Rea Ann Silva, Hollywood make-up artist and founder of the beautyblender empire, talks to us about the launch of her new beautyblender pro collection and her journey so far.
The beautyblender is an ingenious little invention that has revolutionised and simplified make-up application for women around the world. The little pink sponge started out as a solution for professional make-up artists who were working on performers for HD filming. Its unique shape allowed for easy and quick blending of products, a flawless finish and a perfect look on-screen.
From humble origins making the first beautyblenders in her garage at home, inventor and founder Rea Ann Silva has shot to success since 2002 after realising she had created a solution that would benefit all women, not just the professionals. Now the useful tool is part of many women’s everyday make-up regime and the beautyblender range has expanded to include new solutions to common make-up application problems.
As part of her visit to Dubai to launch the new beautyblender pro range, we sat down with Rea Ann to talk about her journey so far and how her new range is honouring the professionals that have supported her along the way.
To start, let’s go back to the very beginning of your journey; did you know from an early age that you were going to be in the beauty and make-up business?
That’s a good question; that’s actually the first time anybody’s ever asked me that. For starters, it does help to be from Los Angeles, the film making and celebrity capital of the world. But it’s interesting because me and my family are not actually from that industry. There is nothing about me that would have ever indicated that I was going to be a Hollywood celebrity make-up artist. My father was a mechanic, my mother was a waitress; I came from very humble background. Very early on, I just really loved art and I loved to draw and sketch.
When I graduated from high school, my mother said, ‘we’ve got to figure something out for you because you’re not going to make it to Harvard but you are artistic, and you seem to really like clothing.’ So, she enrolled me in FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising), with the idea that maybe I would pick fashion to be a direction for me. But what it really did was to open a whole world of arts to me, from illustration to design to merchandising; and I really took to the art of make-up.
However, I didn’t think I was going to be a make-up artist, I thought I was going to be a designer. I had a couple of friends that were make-up artists and were making a nice living out of it but it wasn’t my plan; I thought that it was a way for me to make a few extra dollars while I was going to college. But here I am, 30 years later and still doing it!
The origin story of the beautyblender is a fascinating one; it was a professional solution first that went on to become a global retail sensation. Was there a specific moment where you realised how big this idea was and how far you could take it?
Yes, there was a moment. These moments always happen to me in the middle of the night when I’m half asleep; I guess everything slows down and I lie in bed in a half awake, half asleep state and think about things. This particular night, I was thinking subconsciously about the beautyblender; at the time, I was a really busy working mother and I had been working on the product so much that I was constantly thinking about it! I had been trying to create this solution for make-up artists and I had just come up with the name a couple of days before.
And then it just dawned on me. I thought, ‘what if I could sell this to just regular, every day women?’ From there, that allowed me to dream; I realised there was no end to what we could do with this. But I had lots of obstacles to overcome, such as figuring out how to manufacture the product; that was the key. Because at this point, I was only getting them made in very, very small batches, if not cutting them myself. So, it was a moment where I realised, the product would disappear if I didn’t find the solution to this problem that would allow me to produce the beautyblender in large quantities, which is very difficult when you don’t have money or resources!
Your new range is the beautyblender pro collection. What defines the pieces of the pro collection and how are they different from the original and the other products that are already available?
Well firstly, the range is coloured black, which is honouring my make-up artist friends that have supported me around the world since the journey of beautyblender began. It’s a collection of tools that I think are really useful to a professional.
You have the micro-mini that does a lot of the concealing and colour correction. You have beautyblender original size which helps you with all your complexion needs. You have blotterazzi that helps you, once you have make-up on, to keep the texture of your skin looking fresh and clean for high definition. And then, you have liner designer which I love; everyone always asks me why I would include that in the professional range as surely a professional should know how to do eyeliner! But the reason why I have it here is for speed.
Once I was the Head of Make-up on a movie called Idlewild, and I had at least 150 show girls to make up every day, and they all had eyeliner. There were lots of close-up beauty shots so it had to be perfect; it was a huge production. I had a crew of people working with me that were local hires, and everybody has a different skill set and speed in which they work. But, of course, production doesn’t care about that and they want it done as quickly as possible. So, we started using these guitar-pick shapes to help get through it. Therefore, I included this piece because a professional knows that time is money and you need to speed along. And sometimes, eyeliner can be that problematic thing that takes more time than it needs to, especially when you make a small error.
You’re here in the Middle East to launch the pro collection which is a great choice as the beauty business here is one of the fastest growing in the world. What do you think differentiates the Middle East from other areas of the world when it comes to make-up and beauty?
I think it’s fascinating because I think that in the region, women have this duality where they’re steeped in tradition and very feminine and have an ideology about beauty and attractiveness for their husbands and for their families. But yet, they’re modern at the same time, because they want to be on top of all the trends. And, of course, they’re the biggest beauty consumers. So, when they go in and buy, they buy for their sister or their aunt or their daughters.
I think that the internet has played such a huge role in the Middle East especially because you don’t have to take a risk of going out and buying the wrong things and not knowing how to apply your product. I think it just feeds this machine of wanting to be your best you and be beautiful. In this region and around the world, I think women are very competitive with each other with beauty, too. But I think different cultures have different ideas. Some women and cultures pride themselves in being very natural. Here I think the look is very maximalist; the women of the region have access to such a huge variety of all the best products on the market and they pride themselves on looking polished and flawlessly made-up.
How do you feel that the landscape of make-up has changed in the past few years? And how much has social media contributed to your success?
The accessibility and sharing of knowledge has definitely made a big difference. But also, there are make-ups now that allow you to layer and use multiple products at one time. Before the process was concealer, foundation, powder, blush, lipstick and you’re done. Now, you have primer, foundation, concealer, colour correction, powder, contour, highlights, the list goes on! You can stack make-up now, and you don’t have to be intimidated about that because all you have to do is go online and watch a couple of tutorials and you’ll know how to do it.
You obviously have an entrepreneurial spirit which is how you’ve ended up founding this business, but you were a make-up artist first and clearly have a passion for that. How do you balance the time it takes running the business with doing the creative thing you love on top of the added pressure of being a mother as well?
Sometimes I wonder if there is a balance?! I am a Libra, the sign of balance, so I am always attempting to find balance and it’s a challenge. Sometimes it’s a bit of a circus act; you’ve got to be juggling all the balls. But I have a really amazing team that are very human and aware of the challenges that I face. My daughter is the face of beautyblender, you see her doing the make-up tutorials, so fortunately I can spend time with her as I work with her. But it is a challenge; I always have to check to make sure that I am providing enough time for myself. I have a son that’s still in school and his schedule is hectic; he plays two sports and is a straight A student, he’s an amazing kid. So, I want to be there for him, to support how amazing he is; I want to be able to go to his games and I want to be able to do everything with him. Thankfully, Kim, who’s our head of international marketing, is also a mother and so she’s mindful of being present and having to balance your life. I’m really lucky in that way; I just need there to be 47 hours in a day!
You have built your business around offering innovative solutions to everyday make-up problems and it started with one big idea. Now that it’s such a success, do you feel the pressure that people are going to expect new ideas from you constantly, or are you comfortable with the process?
Well, I don’t really allow myself to feel that pressure. The pressure exists, it is definitely there, but I insulate myself from it because I feel like it’s counterproductive. Like I said, I have an amazing team and they try to allow me to continue to be creative. But I’m also mature and secure enough to know that if I can just allow myself to listen to my gut feeling and be quiet and still, my gut will never lead me in the wrong direction.
The niche of your business is around the application of products and making the process easier for everyone. When it comes to luxury products, what are some of your favourites to use?
I love skin care. I’ve been really obsessed with this brand called Sulwhasoo from Korea for the last year or so. I thought by now, I would have moved on from it, but I haven’t. From a sensory position, the way it smells, the way it feels, the steps, the processes, the way that they have created this brand I think is genius and I’m really loving that. For me, that’s one of my luxuries. Something else that I do just for myself is visit spas; I am a hundred per cent a spa massage expert! I feel like people should pay me to go and critique different spas, because I am such an expert around the world. It’s the way that I download the stress and just relax.
Do you have any favourites when you come to Dubai?
I love to go to a Hammam; I love all the scrubbing treatments and massage. I also think there are some of the most amazing oils and hair treatments here. The beauty situation in the Middle East in general is so elevated now, and steeped in tradition. There’s some traditional processes and treatments that they combine with the modern elements and it’s an amazing balance that you really can’t find anywhere else.
Who you did look to for inspiration when you were just starting out? Are there any other female entrepreneurs that you admire?
I don’t think you can ignore the power of Bobbi Brown. As a professional make-up artist, knowing that she created her lipstick first, and it led her down this path of having one of the most iconic, strongest beauty brand in the world that ever existed; I would be remiss to not mention her.
In terms of celebrities, is there anyone whose make-up look you really like, or their approach to how they experiment with make-up?
There are so many; I love Rihanna and Beyoncé. I worked with Rihanna in the beginning when she was first coming out and she’s such a sweet girl. As a make-up artist, it’s always a really tricky question because it’s my job to find beauty in everyone. Whatever is special with that person, I try to emphasise it and make them feel beautiful about themselves.
In terms of make-up trend, what do you see as being the big next thing? Is there anything that’s jumping out for you on the horizon?
I have to say, I hope that the next trend is the kind of backing away from over-application. I believe that we need multiple items of make-up, but I feel like the application technique has gotten too much; the result should not be that you look like you’re wearing seven layers of make-up. You could be wearing seven layers of make-up and I fully support that, whatever makes you feel good. But I’m hoping for a more natural type of make-up look to come back.
What’s next for you, what lies in the future?
Well, we have more products on the horizon. We enjoy a great little sweet-spot being make-up’s best friend. We’re not a make-up line so we’re not in competition with other make-up. Other brands really love us because our products allow their customers to really feel confident about putting make-up on. So, I think I’ll just stay in that lane for a minute.
by Natalie Hanson
The Beautyblender pro range
Blotterazzi pro
An alternative to blotting papers, blotterazzi pro is a washable and 100% reusable blotting cushion. The unique, award-winning beautyblender material stays “thirsty” and absorbs excess oil while the open cell structure helps to re-texturise makeup, mimicking the appearance of natural skin. This duo set of sponges are designed to fit all the contours of the face leaving behind a naturally flawless looking complexion.
Liner.designer pro
liner.designer pro was developed to help demystify eyeliner application. Its three unique sides offer a variety of angles and liner shapes for every eye shape and liner style. Use this eyeliner tool to achieve symmetry with ease and make applying liner effortless.
Micro.mini pro
This best-selling and award-winning micro-sized beautyblender is made for smaller areas on the face and perfect for concealing, highlighting, contouring and colour correcting. Designed to be used with beautyblender pro.
Beautyblender pro
The original homage to professional makeup artists and inspired by the “universal beauty colour of the world,” beautyblender pro utilizes the same innovative shape, texture and material of the famed beautyblender makeup sponge to provide perfect blending.
Blendercleanser solid pro
Step up your cleansing game like a pro with the new, blendercleanser solid pro. This jumbo-sized cleanser makes washing multiple blenders a breeze. Plus, its new charcoal-infused formula provides exceptional cleansing results for all of your beautyblenders and makeup brushes. With hints of lavender, this cleanser comes with a large sized silicone scrubbing pad which allows for deep cleansing of makeup brushes as well as providing a perfect place to dry the cleanser post-use.
