Actress turned Skincare Entrepreneur Jennifer Yen talks about what it takes to start a business from scratch and how close she came to giving up.

JENNIFER YEN

DOB: October 8, 1978

Birthplace: Taiwan

Ethnicity: Chinese

Occupation: Actress, Entrepreneur

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

Dina’s Thoughts
Fans of the ever popular Power Rangers will recognize the gorgeous Jennifer Yen as Vypra in the series’ 8th season, titled Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. While Yen has hardly aged a day since her role on the hit series, she has come a long way, segueing from Hollywood actress to highly successful entrepreneur and founder of skincare line Pur~lisse. Yen spent years between studying marketing, research and development and the very arduous task of breaking into the skincare industry before hitting her stride as one of the most hardworking, hustling entrepreneurs of our day.

Her humble roots in a Taiwanese American family taught her early on the meanings of discipline, persistence and a no-excuses attitude, lessons that would serve her well throughout her acting and entrepreneurial journey. Unlike too many Hollywood actresses who achieved success in their 20s and went on to be embroiled in drunken nightclub brawls or drug scandals, the intelligent Yen learned from economic hardships and kept her head on straight. She led the then newcomer Pur~lisse skincare company to pull through the 2008 recession taking big risks that eventually paid off.

Today, Pur~lisse has a large celebrity fan base with make-up artists of television’s Scandal and Heroes using these potent Chinese ingredient-based skincare products on their A-list clients.

Catch my interview with Jennifer Yen.

BIO
It was a simple case of “form follows function” that led actress Jennifer Yen to create Pur~lisse, her 10- product skincare line.  “As a successful working actress living in Los Angeles, I noticed that my skin was breaking out and becoming easily irritated after hours in makeup and under hot lights.  I discovered that most products contained dyes, synthetic fragrances, parabens and allergens which made my skin even worse! My radiant skin had become lackluster and irritated,” states Yen.

Frustrated with the state of her skin, Yen sought out a real expert for advice — her grandmother, who always had youthful, radiant, beautiful skin, for a lesson that she would later call “Pur genius”.  Her grandmother’s Chinese secret:  time-honored home recipes all containing Blue Lotus and White Tea.  By combining this tried-and-true knowledge with advanced French skin technology, Yen and her chemist were able to create the foundation of her formulations which she calls Lotus Lupine 5 Complex, an age-prevention combination of powerful antioxidants, botanical plant extracts, marine plants, vitamins and peptides to keep skin healthy.

Jennifer Yen experienced a transformation when she created Pur~lisse;  not only did she rejuvenate and manage her skin, she also transformed from actress to entrepreneur with a brand motto that aptly reads “pur~ingredients, pur~performance, pur~transformation”.

Currently Yen , a graduate of Boston University is focused on overseeing the growth of her skincare brand while acting plays a secondary role in her life.  She stays up to date on beauty by serving on the panels of BeautyFix and Real Beauty.  Yen has been featured as a beauty expert on Home and Family,, Real Simple, KTLA and popular YouTube Beauty channels.

As a member of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) she promotes entrepreneurship as a means to overcome youth unemployment and underemployment. And Yen is a mentor to the Cherie Blair Foundation and Spark Student program.

For more information on Jennifer Yen or the Pur~lisse collection of skincare products, please contact Creative Edge Public Relations, Inc. at (516) 248-4240 or visit www.purlisse.com.

Jennifer Yen on Twitter