The Secret to Seamless Makeup Starts with Beautyblender

0:02Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Energy. I have such an amazing guest for this day. She's truly an icon in the beauty space. and has created probably the most beloved beauty item, beauty tool that we all have used at some point or are still using. So without further ado, please welcome the founder and the creative genius behind Beauty Blender, Raeanne Silva. Welcome, Raeanne. I'm so excited to host you. Wow, that's a great introduction. Thank you so much for having me. No, it's such an honor to host you. I'm such a fan of what you've created, what you've built, and it's such an honor to host you.

0:37So I want to get started there, and if you could walk us down memory lane, what was the spark? You know, like the moment where you came up with Beauty Blender, if you could tell us what got you into the beauty industry. Okay, yeah. So what sparked my idea is that I am an actual professional makeup artist. Started out in music video, went into editorial advertising, soon into commercials, then TV and movie. and I discovered that I needed a tool that was going to be able to help me quickly democratize a makeup application in the makeup trailer. So what that means is as a department head makeup artist like myself, you hire other artists to come in and work with you and we all interpret the project we're working on.

1:25But everybody has a different hand, everybody has a different eye, Everybody has a different idea of whatever the job is. So whether it's beauty or character or fashion, you know, we all have our own idea in our minds about what looks good. But the one thing that we knew always needed to look flawless was skin. So, you know, your canvas is just that. It's like the canvas in which you paint all the details and all the designs onto the face. So, you know, you always want to start out with really beautiful, beautiful skin. And that was kind of what my reputation had become in the industry at that point, because I am Latina and I specialized in working with people of color because, of course, we're talking over 20 years ago, there weren't the shade ranges of makeup that you now see on the shelves.

2:17So we had to be very, I would say, like creative and a little bit MacGyvering of creating shades that looked natural and perfected your canvas. I would say that's the first step. But then secondly, I was hired to department head a show that was a little bit of an experiment, I like to say, because it was really and again, we're talking 20 years ago, it was going to be the first show shot digitally in high definition and broadcast out to the world. It was a show called Girlfriends. It's very popular show for beautiful black women. And on that show, Beauty Blender was actually created because historically, we would be shooting film and lighting the set a certain way, which evidently like makeup artists were a little more heavy handed with makeup.

3:07And now with the digital world and seeing everything, every pore, every hair, every texture, every discoloration, I needed to find a way to make the skins look natural, but still do corrective makeup and still be able to make whatever you wanted to change or hide look natural. And again, when you get back to talking about democracy, a democratization in your trailer with everybody having a different hand, which I mean, a different touch, a different pressure, different idea of what looks natural. When I created Beauty Blender, that was the tool that kind of just level set everybody in the trailer.

3:44You know, everybody had the same level of coverage and natural flawless finish. And that is the long-winded kind of story of how I created Beauty Blender, why I created Beauty Blender, but the actual process of creating it on set is we would literally sit on set in our set chairs and cut sponges and into teardrop shapes and and use them for the next day and I realized like okay my sponges are disappearing and and honestly you know working in these environments is very hygienic and you can't double dip you can't share tools so you know once I would use a hand cut sponge on a character or an actor at the end of the day i'd have to you know either throw it away or cut a new one or and this is where the idea of blender cleanser the partner to beauty blender came about i created the world's first sponge cleanser because i couldn't rationalize in my head why we could continue to just clean a brush and use it over and over again and that'd be hygienically acceptable when hairs have pores.

4:57I mean, the synthetic hairs are different now, but we're talking in 20 years ago. Anyway, it just didn't make any sense how it was acceptable to clean a brush over and over again and use it. Why couldn't we do the same to a sponge? And it would certainly help me cutting the sponges every day. So that's pretty much it. That was the genesis of the idea, how it came about. It was really just MacGyvering on set in real life, problem solving and creating a tool that helped me do this television show that was really a bit of an experiment and having all three of my makeup artists be able to achieve the same kind of natural look.

5:35That's so, so fascinating. I mean, now we look back, right? Like we all have a beauty blender. We've used one and it's like the most natural thing to use, like as a tool in makeup. I mean, when was that moment for you when you realized, you know what, I need to take this to market? Like, this is really something that could revolutionize the beauty industry. I mean, did you have that moment where you like, you thought to yourself, like, I'm gonna create a new category here, you know? I didn't dare to dream that big. I mean, I did dream big, don't get me wrong. But to think it was going to revolutionize the cosmetic industry or that one day it would be in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, like those things were never in at all, even like a molecule in my brain of a thought.

6:19What I thought was happening was me problem solving in real time to achieve my job, success at my job. And I also knew that, you know, high definition and the digital world was approaching, you know, rapidly. And there were going to be other makeup artists like myself that were going to be not working in film anymore, but, you know, digitally. So I thought, well, you know, maybe this is an opportunity for me to create a tool. I had always been kind of entrepreneurial. I had created like a brush roll before and I had different ideas for different tools because really like cosmetics themselves, when you think about formulas and you think about all the different products that are on the market, whether they're complexion, eyeshadow, lipstick, cheek, all those things constantly evolve and they have trends and they modernize.

7:10But the things that were not modernizing were the tools. Like we were literally walking around set with gardening bags, these canvas kind of like gardening bags where we would put all of what we needed for our actors on set. And we were, you know, using caboodles and little like pencil holders and all these like kind of crazy not products that weren't actually designed to help a makeup artist, a professional makeup artist on set work. So, you know, for me, I started thinking about, you know, how can I modernize the way we make up? And that's when I started thinking like, okay, I can't just be sitting on the side of a set with my makeup artists and cuticle scissors and cutting these sponges for the next day because they would literally, you know, I would either have to throw them away at the end of the day or my actors would say, hey, can I have my sponge?

8:00And they would take it and then they would show their friends or their mother, their sister, whatever. And then their friends would be like, where do I get one? And so then they would come in, say another day on set and say, hey, can you cut a couple more for me? I want to give one to my auntie or my sister or my bestie or something like that. You know, so I was like, okay, I really need to figure out how to make these things. yeah no it's so fascinating because when I look at what you've created it's a mindset shift right because I mean we all go through this on a daily basis I'm not like the best with makeup or anything you know I'll be the first one to say like I'm not a big makeup person I don't I'm not trained in any way but when I was even doing my makeup I remember starting off it was so hard to work with brushes all of us go through this motion of okay this is very difficult you know and we need to simplify this so you created something that literally bridged that gap for consumers where it's like feeling like this is not accomplishable by me versus you know I can do this I can work with a sponge and actually make this look happen for myself so I mean how's that been for you and it's much more than business right it's like a cultural shift that happened there yeah that's why I say modernizing the way that you make up because I did have that moment where I realized there is a learning curve with brushes and brushes make makeup application intimidating to someone just entering the makeup world.

9:19When you think about someone maybe like yourself, you say, you know, you're not a regular makeup user, but you know, you think about a makeup artist, we use brushes all the time. They're kind of extensions of our fingers. It's so natural for us. But for other people, I realized part of what's intimidating is getting the makeup on your face. it's not oh I can't find a product for myself oh I can't find a tool that I've seen someone else use it's actually getting the makeup on your face in a transformative way because we use makeup for transformation whether it's sheer or to look natural or to completely change the way you look makeup is used for transformation so the way you put it on your face and the way that the result happens depending on what you're looking for is the mark of success.

10:05But I understood that brushes could be intimidating because time and time again, my clients would make me walk them through what I did to them to achieve the look. And then they would go and try to duplicate it and it wouldn't look the same. And it's because it's the application. It's the way you put it on your face. So what Beauty Blender did was it democratized, like I said earlier, if you can bounce this sponge on your face you will get 20 years of makeup experience on at least perfecting your canvas your your complexion right so true I mean it's like a night and day difference I know like when I was younger I was using brushes and I just I ended up looking like a clown because either you put too much makeup on or you just don't know you know exactly what you said we don't have that normal consumers don't have that feeling of it's an extension of our hands we're just trying to what do you do if you over apply you know oh my god i have too much makeup on but then you try rubbing it off then you're blotchy and you're smeary and you're all these things with beauty blender you just keep bouncing bouncing bouncing and it kind of just level sets everything i can tell you like it was it was a tool really like i explained just a few minutes ago that i needed on set to democratize and make all of my artists be able to achieve the same kind of natural flawless look.

11:17But at the same time, it was so easy to use. And it was the same thing that the consumer needed to, to be able to feel good about their makeup use. But also then the retailers also loved it because it became makeup's best friend. Like literally it was brand agnostic. You could use a beauty blender with any brand in any store and it would make that makeup look good and sell that makeup. It would make it easy for the consumer to use. They would fall in love with the formula. The sponge became a little bit of a byproduct because they would see the result of the makeup application and be like, oh my God, okay, I need one of these applicators, these beauty blenders, and I really love this makeup now.

11:58So it kind of worked on both ends. It was definitely nothing I planned, but it's definitely something that happened. Yeah, no, that is really phenomenal, the way that this was taken on by everybody and I'm so excited that you like live in a world where I mean when people talk about inclusivity it's not just shades right it's also about the access people have to products or the use of products and that's where it really stands out to me what you've created is because you made people feel like you can do this you know this is something you can do you can achieve these looks you can look at your favorite magazine or something and you can try at least feel like okay I can somewhat accomplish that my makeup won't look completely off anymore and i think that's just so beyond just products i mean it gives someone confidence yeah it gives someone confidence i want to ask you this because i think it's not just the beauty blender right i mean the whole brand the way every product fit into the brand i mean it's really remarkable how you just kept creating wonderful products what is your mentality when you approach true innovation when you want to launch a new product or you're like i want to create something you what is that process for you well thank you for that because really everybody focuses on on the queen beauty blender as they should but you're right i've created so many other ancillary and unique products i i would like to to think that my tools are very innovative and i believe they are because people tend to copy them so yeah i know what did coco chanel say you know what is is saying imitation is the most sincere form of flattery or something yeah it's a little annoying but it is true if it if they didn't work then that wouldn't happen which you know is also something you said earlier when we first started talking you said everybody at some point has come across a beauty blender i don't know i think because beauty blenders become so popular and we're in a place right now where dupe culture is popular where it used to be shameful i think people tend to think my fans, as I'd like to call them, or the copycats or the dupes are an actual beauty blender, but they're not.

14:06Beauty blender is a brand. It's totally different. So I hope to what you said, everybody has tried a beauty blender. But getting back to your question, the way I innovate, I can tell you this is, is when I hear myself saying, I wish, when I say, I wish I had a place to mix my makeup. I wish that I could see if what I'm mixing is actually going to match the skin that I'm putting it on without putting it on the skin. So I created, for example, my product called Surface, which is a clear mixing palette way ahead of its time. I created this product 15 years ago, and it was way before everybody started watching tutorials and watching makeup mixing and all these things, but it was really a pro product.

14:54But it was one of those products where I said, I wish I had a clear mixing palette that I could mix my foundation color that I'm trying to match on a client and just press it onto her skin where I could see her skin. And then I could see the mix and see if it's right without applying makeup. Because in filmmaking, sometimes you do these really, really, really, really close tight shots. And even just the the little bit of makeup really shows and you're not trying to say makeup you're trying to create a character's look so you know if the makeup is overwhelming and someone says hey i see that makeup then you haven't really done your job you're supposed to be like wow look at that's amazing look at that look or whatever it is so my innovation a lot of times always starts with me having a job to do and saying damn I wish I had this and then that kind of leads me down the road of like I search to see if there is that and if it's not there then I make it that makes sense that sounds easy you saying it but you know it's a very difficult thing to do it's the billion dollar question right at the end of the day because there are so many like you said dupe culture is everywhere all I see I'm not gonna lie a lot of people out there you guys know what I mean every time I go on TikTok, it's just a dupe.

16:11That's all I'm seeing all the time, especially in the cosmic world. Well, and they're promoting it, which is funny because I come from a generation of artisans and, you know, where people create original ideas and make them in a way that is unique and proprietary to them. And they own that discovery. They own that idea. And it used to be shameful if someone copied it and maybe did it with inferior materials or inferior production but it was cheaper yeah you know and it would be shameful if someone said that's not a dior that's a leor you know you would be you wouldn't want to get caught dead because of course these are these are products that are and i'm talking about luxury you know luxury fashion luxury accessories These things are the kind of products that you work hard and aspire to and they make you feel successful when you can finally get them and afford them and wear them and appreciate them and then to have it kind of just cheapened in a way.

17:14I don't know. Yeah, no, it is. It is cheapening a bit. But now it's like the smart economic decision. You know, why shouldn't you be able to wear a cheap one? Or why is it wrong to like something so much that you'll just buy something that looks similar? or you know I mean and I get it like I really do understand the whole concept of why and and people feeling like we live in this culture and in a where when you look at TikTok and you look at social media and you see everybody living their best lives you don't see their struggles right you see everybody living their best lives and you think well god I want to live my best life too I need to have this or I need to have that oh look I can go on Timu or I can go here or there and get the same exact thing for a fraction of the cost and then I'm going to feel really great about myself because I'm looking like them or I feel successful you know and I'm all about that feeling people need to feel good about themselves and they need to do what they need to do to to feel good about themselves but there is this kind of shift in our culture that's happened yeah I completely agree I think that's so spot on because you know it used to be you're right it used to be very looked down upon you know this whole dupe idea and honestly I still look down on it as a consumer because let's be real I mean I can't tell you how many times and I'm not just saying this I promise whenever someone asks me oh this is the same thing as a beauty blender like no it's not like no it's not I swear by the actual beauty blender like I do not use the other sponges because I know like for me as a consumer if I find something I love I hold on to that and it's not just about oh I got this product and let me find a cheaper version It's more about like you kind of grow attached to that brand.

18:55You know, it becomes a staple in your life. And I think that whole experience for consumers, I don't know when we as an industry shifted away from promoting that. Right. It's like this connection you build with a brand, the connection you build with what the brand stands for. That should matter. And I think for a lot of us, it still does. I mean, it should, you know. Yeah, I hope so. I just think the cycle of marketing and newness is so fast now where and you can see it even in fashion. everything always usually starts in fashion first and you still have fashion weeks that have you know different seasons and different collections for different times of the year but you also see now because of social media and because of e-commerce and because you know the business of behind the craft requires that you sell sell sell I mean you you have to be creating newness all the time so technology and social media has had a big hand in in all of it right no i agree i want to talk about your foundation though because i feel like everyone talks about your tools but no one discusses i mean your your foundation was amazing like i remember when it came out and i was so excited that you launched a foundation and i know the whole internet was lit up you know when it came out and the design of the packaging was so like you put so much thought into everything i I feel like it shows, you know.

20:17Oh my God, thank you. How was that, you know, launching your first foundation? And how was that experience? Oh my God, it was white knuckle and shocking. But it was beautiful, you know. I mean, literally, I never expected to gain any success in my life by creating a sponge. Let's just be honest. I mean, that was not with the level of experience and the amount of work and the quality of work that I had done throughout my career. I saw my peers creating makeup lines. You know, you saw Francois Nars, you see Charlotte Tilbury, you saw Bobby Brown, you saw, I could go on and on with all the different artists that did the same thing that I did in one way or another.

20:59Some of them were fashion, some of them were film, some of them were celebrity-like, but, you know, you would see these artists get these deals where they would be creating makeup lines, like full makeup lines, right? And, or at least consulting and having some ownership in them. So I really thought that that was going to be what I was known for. So for me, and given my background being Latina, my husband is Black, my children are mixed, they're Afro-Latina. And then coming from the background of being a makeup artist that specializes in creating these shades that did not exist, I would be mixing lipsticks and eyeshadows and different things into my foundations in order to get the right skin tone sometimes.

21:41So for me, once Beauty Blender kind of took off, and I don't want to say it wasn't running itself because nothing runs itself. But you know, I had gotten it off the ground, it had gotten notoriety. My main retailer at the time, and still is, is Sephora. They wanted to know what's next. Again, here we go, right? Like creating products because people want newness, and they want demand and they want to continue to sell product. It was a big opportunity for me and kind of made my heart sing because like I said, I didn't think I would be known for creating a sponge. I thought I was going to be known because I'm such an expert in skin tones and complexion and really creating very natural look that were appreciated at the time because we weren't in the digital age.

22:22Now, you know, you have like Facetune and all these kind of digital apps that will perfect any bad makeup you do, right? And the flick of a key. But back then you had to pay retouching people to correct things. So I became really popular because there was the least amount, if any, correction ever needed in my skin tone, in my applications of complexion. So for me, I thought that that was going to be my big deal. So when Sephora said, what's next? I said, well, I think what makes sense is to create the perfect partner for Beauty Blender. So Beauty Blender is now the best way and the easiest way and the most popular way to apply your complexion products.

23:05Let me give you the complexion product that goes with it. It's like, I don't want to just sell you the hot dog bun. Let me also give you the hot dog. So let's do it. Let's, let's do it. So that, that was like the idea behind creating the foundations. It was because I was an expert in that area but it also made sense it was a product that went with beauty blender it really did match very well with it i remember when i first bought it and i absolutely fell in love with it after the first time i tried the foundation i was like this is brilliant and that's why i was like it just keeps happening you know like over and over again the innovation thank you so much for acknowledging that because i don't get much credit for my foundations and they're really really beautiful i have two my original one that you're talking about is called bounce and that's where I created the very unique palette on the bottle.

23:53So, okay, let's go back to when you said, how do you create products? And I told you about my product surface, right? The palette, the mixing palette. Well, only makeup artists really understood that product. So that product was, yeah, it was received kind of like, oh, it's interesting. I don't know if I need this, right? But I didn't know that the consumer needed it because you needed a place to play, you know, like when you go to work and you have a desk, you have all your things there. When you're a makeup artist and you set your setup up for a thing, you have all of your things there. When you're in your bathroom and you're getting ready to go somewhere, you have all your things there.

24:29And I would see people like mixing their makeup on the back of their hand or on top of a jar or something is because this is where the palette comes in. So when the palette was kind of like warmly kind of lukewarmly received, I was like, you know what, I know better, I'm going to put a palette on the bottle. So that's why I had that square unique bottle you're talking about that you would turn sideways and the makeup would pump into the side, the flat side of the bottle that had kind of the shape of a beauty blender. And that was your palette. That was where you would go and you could mix, you know, a concealer in there.

25:05You could mix a shimmer in there. You could, you have a place to play. And also the thing about the beauty of Bounce and the challenge of that foundation is that we launched right after Fenty launched. And when Fenty launched 40 Shades of Foundation, it seemed like it had never been done before, which is wrong. You know, MAC had 40 shades, Estee Lauder had 40. There were many brands that had 40 shades, but what was different about it and really brilliant about it, it was done by Rihanna, who is a woman of color. So it was the first time somebody of color was actually promoting and creating all these in-between shades right and so when I went to create bounce I had to do 40 shades too so it was a big undertaking and it came with a little bit I think you mentioned it a little bit of scandal yeah yeah I remember that yeah but unnecessary it was unnecessary yeah I found out that they were like 15 year olds in middle America just yeah it was the baby I mean, I remember that though, Ran.

26:14I remember when it was like the foundation came out and I absolutely fell in love with it. I saw the vision you had with the, you know, the indentation and the palette on the bottle. I used that palette. You know, I used the product and when you used it and had the experience, it was actually the most innovative thing you had seen in foundation in a very long time. And so if you actually went through and did the whole experience the way it was meant to be, I think, again, it was an entire category being created, you know? And it's like, I remember the scandal part. I remember when people were talking shit for no reason.

26:48And as a consumer, I thought... They called me a racist. Yeah, I know. And I was really pissed about it. I was really pissed. I'm Latina. And my kids are black. And all of my clients, like Brandy and Whitney and Eve, and I could go on and on. all women of color I was like wow they didn't do their homework yeah no it was it was nonsense I even remember as a consumer I was like that's crap like you know what I mean because it was such a good foundation like if you use the product and it looks beautiful and it does its job why are you all about this other stuff you know what I mean like I just didn't understand it even as a consumer the best product you know I it's you talk about it like it's not here anymore oh no I know it's amazing and and it's today still one of the most popular foundations used in film and television because it photographs so well it absorbs the light but still reflects if you can understand like and that's what gives you kind of like this corrective when I say corrective like we we use makeup on our face because we're trying to change something or enhance something And so that's where the word corrective comes in because it changes and perfects everything, but at the same time looks really natural and it's long wear and it's buildable.

28:02I mean, it's an amazing formula. No, I know. It's really, really good. And I think, especially if you have textured skin, I know when I first discovered the foundation, I was dealing with skin texture a lot. And it was like, I remember trying and I was like, oh my God, everything's blurred. It blends everything. Yeah, because it absorbs the light. it doesn't reflect the light a lot of you know these other foundations nothing there's all there's amazing stuff out there i'm not saying anything there's some really really beautiful formulations but there is a certain type of finish that a lot of people like that's very radiant and shiny and almost wet looking and that will enhance your texture that will enhance any kind of but if you don't have just like perfect flat skin, you're going to see texture.

28:51And if you're okay with it, that's fine. I mean, I don't think all of us want to hide our flaws all the time. And if you're fine with it, that's fine. But if you want to just really perfect and blur, you need something that absorbs light. And at the same time, you know, in the high points of your face, in the structure of the skull and the face, you want, you know, when light hits certain areas, you want it to still reflect you don't want it to be dead and totally like mad and that's what this this thing does it's just really really beautiful well that's the it also raises the conversation right where it's like people scream from the top of their lungs about inclusivity and they want more inclusion in this industry but it's like why don't we ever acknowledge products that go beyond just shade range and they're truly inclusive because when you look at people of color in our skin and the way our skin behaves and the problems we face, right?

29:44Like whether it's hyperpigmentation, texture, whatever it is, those are very specific problems for people of color. And so when you're, when you created your products, like even with the beauty blender, the foundation, all of it, you can see the inclusivity in every product because it's making you feel better about the way your skin looks overall. I mean, every single product combats issues that are not discussed when it comes to colored skin you know what i mean at the end of the day we're not talking about texture we're we're screaming about shade ranges but we're not talking about oh well if you have melanated skin here are the five things you're going to deal with you know what i mean on a day-to-day basis and so when you have a product and multiple categories being expanded in this way that are tackling these other issues it really baffles me right why we don't focus on those and the positives that have come from the innovations you've put out into the beauty industry in that regard I don't understand it I just think that the whole conversation around inclusivity is it's kind of misdirected at this point you know everyone's just like I need 80 shades that's great I would love to see people have 80 shades in every foundation launch in everything but I also need like what you're saying I don't want a shiny foundation because you know what I got pores and my pores are going to come through in that shiny foundation maybe maybe someone who doesn't have that skin type can do it but i can't so it's yeah it's like a much deeper conversation that we need to have as the entire beauty industry about like what does inclusivity really mean and who are the people who are actually addressing these true problems that we face on a day-to-day basis rather than just yeah i don't know launching something that looks good in the marketing world and goes viral on tiktok because you have whatever if 70 shades of something so yeah i have my own thoughts on that sorry I'm like ranting but yeah no I get it I mean trust me it's been the topic of conversation time and time again for me but I will say I think that we've kind of moved away from needing to have so many shades because honestly I feel like there's so much information out there on the internet now that teach the makeup user how to tackle whatever that challenge is that they have, whether it's texture, color matching, or allergies, reactions, like, oh, there's so much out there now that there didn't used to be.

32:04I think, I think one of the lessons about the 40, 50, 60 shades for a founder, at least like me, who's, you know, still self-funded, only out of 40 shades, maybe, maybe if you're lucky, 10 are productive. So then you're creating all these other in-between shades that may kind of limp along you know there might be certain certain number of consumers that identify with some of these in-between shades but they're certainly not the most productive not all of them are productive so you you know what we've seen in the industry is that they've kind of cut back from requiring to have that many shades anymore if you see some of the smaller more new brands that are coming out you know they may have 20 shade there's no longer 40 shades because it's a financial decision but it's also a waste decision because you create these shades they don't sell what do you think happens to them and then we have for me anyway i mean beauty blender is also it's not only the first high def tool but it when i made blender cleanser it became the world's first sustainable makeup sponge because for the first time I wasn't, we weren't saying use your sponge once and throw it away.

33:20And we also were not, we were not educating with nothing. And what I mean by that is like, we would all get all of us, you would buy a powder, right? And you would get a sponge in the compact or you get a foundation. Sometimes they would give you like this kind of obligatory tool to put it on with, but they didn't tell you what to do with it, how to use it. If you can clean it, if you can wash it, they didn't give you a way to replace it. It was just kind of like this thing, like here, this is better than using your fingers. So Beauty Blender, when I created Blender Cleanser, became the first sustainable tool too.

33:51So for me, that waste, when we go back and talk about 40 shades and only like, maybe let's, let's call it 15 or productive, you know, you still have all those other shades that what do you do with? You can try to sell them in the gray market, or you can try to sell them out to another country or whatever but a lot of times it's just waste and it just seemed really sad for me I'm conscious of the environment I'm not you know a total like I don't live my life every day in every single moment of my life but but there are certain things that as a makeup artist I saw how much waste there was and it just didn't seem right yeah no I wonder if they have ever done a study of like what happened with the amount of you know those little wedge sponges like how many oh my god yeah how much that declined since the launch of beauty blender i mean it's it's crazy to think before we were using like what 10 of those per makeup application i mean i was just throwing them away you might use it if it's just for yourself you might use them a couple times but you were always marketed and taught to throw them away and use another one i mean listen it's a great replenishment story right for the companies that are making it because you know a replenishable product which means sales and replenishment for me because i would run some big departments where sometimes i would have 10 makeup artists when we wrap at the end of the night i would look at cleanup and how much how many of those wedges would would be in our trash cans when we're trying to wrap the night up and i'd be like oh where does all of this go like the material itself doesn't necessarily it's not like uh and and i i all of them like they they take time to degrade in our environment.

35:34And it just seemed like, I don't know, it just seemed like such a waste to me. It is. It is a waste, you know, that's the bottom line. And it's amazing that you found like a truly, I mean, that's, I think, one of the most sustainable launches of this industry's history, you know, is the sustainability aspect is through the roof. And again, it's, I mean, you're so remarkable because you've innovated entire categories, entire new mindsets of how we look at what we use in beauty. And it's just really remarkable. Thank you. Yeah. But I would love to get your advice, Rianne, for all the entrepreneurs out there, because I think this is becoming every day the beauty industry is becoming more cluttered, you know, and everyone wants to be an entrepreneur.

36:11It's very crowded. Yeah, it's very crowded. What is your advice to someone who might be a new entrepreneur thinking about launching a brand for themselves? A cosmetic brand? Yeah. I mean, anything in the beauty industry. Okay, I can be cheeky or I can be honest. Let me see. It's not easy. Okay. It's more expensive than you think. I see that a lot of people, even more experienced, like makeup artistry friends and just different people that I come across, they think you need to have the whole line. Like, I'm going to create a makeup line, right? I can only talk from my own experience and I'm very grateful that I created one product because it really truly, you know, in the beginning, because it really truly is the only way I was able to survive and grow the brand.

37:00If I had to start my entrepreneurial journey with 40 shades of foundation, I wouldn't be able to do it. you know if you have one good idea for a product if it's one of those products where you say i wish you can afford to make the prototype for that one product you can educate your your future consumer about why why you need this and what it's for and then then you have something to work with i think it's really hard for anybody entrepreneurs especially because of tiktok and instagram and I mean, there's ways to now sell your product without having to go to Sephora or Alta or some of these stores.

37:39You can totally do D2C. And, you know, it's more than just creating either a website or a link or something like that. I mean, digital marketing now has taken the place of traditional advertising. And where, you know, you used to buy a page in Vogue magazine to advertise your product and it would be like$250 ,000. but it would be a full page and you would be in vogue and people would sit and turn the pages and see our product. I mean, now that's the world we live in with D2C. You know, digital marketing is so expensive. You know, these are the things you have to consider. And then it's beyond the expense of it.