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FINE Magazine / April 2016 / Interview with Katherine Cosmetics
Interview with Katherine Cosmetics Makeup: Who Do We Really Wear It For? BY REBECCA UNDERDOWN
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As the founder of an organic, raw skincare line promoting inner beauty, the subject of makeup fascinates me. My question: Does makeup cover up beauty, cover up flaws, promote looking “good” for others or, as I would like to believe, encourage one’s vibration of empowerment? PHOTO BY KATHERINE COSMETICS
Katherine Cosmetics caught my eye last summer sitting in the
sleek airstream of EC Style Bar at Del Mar’s HorsePark. A cosmetic company focusing on the lifestyle of an equestrian? This is a smart lady. I’ve got to meet this Katherine. As it turns out, Katherine is really Annie Finch. Nationally awarded equestrian, corporate badass, Rancho Santa Fe-based entrepreneur, and long brown-haired beauty. I am
immediately at ease when she flashes me a big smile as she walks into the Pony Room at Rancho Valencia. Annie! I love your line! Tell me a little about yourself. Well, I started collecting eyeshadows when I was 13. I owned every shade of eyeshadow Elizabeth Arden made. My mother used to remind me on a daily basis that it was not Halloween [the biggest most contagious laugh I could hope for]. I started unpacking boxes for Esteé Lauder and then moved into gift wrapping, selling at the counters, then managing the counters, then managing states, then regions, and eventually wound up in New York City running sales, marketing, product development, special events, and the global makeup artist program. So you just bopped around and kept running different departments of Esteé Lauder? [Laugh] Yes, well, it was New York. How long did you work at Esteé Lauder? 23 years. What did you learn working next to Esteé that you have incorporated into your own company? So many things. She believed that every woman can and should feel beautiful. No matter what. She was not judgmental about age or income bracket and felt that women could do and be anything. She hired women to run the company and had super high standards for us to maintain. People used to joke and ask what she put in the Koolaid at Lauder because we were all so dedicated and motivated to perform. She taught us how to take our work personally and that work is a lifestyle. I remember a presentation that her son Leonard did and he was pointing to the culture of the company. He started by saying something like, “It’s in the way we read the newspaper” and what he was explaining was that we all, as a company culture, skipped to the cosmetic ads because it was what we cared about. I always felt like I was supported in the company and if I needed something, they were behind me in what I needed. Similarly, I grew up in a family where I was encouraged to know that I could do and be anything I desired. That it was my choice and my gender was not to get in the way of that. The same sense of female empowerment was present at Lauder so there was no
question that I could not run marketing or sales or whatever the task was at hand. Esteé was a powerhouse and we were all going to do our best to live up to her expectations. Wow. Yes. It gives me chills just thinking about her. She was incredible. Tell me about your company Katherine Cosmetics. I wanted to make a product for the way that we live, and I wanted to sell a product for the way that we buy. Our products are mistake proof. Most colors can be worn by every woman and every product is working to do more than one thing. For instance our ‘Wow Stick’ can be used all over the face, under the eyes, and over the lips to help smooth out the skin to give a radiant finish. It only takes a couple of pieces to make a woman feel beautiful, and Katherine Cosmetics lives by that approach. As for how we sell, we have created the setting within stores in which women love to play with makeup. In Dillard’s we set up stations in which women can sit down, have coffee, charge their phones, and try on our new shades of lip gloss. It mirrors how we started with doing parties in women’s homes drinking champagne and literally playing with makeup. What is the most important message that you have been able to share with people throughout your career? When a person feels good about themselves they can do and be anything they want. People will say things about makeup and it being something that people use to look good for men or for others. But I see it the other way around. We wear makeup so that we can feel good about ourselves and to present our best self to the world. A little mascara or a little lip gloss can make you stand up straighter in the world. It only takes someone’s belief within themselves to make all the difference. That is what inspires me. The most magical feeling in the world is when I see the lightness on someone’s face when they look in the mirror and feel more beautiful. It’s the best. I completely understand. I see the hashtag #Katherinemoment or #Katherinegirl on your instagram. What does that mean? A Katherine moment is when someone feels proud about what they’ve done or what they are putting forth in the world. We have an amazing following of young girls all over the
country that are hash tagging this and essentially representing our brand message. Besides Katherine Cosmetics' eyeliner, what I love the most about this company is the message about makeup. That the desire to present oneself as best and as beautiful as possible is a righteous desire. It is noble. It is courageous. It takes energy, desire, and courage to put makeup on and say, “I feel beautiful enough inside to make the effort for the outside.” When one feels less than beautiful, it’s hard to make the effort. So the way I see it, it is Katherine Cosmetics' message that is the most powerful aspect to the company. Like
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