Speaking to the bubbly Lara Kruger, a transgender woman who defines beauty as confidence, love and comfortability, she takes us through her journey and her newly established brand, Endless by Miss Lara.
Please tell us about yourself, where are you originally from and how was your upbringing?
Helllluuurr, well I am from a township in Rustenburg known as Mogwase, I am the last child of three and I am 30 years of age. My upbringing was certainly one of the best, my mom and my two elder sisters are honestly great women and being surrounded by them has taught me so much and it still does.
Growing up, what were you passionate about?
I loved public speaking. I even did it as an extra-mural activity in my high school days. I also loved to dance, I would dance for my family and friends or even at parties and that was my favourite because I would get to steal the show.
SKINCARE: Endless, the newly established brand of Miss Lara.
When did you decide to transgender?
Normally when people hear the term transgender, they think trans-sexual, where a sex change producer has been done there. Transgender is cross-dressing/transvestite; and I can tell you that from high school, I was already shaping my eyebrows.
So from Grade 10, I was going in hard, enhancing the woman in me. The honest truth is, I knew when I was very young that I was different but the journey of self-discovery allowed me to tap more into myself as time went by.
How did your family take it?
To some extent, I think my mom was taken aback when I came out in primary school after writing her a letter but I come from a house of so much love and respect. One thing I know 100% about my family is that we love one another unconditionally and we support each other no matter what.
What are some of the criticisms you get from society (if they are any) and how do you deal with them?
Strangely, I do not get people that criticise me to my face, all of them are cowards who hide behind social media handles. On some days I would reply, just to feed them some humble pie, but most of the time I block. Coming to your brand Endless by Miss Lara, how did that come about?
I actually wanted to study law after matric but never did that because I thought to myself "how would I fit in after I had completed my degree while I knew that behind my identity number, which specified male there’s actually a female brewing in me".
So, I did a course in Cosmetology instead. After working for reputable spa brands in South Africa, from being a spa therapist, spa manager and spa consultant. It has always been a thing for me to one day release a product range for ethnic clientele, something that was actually going to work for us and our skin tone.
I saw that there was a gap in the market, and either sales assistants at retail stores where recommending harsh products for the ethnic clientele or the products were just redundant and not serving a purpose. Endless is harmless to the skin and it safe to use on ethnic skin tones.
What is the inspiration behind it?
I absolutely love skin care therapy. I mean, a healthy looking skin should be worn by everyone, every day.
What beauty products does it have?
First, let me say that Endless by Miss Lara is only releasing four products for now so we can tally a response from our target market and see how we are accepted by clients.
We have decided to call it ‘The Werq It! kit which consists of cleanser option, toner and moisturiser: Change My Life cleansers (mild cleanser & citrus cleanser), Miracle Toner (facial dew) and the OMG!!! Face Cream (moisturiser).
All these products have just the right amount of active ingredients.
How are planning on changing the beauty game with Endless?
It’s certainly not me who is going to change the industry; it is the bold women and men who are going to support my vision hoping that they fall in love with the products just like I have. They are affordable, harmless and effective, so I am going to allow it to speak for itself.
Endless by Miss Lara will soon to be available at an online store. For more, visit www.misslarakruger.com