A MOMENT WITH ROSE-MARIE SWIFT OF RMS BEAUTY
TEXT: LOGAN VERLAQUE IMAGES: VIA RMS beauty
The natural beauty guru on how living a healthy life is beautiful.
Rose-Marie Swift is a beauty veteran. Having been in the make-up industry for the past 35 years, first as a celebrity makeup artist and now as a clean beauty entrepreneur, Swift knows what works. After experiencing some personal health issues, Swift began her journey towards wholistic living, and in the process birthed one of our favorite natural beauty brands today, RMS Beauty.
On being one of the first women to start a natural beauty brand
After over 35 years in the fashion and make-up industry, I’ve learned a lot about the impact of daily exposure to chemicals in beauty care products. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. I see the results of taking a quick-fix approach to looking good and I know first-hand the price our health can pay in the pursuit of beauty. I realized that what women need are skin care, color cosmetics, and toiletries that are as pure as possible; lines that create a solid foundation for anti-aging and long-term beauty.
I always felt that skin and health are valuable real estate so I wanted to create a brand that would be relevant and could offer a cleaner version of today’s mass market chemical brands. My flair for the rebellious (being an advocate for cleaner beauty), my personal touch (having been in the beauty world for many years), my integrity (the best natural and organic ingredients) and my educational aspect (www.beautytruth.com) are all indicative of wanting to do something different. How I brand the line also keeps the interest of many people and gives it that cult feel.
On her healthy lifestyle
I am a firm believer that your skin is a mirror to your gut, and that a healthy diet does more for your skin than a bottle of the most expensive synthetic and genetically engineered chemicals of ‘hope in a jar.’ One has to eat wisely. Never underestimate the power of pure water, organic fruits and vegetables, probiotics, digestive enzymes, exercise and meditation. Living a healthy lifestyle is what gives us beautiful healthy glowing skin and a clear focused mind.
On her “less is more” beauty philosophy in our “more is more” world
I feel beauty is in the soul of the woman, her magic and energy she exudes. "Real" beauty is not the next "entertainment phase" of cosmetics we are lead to believe. That can be both fickle, regretful and alienating. The plumping, contouring, volumizing approach equates to nothing more than an industry "price tag” in my eyes.
On how to begin the transition to natural beauty
Your skin is a living organism. It breathes, interacts, and absorbs information from everything it encounters. It is in constant communication with the environment. Without healthy skin we are are vulnerable to the effects of everything we encounter. Unfortunately, most ingredients in skin products and cosmetics were approved by the FDA back in the day when it was widely believed that the skin acted as a barrier to the outside world, blocking out whatever was applied to it. We now know that any ingredients and products we put on the skin can be absorbed into the bloodstream. You only need to look to medical patches, anti-smoking patches and hormone replacement patches for proof.
Therefore, I believe anything that goes on to your largest organ, which is your skin, should be your first introduction to natural products. That would be sunscreen, moisturizers, body lotions, bath products and cleansers being your first and easiest choice to start. Next would also be your lips, as we all know you basically eat the lip products we wear daily. Remember, these products should always contain clean, natural and organic ingredients as the skin works synergistically much better with products from mother nature. Seeing the positive results will keep you on your clean beauty mission.
“I feel beauty is in the soul of the woman, her magic and her energy she exudes.”
On supplements, and rms beauty’s new supplement line
OMG…..I love my supplements. I have been ranting and raving over probiotics, prebiotics and digestive enzymes because like I said earlier “your skin is a mirror to the gut.” Our intestinal flora, with today’s diet of nasty food etc., has an abundance of bad bacteria in the gut. This, in turn, wreaks havoc on our health, mind set and skin. I created the prebiotic/probiotic to balance our gut flora for optimal health and vitality. The digestive enzymes are to help ease the digestion process of some of our bad food habits such as sugar, alcohol, meat, dairy and carbs to name a few. I firmly believe that pre/probiotics and digestive enzymes are one of the most anti-aging things you can do for your body. I actually just won best pre/probiotic from New Beauty Magazine. Major!
On how she lives a sustainable life
It is hard to say the least. We live in a very toxic world at every turn and it is getting worse. Education and understanding, foremost, is the key to sustainability. Many people are getting so much of it all mixed up because there is so much misinformation is also out there. One step at a time is better than no steps. Knowledge is key.
