My name is: Denise Vasi.
My stomping ground is: Venice Beach, Los Angeles and Dumbo, Brooklyn NY.
I’m known for being: A mother, model, actress, beauty expert and NFT enthusiast.
I'm talking about: Maed.
You can find it at: maed.co.
Before I launched Maed, I was: The lead actress on a prime time TV series called Single Ladies.
My interest was sparked when: I was pregnant with my first child and was looking to clean up my skincare and makeup routines and couldn't find anyone in the space who resonated with me.
What inspired me to start this was: My social media community inspired me. They kept asking me for a permanent home for content.
The idea behind it is: When I looked at the space seven years ago, there was a tremendous lack of diversity and inclusivity. I wanted to bring self-care and beauty content to all women, but I wanted it to be attainable and accessible to as many women as possible, especially women of color. So I took my passion for curating the best routines and products and built a platform where women could educate themselves and also shop at every price point.
What makes it different is: We make buying clean (or cleaner) products more accessible to our readers. The community trusts Maed to do the work for them, so they don’t have to do all the legwork themselves. They come to us to find the best of the best, at a price point that works for them.
One thing you can’t miss is: Our challenges! A few times a year, we come together and embark on a challenge. We’ve done everything from a month-long celery juice challenge to a three-week self-care challenge and recently did a six-week skin care challenge.
What it means to open your heart is: To look at yourself and others with compassion, empathy and humility. To put ego and judgment to the side and to accept people for who they are. To forgive those who hurt you and to wish them well as you bid them farewell.
When you show self-love, it opens your heart because: You have made the conscious choice to love yourself! Faults and all. The positive and the negative parts of you. And self-love is the most powerful healing version of love of all.