The Best Blurring Primer Stick for the Holidays Is LYS Beauty’s New Launch
Tisha Thompson just stepped into primers, and LYS Beauty’s new blurring stick is the first thing we’d reach for before every party this season.
By Black Beauty Founders Staff
Holiday season asks a lot of a face. Office parties, family dinners, flash photos and long nights on the dance floor. Before any of it, the base has to hold.
This year, the product at the top of our holiday beauty list is a primer, and it comes from a founder BBF readers already know well.
LYS Beauty founder Tisha Thompson entered the primer category this fall with the Secure Skin Blurring + Prep Primer Stick. It launched August 18 at Sephora and lysbeauty.com, and it retails for $28.
One swipe, softer skin
The Secure Skin stick is a universal blurring primer. It is one formula for every skin tone, so there is no shade to match. It is designed to soften the look of texture, fine lines and enlarged pores while keeping shine in check, so foundation goes on smoother and stays put longer.
The formula is silicone-free, which matters to anyone who has watched a heavy primer pill under makeup. LYS built it around three skin-first ingredients: peony root extract to calm redness, black currant seed oil to help protect skin, and kaolin clay to absorb excess oil.
The result is a soft-focus finish that blurs without dimming your glow.
Why it tops our list
The early response speaks for itself. On LYS Beauty’s site, the primer stick holds a 4.9-star rating across 135 reviews, and 100% of reviewers say they would recommend it.
On Sephora, one early reviewer said it blurred so well she was shocked, after being let down by so many other primers. Beauty creators are just as excited, calling it top tier and pairing it with the brand’s Triple Fix Blurring Skin Tint Foundation Stick for a complete base.
That pairing is the point. LYS designed the primer to go under the Triple Fix stick, an Allure Best of Beauty winner that comes in 22 shades across golden, neutral and pink undertones. Swipe one, then the other, and the whole routine fits in a clutch.
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The founder behind the formula
Thompson’s path to this launch started behind a makeup counter. She worked weekends at MAC while studying business and finance, then spent 15 years inside the beauty industry before launching LYS in 2021. She built the brand to prove that clean, high-performance and inclusive makeup can live in the same product.
It worked. LYS made history as the first Black-owned clean makeup brand at Sephora, and on launch day it sold through four months of inventory in 24 hours. Thompson bootstrapped the company to more than $10 million in sales before closing an eight-figure investment led by Encore Consumer Capital. LYS now sits in more than 800 Sephora at Kohl’s locations.
We told more of that story when Thompson graced our Volume 3 cover: How Tisha Thompson Turned Vision into LYS Beauty.
The primer stick is the latest chapter: a founder who knows exactly what deeper skin tones need from a base, solving one more problem in a single swipe.
How to wear it for the holidays
Start with clean, moisturized skin. Swipe the stick where you tend to get shiny or want extra smoothing, like the T-zone, the cheeks and around the nose, then blend with your fingertips. Follow with your foundation, or wear the primer alone on lighter-makeup days for a smooth, polished finish.
Where to shop
The Secure Skin Blurring + Prep Primer Stick is $28 at Sephora and lysbeauty.com. LYS is also pointing shoppers to the Friends of Credo sale at Credo Beauty as the moment to pick up its full stick lineup.
The holidays are about showing up as your best self. This season, we are starting with a founder who has been helping us do exactly that since day one.
Quick Links
LYS Beauty Secure Skin Blurring + Prep Primer Stick, $28: Sephora
LYS Beauty Secure Skin Blurring + Prep Primer Stick: LYSBeauty.com
LYS Beauty Secure Skin Blurring + Prep Primer Stick: Credo Beauty
LYS Beauty Triple Fix Blurring Skin Tint Foundation Stick: Sephora
BBF cover story: How Tisha Thompson Turned Vision into LYS Beauty
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The cover stories, launches and founder news shaping Black beauty, in your inbox.
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