Rochelle Rae is an Austin-based makeup artist and entrepreneur who recently launched her own line of cosmetics.
How did you get started?
My degree is in fine arts. I was actually painting on canvas long before I was painting on faces. I modeled for a short time (wrong side of the camera for me, I was way more comfortable behind the scenes). I met a makeup artist and it seemed like she had a really awesome, fun and exciting job. (It is!!) So I moved out to LA and went to the Makeup Designory or MUD, stayed out there for a while but was always planning to come back to Austin, which I love.
I was actually painting on canvas long before I was painting on faces
Do you have a mentor in the field?
I am lucky to live in Austin, a town of entrepreneurs and mentors. Everyone has been very open and helpful offering advice, helping me learn from their successes and failures. It seems like everyone wants everyone else to be successful. I haven’t always experienced that in other places.
What has been your best career decision?
Taking the leap and starting Rae Cosmetics!
How did you decide to take the leap and start Rae?
I knew there was a segment of the population that wasn’t being reached by the makeup brands already on the market, namely us sweaty girls. Active and athletic women who still wanted to look pretty and wear makeup. Deciding to go ahead and try to make that brand was scary and expensive. I had a lot of support from my family and friends but I think they were probably even more scared than I was. If this didn’t work I would be broke. They stood behind my every decision and I am so grateful they were and are there for me.
What is your favorite thing about doing makeup in Texas?
Texans are usually very friendly and it makes working fun. There is such a large variation of styles that it is like having a new job every day.
Texans are usually very friendly and it makes working fun
What is your favorite/go to beauty product on set?
The Climate Control Mineral Tint is the best product ever, it is great for every situation. It is a moisturizer, sunscreen and foundation in one but best of all it stays on when you sweat. So if you’re outside in the sun, working out in the gym or under hot studio lights, the makeup always looks awesome.
How do you stay motivated?
I think about this, my favorite quote:
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Who are you inspired by?
I am not really impressed by “celebrity.” I have been really fortunate to meet some amazing women though and because it takes time to do their makeup I actually am lucky enough to get to have conversations with them. I was lucky enough to be Liz Carpenter’s makeup artist before she passed away. A fabulous and funny woman, Liz was a writer, feminist, reporter, media adviser, speechwriter, political humorist and stood in the forefront of the Women’s Movement. She joined the staff of Lyndon B. Johnson in his campaign for Vice President in 1960 and traveled on his foreign missions as a press spokeswoman. After Kennedy’s election, she became the first female executive assistant to the vice-president.
Sarah Weddington is another in the forefront of the women’s movement. At 26 years old she argued Roe v. Wade before the Supreme Court and won. She is an advocate of women and children and has helped to pass many laws to support and protect their rights.
Liz Smith, the Grand Dame of Dish. Another amazing woman. New York Times Best Selling Author, columnist, reporter and producer. In the 1960s she worked as entertainment editor for the American version of Cosmopolitan magazine and simultaneously as Sports Illustrated entertainment editor as well. Another woman who paved the way for all of us.
These are the women who impress me.
I’m not sure I will ever reach “success” but I will strive for it every day!
How do you define ‘success’ in your own career?
I’m not sure I will ever reach “success” but I will strive for it every day!
What’s next? Any exciting projects coming up in 2012?
- I’m in discussions to start a Rae skin care line
- Working on involvement in Miami Swim, Miami Fashion week
- Talking at the HBA Expo in NYC on the 19th at the Javits Center
- Doing some events for Austin Fashion Week in Austin – I’m also on the advisory committee
- Still writing for the national magazine La Nouvelles Spa And Esthetique Magazine as well as many local publications
- I am a regular Beauty contributor to several television stations
- I was a speaker at the International Congress of Esthetics & Spa Convention in Dallas in May
- We do in store events usually every six weeks, and I’m having a big one during Austin Fashion Week
- My staff of makeup artists and I do makeup for ALL KINDS of TV, magazines, runway, etc…
Favorite BBQ?
I love the Sassy Sauce at Rudy’s BBQ
Favorite breakfast taco?
Ones I make myself. And I love them spicy! I don’t eat cheese or egg yolks so it is too hard to eat breakfast tacos out.
Favorite libation?
Champagne
Do you collect anything?
Not really, I hate clutter. I love art, so a small collection of art I hope to grow.
