Mandana Bolourchi is a model, lifestyle influencer, and philanthropist- she also left her country in pursuit of living the American dream. Mandana is sharing her story with HOLR and how she is pursuing her dreams while advocating for women in Iran to pursue theirs.

Image Credit: Irma Iomidze

Mandana Bolourchi is living the American dream, but it wasn’t always this way. The Iranian model, influencer, and philanthropist left her home country to pursue her dreams in America and she sat down with HOLR to reflect on her journey.

Check out our conversation with Mandana below as we dive into her experience growing up in Iran, how she actively advocates for women, her role in Netflix’s Buying Beverly Hils, and more.

You’re a model, lifestyle influencer, and philanthropist who made the difficult decision to leave your home country of Iran. Talk to us about this experience. 

I wanted to share my life with people and show my enthusiasm for philanthropy, hair, makeup, and glam life. I am happy that I was able to do it and get good feedback.

Image Credit: Irma Iomidze

As an advocate for the treatment of women in Iran, talk to us about how you remain active in supporting Freedom for Iranian Women.

I am sure you heard that an unfortunate catastrophe happened when Mahsa Amini was killed because she didn’t have a proper hijab. That led to a huge movement of revolution led by women- especially young generations who are demanding their rights now. These women don’t want to get permission from their husbands or fathers to leave the country- there are so many laws that are disrespectful to women and that favour men, in Iran.

Since I was little growing up in Iran and going to school there, I was always bothered by these laws. As a child, I saw how men got many benefits. Therefore, since a young age, I wanted to educate the women of my country. I’ve seen so many being abused because they didn’t have the power of leaving these relationships. So, I founded a foundation with my father to help people in different areas.

My father helped me and I started talking to these young ladies and educating them. I continue to help them leave their abusive relationships, find a job, go to school, etc. These are things that I am so happy to have done and continue to do.

With the revolution going on, we are doing everything we can here to help. We work to call our senators and help raise social media awareness- any small act we can do to help those amazing, brave women who are risking their lives to demand their freedom.

You were also in an episode of Season 1 of Buying Beverly Hills on Netflix- what was that like? 

It was really fun! It was very organic because I was looking to buy a house at the time. Melissa is a great friend and my realtor. I called her to ask her for her opinion and she consulted with Farrah.

She called me to tell me that she has an amazing house to show me but that it wasn’t in my preferred area. Then, she told me they were filming it which was perfect because I always have my glam done. I didn’t know they were filming it for Netflix until I showed up.

I totally forgot about it until I saw it on TV! I got so much great feedback, and so many people reached out from different countries. The show is really popular worldwide.

Image Credit: Irma Iomidze

We hear that you’re gearing up to launch your own line of hair care products next year. Can you walk us through how this came to be?

I knew I wanted to do something in the beauty industry because hair and makeup are something I do all the time and I know how it needs to be marketed. Especially with hair, the market lacks some things we really need.

So I thought, why not start making the things we’re lacking?

One thing I wanted to create was hair perfume. I always spray regular perfume in my hair to make it smell good, but I knew that this wasn’t good. So, my hair perfume is beautiful. The bottle is super gorgeous and was inspired by Magnolias. It also has argan oil in it and it stays for a long time in your hair!

We also came out with an edge brush! Mine is made from good material and it looks beautiful. It’s so soft and is great for your hair, flyaways, or ponytails. We also have a great brush for long hair that doesn’t pull your hair. The packaging is insane- it’s beautiful!

In the second phase, we’ll start with heat spray, and finishing serums- we’ll take it to the next level.

What’s next for you?

I’m super excited to launch my haircare line! I really want to share these products I’ve been working on for such a long time. I can’t wait to see other ladies enjoying it as much as I do.

Published by HOLR Magazine.