If you love beauty, natural hair, and all things It-Girl, you need to be following Essence Gant. Essence is the founder of Gant Media Group, a content creator, beauty journalist, and former Buzzfeed Beauty director based in NYC.
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Essence has been in the beauty and media industry for 13 years. On Instagram, her infectious energy, beauty know-how, and friendly vibes reel you in instantly. She’s definitely a girl’s girl and friend in our head, so we were super excited to get a chance to chat about what she’s been toting around NYC lately, her inspiration, and where she get’s her confidence.
Here’s what we found in Essence’s vintage leather Coach Legacy Rambler.
- LYS Beauty Speak Love Glossy Lip Treatment Oil in light pink: This is my current obsession because it’s glossy but it’s moisturizing and has the perfect tint.
- Lime Crime Bushy Brow Pomade Pencil in chocolate brown: I was recently gifted this and it works really well for my brows. Plus, it’s super easy to use!
- Card Holder + wallet in sage green: Girls just wanna have funds!
- iPhone 14 pro max in silver: I got this phone a few weeks ago because my iPhone 11 just gave out. I love the camera quality!
- Face mask in black: People be having germs!
- Keys: So randos won’t be chillin in my apartment, watching my tv and eating my snacks when I’m not home.
- Tylenol: I hate having a headache and not having a solution. I usually have ibuprofen with me too, but I ran out.
- Tampon: It’s that time.
Reflect Beauty: What bag are you currently wearing?
Essence Gant: A vintage leather Coach Legacy Rambler in black. My dad pulled my name in a secret Santa years ago and gifted it to me. I love the quality and classic design of older Coach bags, plus it just has so much sentimental value. It’s the bag I wear the most!
RB: What do you do? How long have you been in the beauty industry? What do you love most about your career?
EG: I’m a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur navigating New York City—it’s often as scary, but also as invigorating, as it sounds! I’m a beauty editor and journalist, on-air talent, and content creator. I’ve been working for myself full-time for two years now, but I’ve been in the beauty & media industry a total of 13 years.
What I love most about my career at the moment (because this answer changes) is the endless possibilities. It’s a tough hustle, but you can do just about whatever you imagine. If tomorrow you wake up and you decide you want to make videos comparing lipsticks to R&B albums or potato chip flavors, there’s an audience out there who’d totally buy into it. My career requires a lot of consistency, grit, and thick skin, but the upside is there’s always opportunity to pivot and try new things.
RB: What are your favorite makeup brands?
EG: This changes a lot too, but currently LYS, Ami Colé, Danessa Myricks Beauty, MAC, and whatever random cool products I find at the beauty supply store.
RB: What are some things about yourself that you find most beautiful?
EG: Some things I find most beautiful about myself is how easily I laugh. I’m goofy, which isn’t always perceived as an aspirational quality for women. But I love that it doesn’t take much for me to find humor and let out a loud belly laugh. I’m bound to find joy in something at least once a day!
Physically, I find my skin, hair and smile to be some of my most beautiful external attributes. Tbh, I love being a Black woman because we really just out here fine with no effort. Big flex!
RB: Where do you get your confidence?
EG: I get my confidence from my family for sure—my parents, siblings, my late grandparents, everyone. I’ve been fortunate and blessed to have been surrounded by a loving, close knit family, and it has definitely given me an air of confidence and overall pride in who I am. And I also get my confidence from my faith. When you know God or your higher power covers you, you feel a strong sense of worth even on your worst of days.
RB: What inspires you each day?
EG: People’s stories inspire me each day. People I know, strangers on TikTok, literally anyone. I think it makes a lot of sense that I became a writer because I’m so drawn to all forms of good storytelling. There’ve been so many days where I’m feeling unmotivated or defeated but then I scroll on a single mom doing a GRWM with her kids or an influencer just getting real about their ups and downs. I swear it changes everything. It’s contagious, and it makes me want to get up and push forward even if I wasn’t feeling it 10 minutes prior. Social media has been really cool in that way—just introducing us to everyday people and their life stories.
