Jessica Cruel is the editor in chief of Allure and SELF, where she leads the development of multiplatform editorial content for digital, social and video platforms. At Allure, she spearheaded the launch of The Melanin Edit, a new platform celebrating all things relating to Black beauty, and the annual Best of Beauty LIVE event.

In her decade-long career, Jessica previously served as deputy beauty director at Refinery29 and held editorial roles at SELF and Popsugar. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in multimedia journalism and sociology. Jessica currently resides in Newark, New Jersey. When she's not leading Allure and SELF, she can be found hoarding candles, slathering on serum, and lifting barbells at the gym.