Photo: Layllah.com 

Cruising Instagram for style inspo can become a very mundane task, as all of the bloggers start to look alike.

Everyone seems to be wearing that same pair of black and white Nike’s with some form of athliesurewear, a heavily contoured face, 32 inches of lavender weave, and a nonchalant expression that reeks of Daria level teenage angst. With so many of these influencers being contacted by the same brands for sponsorships it’s no wonder they appear the same.

So in order for an Instagram page to stand out, there has to be a unique defining quality that makes it so, and with over 50,000 followers Layllah Style has that quality.

This highly curated page is run by two sisters Cari Rene and Kay Lynn. The Atlanta natives have a passion for style and beauty, and both components that are evident in each post. But they also have a strong push towards facilitating cultural and women’s empowerment events throughout the city of Atlanta like the Lipstick Lineup Networking event, and The Industry Brunch to name a few.  They have also been featured as co-creators and hosts of Diane Von Furstenberg’s Bloggers Night Out.

Photo: Layllah.com 

You could liken them to the Kardashian’s, only they’re black with much more obvious talents and purpose, and no sex tape. An even more amazing addition is their older sister Veta who creates impeccably designed one of a kind pieces for them and a few a notable celebs like Erica Campbell and Nene Leakes.

Cari, the middle sister, could be best described as the Kim of the trio as she provides direction for the overall brand. While Kay, the baby of the family is studying cosmetology to orchestrate the hair and beauty branch of Layllah Style. We caught up with Cari on the set of her most recent shoot to discuss style, self care, and how Layllah Style came to be one of Instagram’s favorites.

On managing her image and not having a huge glam squad: “I’ve always been the kind of person that had to have my hands on things. I managed people for a long time when I was with Bank of America, so I’m all about the delegation piece but I still like to be the overseer. I like to give the final word on what’s going on and what’s happening. However, I absolutely embrace teamwork. I live for compartmentalizing what I have going on and saying ‘you’re gonna do this.’ I’m working on building that process up now. I would love to have a machine working behind me to bring things together a lot more seamlessly.”

On self care and what she does to relax: “I’m definitely a very holistic person so I do spend a lot of time in my zen. I like to self reflect a lot. I read for pleasure. I’m definitely a spa girl, so I spend about two days a month just kind of in a very peaceful state just doing the sauna, getting a massage. I just need that kind of rejuvenation. It keeps me very balanced. I’m definitely a church girl so I’m faithfully there every Sunday and I do the Wednesday service twice a month, so that gives me that mid week boost. I get a lot of quiet time to be on my own, write down my thoughts and focus myself. Whereas a lot of people are in the hustle and bustle, going, going going, and always out and about in the mix, I personally have a lot of time to organize. it gives me a lot of time to focus and I think that reflects in my work, because I am very diligent in what I like to put out, so I have a lot of time to focus on what that should look like.”

On time management: “For me, personally, it’s a day planner. I’ve always been a writer when it comes to the things I need to do, what the day, week, month is supposed to look like. Some people use their calendar in their phone, but for me it’s always been pen to paper. It’s old fashioned. That’s the one thing I will not convert. I am kind of in the tech world, but when it comes to the tasks I have a process for it.”

On her hair and makeup routine: “Overall I’m a minimalist. My style has transformed so much over the years, but one thing that has always been consistent is that I do not like a lot of makeup. I’m not a makeup girl. It’s just not really my thing. I like to maintain a very healthy complexion and caking on the makeup has just never been my thing. I stick with a couple of different products that are paraben free, chemical free. I use a foundation, a powder, mascara. I stick with the same type of matte lip balm from NYX, and bronzer. And I fill my eyebrows in. That’s my entire face on any day that you would see me. If I do studio shoots, I bump it up a little bit. I get my hair done every two to three weeks at the Dominican salon and my clip in extensions.”

On when and how her style changed: “I noticed a major shift in the Kardashians appearance and I immediately resonated with the new style image. With a complete wardrobe overhaul the new and improved girls began to surface in clean lines, thigh-high slits, neutral tones, and some killer knockout statement. They became modern day chic style icons right before my eyes. I had to find out who was behind this transformation to discover L.A. based Stylist and Designer Monica Rose. I was hooked!! The looks she created was the epitome of everything I was missing in my personal style journey. Her styling became my style inspiration and years later I am still following her classic looks as I’ve watched my personal style mature to a place that best represents me.”

On how Layllah Style Instagram brand come about: “We’ve gone through so many transitions. We started out as an inspiration page, just trying to build audience… full scope beauty and fashion inspo page. From there we decided to launch our own boutique and monetize our brand. We were buying wholesale from all of theses different vendors all over the world, but we grew tired of that because we actually know how to make clothes. So we started to slowly incorporate the things Kay would make, and that Veta would make, and that stuff started selling really well. We started to see that all of the things we purchased wholesale were everywhere, so from there we went 100% custom and branding ourselves that way. It was around that time that we became the face of our page. Forever we never showed our faces. We weren’t the brand, we were behind it. I was the one who said let’s try to come to the front, and we were so scared, but I kept hitting points where I felt like we have to reinvent and stay current because we were seeing so much of the same thing. And there weren’t a lot of sisters dominating the Instagram space, so let’s create a sister brand. We started modeling our own stuff and that’s how we became the face of our brand. From there I was like why don’t we launch a blog? We launched the blog January 2014, and then we phased out the boutique, because it wasn’t making enough money.”

On curating their page: “I absolutely drew inspiration from other bloggers. Some of the very minimal bloggers, the black and white, very clean look because I think it helps the eye flow. I created a process for my layout. It’s very strategic and every good blogger is. If anyone told you differently they’re lying.”

On what can we look forward to from Layllah Style in 2016: “In 2016 I want more. I don’t want it to be like ‘Oh, she’s a pretty girl who wears pretty clothes.’ No I’m going to help you to do the same thing if you’re interested. So that’s what 2016 is going to look like. I’m trying to see how I can step outside my box to be more influential.”

See more of Cari and Kay’s Layllah style on the next pages. 

The post Instagram Star Behind Layllah Style Talks 2016 #Goals appeared first on StyleBlazer.