Iryna Tsybrovska: «It Is Beauty That Saves This World»
Iryna Tsybrovska - a modern woman who is wholeheartedly in love with life, founder of the WoBs brand, holder of the Order of Queen Anna “Honor of the Motherland,” and ambassador of BOMOND VIP Fashion magazine.
“I believe that Ukraine will blossom after the war. And each of us, in our own place, will do everything possible to contribute to this. Some will build, some will teach, some will heal, and some will create beauty. I want WoBs to continue to be part of this great story. And I want my grandchildren to one day be able to say with pride: our grandmother once created a Ukrainian brand that endured, evolved, and continued its story.”
Ms. Iryna, more than a year ago, we spoke with you for the first time on the pages of our magazine. I still remember that interview with particular warmth. Today, I would like to dedicate our new conversation to beauty and time, the most honest measure of true value. Over the past year, the world has changed, circumstances have changed, yet there are things that time only makes stronger. Looking back at this chapter of your journey, what has acquired an entirely different meaning for you today than it did then?
Thank you, Olena, for inviting me to speak with you again. I will sincerely try to answer all of your questions.
You know, over the past year, one thing that has been quite a revelation for me personally is that despite all the difficult circumstances, the number of professionals in our field is not decreasing. On the contrary, it is growing. There is demand for the profession of makeup artist, and there is demand for the services of beauty professionals.
I communicate with many women, and I see that they are working, studying, and developing. They hold educational master classes, organize championships and other interesting professional events. And personally, this really stood out to me.
Despite these difficult times and circumstances, people still want to be beautiful and well-groomed. They celebrate important occasions, have photoshoots, create new looks, and learn something new.
And perhaps today I understand the meaning of the phrase I said in our previous interview even more deeply: “Beauty will save the world.”
Back then, it was my belief. Today, I see so much evidence of it.
Because the desire to see beauty, create it, learn, and develop is also about the desire to live. About believing that there is a tomorrow. About the fact that, despite everything, a person continues to dream, make plans, and move forward.
Perhaps this is what has acquired even greater meaning for me over the past year. I have always believed in the power of beauty. And today, I see how it helps people live, work, develop, and not lose faith in the future.
In one of the brand’s recent messages on a card, you expressed a beautiful thought: a person’s life consists of special moments that change them, while their favorite brushes remain by their side, like faithful witnesses to these stories. When did you first realize that WoBs was creating not simply a professional tool for people, but was becoming part of their personal memories?
Thank you for the question!
As the person who once came up with this entire beautiful story called WoBs, I have collected many interesting stories in my memory through conversations with clients. This subject is very interesting to me personally, the brushes and the people who use them, and the way their stories become intertwined.
There are many beautiful stories that truly inspire and leave their mark. But perhaps it was through painful stories that I came to fully understand the value of what we do. And those are the stories that come to mind first when I answer this question today.
The beginning of the war. Pain, chaos, and complete uncertainty about what to do next.
For the first time in our lives, we began packing emergency bags so that the essentials would be close at hand. And that was when I learned that many of our girls were putting WoBs brushes into those bags.
I know stories of women who ran to shelters carrying those bags, only never to return home… When I read their messages, I cried.
That was when a new realization came. For them, the brushes were not simply belongings, and not even merely professional tools. They represented the confidence that, in a new and unknown life, they would be able to find their way. That they were professionals, that they knew how to work, and that they would be able to start over wherever they found themselves.
Perhaps that was when I truly understood that we were creating something more than just brushes.
Sometimes brushes are memories of happy moments. Of a first client, an important look, a wedding, a graduation, a victory, or a new stage in life. And sometimes they become a reminder: you are a professional, you know what you are doing, you will manage. Wherever you are.
And when I think about it today, I realize how many stories our brushes may carry with them. Perhaps far more than we realize.
We are accustomed to thinking of beauty as an outcome. Yet over the years, it increasingly seems that true beauty is measured not by a single moment, but by the way it carries through time. Can we say that the true value of a brand begins precisely when it ceases to belong only to its founder and becomes part of other people’s stories?
Yes! In 18 years, I have seen this more than once.
I have a very special relationship with my clients. I manage my social media myself, personally respond to direct messages, and work at exhibitions myself. It is very important to me to communicate personally with beauty professionals, hear their stories, and know what they are passionate about.
I have heard stories about dreams many times. About how, after completing their training, someone dreamed of purchasing our brushes specifically. That is always very touching to me. There are many professionals who still keep their very first brushes because they are connected with their first clients, first victories, and first important moments in their professional lives.
Today, many of our professionals are forced to live and work abroad. Yet they still order their brushes “from home,” as they themselves say. We send them to different countries around the world.
And it especially touches me when women tell their clients that they work with brushes from Ukraine, that WoBs is a Ukrainian brand. And then they order our brushes for their own clients and colleagues in other countries.
That is incredibly touching and deeply meaningful to me personally.
So yes, I believe that the true value of a brand begins precisely when its story is no longer made up only of what you have created. It becomes a story made up of the lives of the people who have been there all these years. Of their dreams, first steps, victories, and life changes.
And that is when you realize: the brand has long since become part of other people’s lives. And perhaps, for a founder, that is one of the greatest forms of value.
More than a year ago, you said a phrase that, without exaggeration, became one of the recurring themes of our magazine: “Beauty will save the world.” Would you agree that, over time, beauty itself becomes a kind of language through which a person communicates their values far more deeply than words ever could?
Yes! I will go even further: over the past year, I have become even more convinced of this.
During these difficult times for us, people have begun paying greater attention to what truly holds value for them. They want to live in the present and create beautiful memories even during difficult times.
Have you noticed how many beautiful photoshoots there are in Instagram feeds today? In studios, at home, in nature. With families, with children, and personal portraits. And what is very important to me is that these are not images artificially created by a program.
It is one person creating something for another person. When a photograph conveys the beauty of the soul, the eyes, the emotions, and the state of a person in that particular moment.
It seems to me that people have begun to value moments more. They have learned to live in real time while still retaining their appreciation for life.
I see this through our profession as well. There is demand for the services of beauty professionals! Women are working, studying, attending master classes, coming for one-on-one training, participating in championships, and constantly working to improve their skills.
For me, all of this is also about beauty. About a person’s desire to develop, create, see beauty around them, and preserve it in their memory.
That is why I repeat today: beauty saves the world. It saves, inspires, and gives us faith in the future. It helps us retain our appreciation for life and leaves us with beautiful memories even during such difficult times.
I am drawn to the thought that every new place reveals not only another part of the world, but also another, previously unknown part of one’s own heart. Perhaps that is why travel remains one of humanity’s most precious treasures. What role does it play in your life today?
Travel is, first and foremost, freedom. You are like a bird, flying somewhere toward a place that inspires you, restores you, and gives you the strength to keep moving forward.
For me, travel is a school of life. Every new journey, every new country, new impressions, another language, new encounters — all of these are experiences and new treasures added to the treasury of life. And I believe that this is very important.
Travel has taught me another important lesson. A person should have more than just dreams. Above all, they should have the desire to make those dreams come true. For me, that is the most important thing.
You can spend half your life dreaming and remain with that unattainable dream. Or you can draw your dream, turn it into a goal, set a specific date — and then it is no longer simply a dream. It becomes an action plan.
My travels have taught me not to stop at what I have already achieved. Every new journey is a kind of challenge to myself, a new experience, and an immense desire to keep moving forward.
I return from my travels a different person. Perhaps it is not always immediately noticeable, but every new place leaves something inside you. New thoughts, new desires, new dreams.
That is why today, for me, travel is not simply about seeing a new country. It is freedom, inspiration, experience, and movement. Movement toward new dreams and toward myself.
A person who has spent many years creating beauty for others inevitably, it seems to me, arrives at a different understanding of their own life. Are there things today that you have consciously stopped measuring by achievements, choosing instead to evaluate them through your inner sense of harmony?
Thank you for this question.
You know, lately I have often asked myself this very question.
I am no longer anywhere near 18, or even 25. And with each passing year, you begin to look at your age differently and understand more clearly what truly holds value for you.
Time that cannot be returned, COVID, the war that has been going on for years… We have not lived the way we used to for a long time. During this time, we have experienced so much, reassessed so much, and changed ourselves.
Today, price and value have an entirely different meaning for me.
But one thing remains unchanged — my family. It has always been and remains my first priority.
Today, time spent together, communication, shared moments, and memories are far more valuable to me than any business matter or another achievement.
You can change so much in life. You can change your city or country, start a new venture, learn another language, begin again.
But you cannot turn back time and relive the years that have been lost.
That is why today, harmony within my family, the feelings we have managed to preserve through the years, love, and the desire to be together are the greatest treasures to me.
They cannot be bought. And if you lose them, you cannot always bring them back, even with all the money in the world.
Perhaps this is how I measure my life today. Not only by what I have achieved, but also by whom I love, who is beside me, and with whom I want to share my time.
In difficult times, we feel the value of those who continue to create more acutely than ever. Every Ukrainian brand today, every individual, represents a story of faith and the future. How do you see the role of your own business in the future of our beautiful Ukraine?
You know, quite recently, something interesting happened with my granddaughter.
She was photographing different objects, sending the photos, and communicating with artificial intelligence. Then she photographed a box with our brand’s logo and asked in the same way, “What is this?”
In response, she received a great deal of information about WoBs. She sat there reading everything with curiosity, and then came up to me and said, “Grandma, look, there is so much written about you here! It says that you were the one who came up with this word many years ago!”
I listened to her, and it was as though all 18 years passed before my eyes.
At that very moment, I realized once again that what had once begun simply with my idea and a great desire to create something had now become a story. And that story has a continuation.
I sincerely believe that these difficult times will come to an end. I believe that our profession will continue to develop, that Ukrainian beauty professionals will work, study, and create beauty, and that Ukrainian brands will grow and become known far beyond our country.
We have all changed so much during this time. Even competition has an entirely different meaning for me today. There were moments when people who had similar businesses lost everything because of shelling. And at those times, we simply reached out a helping hand.
This period has shown that humanity is far more important than competition and many other things that we may once have given too much importance to.
I believe that Ukraine will blossom after the war. And each of us, in our own place, will do everything possible to contribute to this. Some will build, some will teach, some will heal, and some will create beauty.
I want WoBs to continue to be part of this great story. And I want my grandchildren to one day be able to say with pride: our grandmother once created a Ukrainian brand that endured, evolved, and continued its story.
I still believe: beauty saves the world. Beauty inspires change, gives us strength, and gives us the desire to keep living. And today, that is also incredibly important for Ukraine.
