliminate impurities and bring a brighter complexion. The beauty love in your life will be grateful for this holiday glow!

2) Benefit Cosmetics Bomb Ass Brows! By Desi Perkins Set, $59

Your beauty babe will be jumping for joy when they open this value gift set by Benefit Cosmetics and Desi Perkins. Bomb Ass Brows! is a limited-edition, rose gold set of Benefit brow products selected by beauty guru, Desi Perkins. The gift set contains Foolproof Brow Powder, Precisely My Brow Pencil, High Brow Highlight & Lift Pencil, 24-hour Brow Setter Shaping & Setting Gel, ka-BROW! Cream-Gel Eyebrow Color with Brush, as well as an angled brow brush and spoolie. With their #eyebrowsonfleek, the beauty lover in your life will definitely be thanking you for this bomb ass gift set.

3) Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Gift Trio, $120

Another gift set the beauty lover in your life will love is the Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb gift trio. This gift set contains perfume, shower gel, and body cream — all in the popular Flowerbomb scent. Whether they spritz some perfume, use the shower gel or the body cream, your beauty lover will be smelling like an explosion of floral scents and will surely get compliments.

4) Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighting Palette, $58

The Charlotte Tilbury Bar of Gold Highlighting Palette is probably the next best thing to receiving actual gold for Christmas. The Bar of Gold highlighting palette features three must-have highlighting shades — original Bar of Gold, soft pink-tinted rose gold, and deep shimmer bronze-gold. The three shades work together to illuminate, slim, and sculpt the face.

5) Lush Cosmetics Snow Fairy Gift Set, $35.95

The beauty babe in your life will be happy for some R&R time with the Lush Cosmetics Snow Fairy wrapped gift set. This Christmas gift comes with four enchanting treats with Lush Cosmetics’ famous bubblegum scent — Snow Fairy bath bomb, Magic Wand bubble bar, Snow Fairy shower gel, and Snow Fairy body conditioner. After some self-care time using this gift set, the beauty lover in your life will be smelling and smiling like a snow fairy.

6) ColourPop Fa-la-la-Flawless Eye & Mini Lip Set, $30

Your beauty lover will also enjoy this bundle set from ColourPop. The Fa-la-la-Flawless Eye & Mini Lip Set includes peachy nudes from the Strike Twice mini size kit and Rockin’ Around kit. The Strike Twice mini size kit comes with five mini liquid lippies in the shades Fantasia, Zuma, Champagne Mami, Magic Wand, and Take a Pixie. The Rockin’ Around kit is a Super Shock Shadow Trio in the shades Goodbye Butterfly, Polly, and Buzzin. Your beauty babe will be feeling just peachy with these new eyeshadows and lippies.

7) Kora Organics Rose Quartz Heart Facial Gua Sha, $58

What better way to say “I love you” than with a heart-shaped facial sculptor made out of rose quartz? Kora Organics’ Rose Quartz Heart Facial Gua Sha is a beautifying stone that uses traditional Eastern treatments to enhance circulation and skin tone, reduces puffiness, and evens out fine lines and wrinkles. Not only is rose quartz a pretty color, but it also stimulates the heart chakra, bringing love and healing. The beauty babe in your life will be delighted to add this tool to their skincare regimen!

These are just a few of many gift ideas for the beauty lover in your life. If you have any other beauty gift ideas, let us know in the comments!

How a Rom-Com Helped Me Heal | An Ode to "To All The Boys I've Loved Before".

Image via Medium 

by Kirsten Renee

I'm a romantic comedy fanatic, I've watched all the classics, and even some that no one else has heard of. Rom-Com's have always been a form of escape for me, falling in love with a stranger, being the one for someone, or even forbidden love all have captivated my interest since I was young. As a child my diary held my deepest fantasies and dreams, often starring whatever boy my little heart had a crush on at the time. As I got older, the leading person changed, but those fantasies never went away... nor did my need to write them down.  I went from writing in my diary to writing notes to my heart's desire.  Going out on a limb, and hoping that they would return my affection. That never happened though, I usually was met with a hard dose of reality and legit embarrassment. Yet that never stopped me from writing notes or being overly hopeful that one day I would find my own rom-com partner. 

Well into my teen years where not much happened, but things got a little spicy at times. I realized that romantic comedies were not the best "How To" when it came to dating, and I was actually doing more harm than good to my own heart. My movie watching turned into me reading romance centered novels, thinking that I would one day find the Jasper to my Alice. Let's be real, they were the real power couple of the Twilight series.  Don't get me wrong, I would still watch movies about tragic love all the time, and still silently wished I was in them. 

At some point, adolescents turned into adulthood and that's where shit got really funky. While most of my peers went off to school and found new lovers and friends.  I was off at a local college, nursing a very wounded heart and hoping that I would just be invisible to everyone. It's weird how I went from craving the attention of others, to wishing I could be swallowed up by the floor. Heartache does that to you, and sometimes we don't realize the blessings that come out of a breakup.  

Recently, I've been anticipating the arrival of Netflix's new Romantic Comedy dedicated to teenaged love. "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" caught my eye not only because of the diverse cast but because of the plot. Girl writes love letters (sounds familiar?), letters get sent out, and suddenly she's faced head-on with the consequences of her hearts desires. I sat down and watched it with my best friend and by the end I was sobbing. How did these people expose me like this? I quickly added this movie to my list of favorites and spent the next day reading both books (reading the third one currently!) that it was based on. Reading the books is what really broke down things that I hadn't really noticed that I still held on to. Sure, there were major differences but the gist was the same. . . How do you fantasize about love, but run away when it's in your face?  

See the older I've gotten the more cynical I've become and you would think that for someone who loves love as much as I do I wouldn't be. However, it seems that relationships aren't something that IRL me can handle. The idea of loving someone and allowing them to love me back actually scares the shit out of me.  Like are you serious? What's wrong with me? Why am I like this? 

image via Buzzfeed

It wasn't until I saw and read about LJ and Peter's relationship that I realized "damn girl, you're too young to be this cynical"! Author Jenny Han literally brought my deepest secrets into the light and used my younger self to make me face them. Fifteen years old me was so triggered by watching the movie that I had to walk out and go get a snack. I went home after I watched and decided that I needed to see it again to make sure that I wasn't losing my mind. The second time, however, brought about different feelings even though it had barely been four hours in between both viewings. This time I wasn't watching it as a younger version of myself, I was watching as me now. Which in retrospect is a hell of a lot worse, because then for the next 24 hours I devoured 2 of the 3 books, and watched the movie for the third time.  

When the realization hit me that 16-year-old LJ and 26-year-old Kirsten were the same people, emotions got heavy. Here I am, damn near thirty realizing that the world in my head is NEVER going to match the one I actually live in. Let me tell ya, making that connection felt like I got slapped by the biggest brick to the face. Here I am, a grown woman still fantasizing about the great loves she'll never have. Which could possibly still happen I'm not that naive, but it's best to not write what I want it to be. It's best to let it happen how it's supposed to without any influence from my romance-obsessed brain.  

True enough, not everything can be explained nor can I rewrite the tragedies that I've experienced. I can't take back the notes that I wrote or the embarrassment that I felt. I can't change teenaged decisions or redo the heartache's that came with it.  I can't fix any of that or alter it in any way, the only thing I can do is to recognize my heart now.  What does she want? What does she need today? How can I assist her in healing and growing simultaneously? How is she wanting to be loved? I haven't asked adult me those questions before, and maybe it's about time that I start doing just that. 

This book series and film, pushed me past comfort zones that I did't even realize I was in.  Sure the setting may be high school, but the lesson is so much bigger than that.  We don't get to make up our perfect person, nor do we decide when they come into our lives. For all you know that best friend you had on the playground when you were six, will be your first kiss at sixteen. Life is funny like that and should be enjoyed in all of its fucked up glory. 

Heal yourself in any way you need to. 

Blessed be.  

Check out "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" NETFLIX now! 

Why Black Privilege Cannot Exist

by Emery W.

Photo Credit Google

I've been pondering about writing on this subject for such a long time because I was afraid my views would offend others, and cause a argument I didn't feel like I was to handle. Then, it dawned on me; a man whose purpose is to silence those of us who want to speak out on the mistreatment of Black Americans is being sworn in as the leader of our nation, and as a citizen, my being silent is unacceptable.

    I want to first say that a large majority of my friends are white, and I love them the same as my friends who are black, but I've noticed several differences in the way that my friends of color live versus my white ones.

    There's one thing that my white friends will never understand, and it's their level of privilege. Even the ones who don't come from extremely wealthy families don't understand the value behind working their way up from the bottom. Here's where people may start getting offended. I'm not saying white people don't work as hard as black people. What I am saying is that the playing field is not even. You have to go back to history in order for my point to be proven.

    From the beginning of slavery of black people in America to their emancipation, we as Black Americans have had to work. There's no money or titles our ancestors were born into like the Europeans our white peers descended from. My ancestors taught their children to work, causing a domino effect on later generations. We were all taught to work for not only what we wanted, but for basic essentials we needed.

    No matter how much someone may want to spin it; Jewish, Irish, etc.; you will always have a better chance at success than people who look like me because of the color of your skin. If people weren't aware of white privilege then Affirmative Action wouldn't exist. In my opinion, AA is something created by old white people to help soothe their guilt of turning away people based on the color of their skin.

    If racism wasn't a problem, then why do minorities need a special program to get admitted into schools that their white peers can do based off of their skills? Because black privilege cannot exist. Affirmative Action is not a privilege, it's a handout. It's the same thing as being racist against white people; it's not possible.

    I don't hate white people. I love them. If anything, I connect with them on a better level than some of my black friends, but that doesn't get rid of the divide. It doesn't eliminate the fact that they will always have it easier than me because of what they look like. I don't mind working hard. I'm proud of everything I achieve because it means it wasn't presented on a silver platter. I'm just mad at the reason why.