Even though our meeting is over Zoom, it’s immediately apparent that Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has a presence. With slicked-back and honey-streaked hair, peony-tinged cheeks, and raspberry-stained lips, the model and founder of Rose Inc. exudes a quiet, polished confidence, even through a screen.
She’s calling in from a room with beige walls, light wood floors, and five picture frames carefully lined up on a wall behind her. This kind of minimalist design makes me think of her makeup brand, Rose Inc., which comes in clean, simplistic packaging that looks like something you could display on your vanity rather than keep in your makeup drawer. The formulas are high performance, using ingredients derived from plants. The packaging is made with 25% post-consumer recycled plastic, and sustainability is one of the brand’s pillars.
Not to mention, Rose Inc. is the perfect encapsulation of Huntington-Whiteley’s personal beauty philosophy. “My mum once said something to me,” she says. “It’s always stuck with me. She said to me, ‘Makeup should enhance you, not hide you.’ How I understand that now is that we all have the parts of us that we don’t like and the flaws, or the things that make us unique, whatever those are. And instead of masking those things, it’s about embracing them.”
If you look at Rose Inc.’s products, it almost seems like they were designed with Huntington-Whiteley’s mother’s words in mind. Each product is designed to provide subtle enhancements. Born from an online community and content platform that Huntington-Whiteley started in 2018, the brand has blossomed into something exciting and unique. Keep reading for the rest of our beauty-centric conversation.
Do you want to dive right into Rose Inc.?
We’re just a little over a year since Rose Inc. launched as a product line. It’s been a wild ride. It’s just so exciting. I feel really proud of our products, and I feel really proud of our brand. And it’s something I’m really excited to talk about.
I’m really excited when I hear people have tried the products. There seems to be an overwhelming, resounding feedback of positivity when it comes to the actual products, which for me is really exciting. Take away the business aspect, take away the day-to-day running of the business and all of that—I still really, really love the product formulation and the application of makeup and products and skincare really making a difference to your day. That, for me, is always really rewarding.
What are your favorite products, if you can pick a few?
I’m always excited about our newest launches because I have spoken about them over and over again. We’ve launched the eye collection, which is the four eye shadow duets, the mascara, the cleanser, and an eyelash curler. The mascara has been something we’ve worked on for over two years. Mascara for any brand is really, really hard to get right, like rounds and rounds and rounds of iterations.
I just feel really, really proud with where we ended up with this. And it’s got amazing ingredients in it. Because I get eyelash extensions a lot, my eyelashes get really damaged. So I really wanted to have a mascara that had amazing, beneficial ingredients and that really coats and hydrates the lashes. We’ve managed to infuse it with some really amazing ingredients as well as giving you that instant black, lash lift, and separation.
And then the eye shadow duet. There, we’ve got four shades, and they’re just really fun. I didn’t have much time to get ready, so I just tweaked on the shimmer side this afternoon. They’re really multipurpose. You can wear them both together, you can layer them, but [they’re] two separate formulations.
If you had to ask me my all-time favorite product, it would be our Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum. It is this little bottle of enhancement. I feel it doesn’t change you. It doesn’t mask you. It enhances your natural beauty. I just love the way it lays on the skin. It doesn’t feel like you’re wearing a lot of makeup, but it really does give your skin an even tone and glow.
I have tried the serum, and it is really good. It’s like popping on a filter for your face.
Exactly that. I definitely would say it’s truly a filter for the face. It just enhances you. It does what it says on the tin, as they say in the UK.
What do you hope for the brand in the future?
Ultimately to get the product in as many people’s hands as globally as possible, to continue to innovate as a brand and develop credible products that make a difference in people’s lives and that people get excited about, and continue to build a brand based within community.
I love spatial design. So for me, to actually create spaces for Rose Inc. over the next few years is really exciting, whether it’s through stores, experiential, office space, all of those kinds of things. I’ve always had the attitude that the sky’s the limit in my life in general, and I certainly feel that way for Rose Inc.
We’re going to be rolling out into new territories in the coming months before the end of the year. And then our sights are set on a very robust 2023 with some really exciting product launches.
Somebody tapped me on my shoulder the other night at a party and was like, “Oh my god, I just love your products so much.” When you hear that at that level, that’s just really special—really, really special. So more of that, I hope.
That definitely proves that you’re making an impact. Okay, let’s pivot a little bit to your day-to-day beauty. Would you be able to walk me through your skincare routine?
My skincare routine sort of switches around depending on my skin because I always say my skin is like a moving target. Generally in the morning, in the last six months, I’ve actually not been washing my face. I have a shower, and then I try to avoid actually using the hot water from the shower to wash my face. Somebody told me that it can be quite abrasive to the skin.
When I get out of the shower, I cleanse my face with rose water, or I use our amazing toner, which is really, really good. From there, I assess what I need. I use our brightening serum most days that acts as a beautiful base to your makeup. Then, our Hydration Replenish Moisturizer is beautiful. It’s a gel-like consistency with microencapsulated spheres. That works really beautifully over the brightening serum.
What about at night?
That’s time for what I call masking and basking. I might find myself in my bathroom after the kids have gone to bed, and I just find time to light a candle, put some music on. I might put a podcast on. I might call a friend. That’s time to have a face mask. I love my ice globes in the evening. I typically like to exfoliate in the evening and use my AHA serums and things like that in the evening. I always remember somebody saying to me [that] you want to exfoliate at night because you’re going to stay in the house. You’re going to go to sleep, and you’re not going to put makeup on [or] go outside with all the toxic things that are in pollution. So exfoliating at night and just adding a lot of hydration to my skin as well through masks and stuff.
Are you a fragrance person?
Yes.
Do you have a favorite?
I am a fragrance person. I don’t feel fully dressed without putting fragrance on, so I am a fragrance person indeed, but I haven’t bought one for ages. I realized the other day looking at my shelf. I was like, “I’m bored of all of these.”
I do like to have those new ones. As I’ve gotten older as well, I’ve gotten more discerning in my taste of fragrance. I tend to just go back to the same one time and again, which is the Byredo Gypsy Water, because everybody loves it. It’s nonpolarizing. You can wear it day or night, and it just makes you smell really great.
If you had five minutes in Sephora, what would you grab?
That’s like a supermarket sweep. Definitely go to the fragrance area because I feel like there are always great new fragrance products coming to market. I’d definitely go somewhere and get a good SPF. I love things like blushes and bronzers and eye shadow palettes and good mascara. I’d be a bit haphazard if you let me loose in Sephora on my own.
It’s nice to see what other brands are doing. It’s always amazing. There [are] so many innovative brands out there. What’s amazing in the beauty industry is [there’s] really space for everyone.
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