What makes a good makeup product, what are some problems for people with oily skin when creating looks to last, and what challenges will beauty brands face post-COVID-19? We asked Helena Rönnblad, makeup artist and entrepreneur.
For those who are not familiar with who you are – tell us a bit about yourself, who are you?
I’m a makeup artist and entrepreneur – I see myself mostly as an entrepreneur and product nerd. 🙂
I run a beauty salon with employees, and a webshop with a lot of tutorials made by me. I also have other projects ongoing with external companies, within PR and photography. I will soon launch an online academy for makeup.
When and how did you get into the beauty industry, and what do you love most about it?
It started when I was still in school, with my beauty blog Imakeyousmile.se (started 2010). The blog gave me freelance jobs when I was only 17-18 years old, and then everything grew after I graduated! What I love the most is that it’s a job with a lot of freedom. It’s like art – you really need to know your materials and tools to get great results, but the rest is all creativity, and there is no right or wrongs.
What does beauty mean to you?
For me beauty is wellness. I could write a whole essay about this.
The routine itself is self-care, for me, it’s even therapy! To feel like your outside reflects the inside, and to feel good about what you see in the mirror. It doesn’t mean that you have to look flawless from head to toe – the smallest things can make you feel totally different. For example, we have many costumers with cancer that start crying of happiness when they look in the mirror and finally have eyebrows again.
In your blog and social media channels you often talk about your oily skin. Would you like to share some of the struggles that people with oily skin face when it comes to choosing the right makeup?
The main problem is getting a long-lasting result. It’s easy to get a nice looking base directly after application, but after just an hour the foundations can become cakey or slide off during the day. It’s also difficult that oily skin isn´t just one skin type, what works for me may not work for another person with oily skin. There are many things you need to consider.
Since we’re currently talking about “clean glow” on our channels. Could you share your tips on how to best get a long-lasting “clean glow”?
Don’t use glow products for the first steps in your makeup routine. Use a mattifying primer, foundation and an absorbing powder – then you can add how much glowy highlighter you want! If you have very oily skin, I would prefer a powder highlighter instead of a creamy stick, gloss or mist.
The glow and dewy trend have been going on for quite some time! What’s your favorite trend in beauty and makeup right now, and what do you think is the next big thing?
My absolute favorite trend is brow lift – I’m addicted! The beauty industry has been all about brows, lips, and contouring for a long time now. I think we will see more about the eyes soon – like biodegradable glitter and shimmer eyeshadows in “fun” colors other than brown, copper and maroon.
What do you think makes a great makeup product?
It’s the perfect balance between great contents and practical packaging.
I love smart products where people have thought about all the details to get both easy application and a great looking result. There are too many products on the market that could’ve been the best if it didn’t have bad packaging.
You’re very familiar with our patented material Upsalite. You’ve been testing our prototypes and have great insight into the science behind Upsalite as a cosmetic ingredient. From your point of view – what features of Upsalite do you see the most value in and why?
I think it is the fact that Upsalite is truly absorbing, and still feels (and looks!) really nice on the skin, because making a dry surface on the skin is easy – it´s making it look natural and nice at the same time that is difficult.
Beauty brands using safe and quality ingredients are becoming more important as consumers are getting more ingredient aware. What are some other challenges that you think the beauty industry has in front of them right now, and after the COVID-19 pandemic?
One of them is social media and the “review society” that we live in, which is both good and bad. It puts pressure on the brands to create better products, there are too many bad products on the market today.
But at the same time, the customers have so much power over your business. Trash talk and bad reviews don’t even have to be true but can still destroy your brand. After Covid-19, and climate change as well, I think people will consume less – which will affect products that people want but don’t really need. Many people buy so many products today that they can’t even use up in their whole lifetime, like a ton of eyeshadows, lipsticks, and palettes. But quality makeup won’t be that affected I think. Products that you use up and buy again and again will be successful if they can keep up with everything the consumer wants, like quality ingredients and environment-friendly packaging.
Helena Rönnblad is a makeup artist and entrepreneur based in Uppsala Sweden, where she runs the beauty salon and shop Creative Makeup. You can find Helena on the following platforms:
Blog: http://www.imakeyousmile.se/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imakeyousmile.se/
Salon and web shop: https://creativemakeup.se/
