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When Alex first met Rea Ann Silva, founder of Beautyblender, in her New York office just over a year ago, it was clear she was someone special. What started as a casual meeting quickly grew into a close friendship and a successful partnership—most notably with their collaboration on the Beauty Blender x HULKEN, which became an instant bestseller. Rea Ann, like us, has experienced the highs and lows of running a business. From navigating the chaos of entrepreneurship to building something from the ground up, her story truly resonates with us.
Since starting this podcast, we’ve had more and more women reaching out, asking how to take those first crucial steps in launching a business. And with her incredible journey from makeup artist to category creator, Rea Ann is the perfect person to guide us through that.
Welcome back to Unfinished Business. In today’s episode, Rea Ann shares the moment Beautyblender was born out of necessity—and how passion, resilience, and a little bit of ignorance turned it into a beauty empire. Let’s dig in.
Lee: I’m really excited to finally meet you because you really created a category. We’d love to hear how you got started.
Rea Ann: I’m a makeup artist by profession. I worked in film and television, starting out in music videos, doing editorial, commercials, red carpet — anything you can think of — for over 20 years. I was asked to department-head one of the first shows broadcasted in high definition. In filmmaking, every time you touch up, you’re applying more makeup, and by the end of the day, someone looks like they have a ton of makeup on. We needed to keep it balanced, fresh, and natural. That’s how Beauty Blender was born.
I took an ongoing education class from my union, where makeup artists shared secrets. It was a little like TikTok or Instagram today, but back then, it was more exclusive — trade secrets only shared among professionals. In one class, a makeup artist was talking about wetting sponges for close-ups, and that gave me an idea. I tried it on set, and it started to work. We would cut sponges, take the edges off, and use them wet. It made everything look more natural.
Lee: But how did you take the idea and actually decide to build a company around it? What were those first steps?
Rea Ann: I’d love to say I had a master plan, but I’m an accidental entrepreneur. I had no business experience — at the time, ignorance was bliss. At first, I was just creating Beauty Blenders for other makeup artists with the same challenge. My first customers were pro stores that I had relationships with. I was a very busy, well-paid makeup artist, but I’d hit a ceiling. I thought this would give me passive income, but there’s nothing passive about being an entrepreneur.
Alex: So many women find themselves in this position — no experience, never been a founder. Walk us through the emotions that went with taking that leap. Did you feel confident from day one?
Rea Ann: I think there are three main ingredients to being an entrepreneur: passion, a good idea, and ignorance. If you knew how hard it was, you might not do it.
Lee: Or you'd overthink all the small steps that would stop you from taking the first step.
Rea Ann: Exactly. You just have to be resilient. Being a freelance makeup artist prepared me for entrepreneurship. In the entertainment industry, every time you finish a job, you’re unemployed. You grow a thick skin.
Lee: Did you talk to those stores and get their buy-in before you built the product and packaging?
Rea Ann: No, because before Beautyblender, I had another project — I created these really cool brush rolls. The pro stores knew I had this idea and were interested, but it didn’t pan out. I didn’t want to do that again, so I waited until I was further down the road with Beauty Blender before sharing it. I was also learning how to protect my idea. After the brush roll, I started seeing people making similar ones. I knew I had to button it up until I was ready to go.
Lee: But how did you figure out the packaging and production? You had this idea to bake the sponges yourself. How did you actually go to the manufacturer?
Rea Ann: That is such a dumb thing. I can’t believe I admitted that. It’s so true though. But when I become passionate, I learn everything about it. This was 20 years ago — it was literally the Yellow Pages, word of mouth, and trade shows. Trade secrets stayed secret back then because there was no way for the secret to escape.
The pro stores were my first source of reference, since they were making their own store-branded products. I also found trade shows for packaging and different industries. I’d buy a ticket, drive to the trade shows, and walk around meeting people, collecting cards, and figuring it out. I met a woman named Catherine Bailey, who had been in the beauty implements business for over 30 years. She believed in what I was trying to create and eventually became my president for a couple of years, but her generosity and sharing of information were so important.
Alex: Tell me more about how your personal life evolved as your career took off. How did the new business impact your relationships?
Rea Ann: I just hustled. Balance was tough for me. You know your life is lopsided when your kids have to visit you on set or you have to fly them out to your location. My daughter is 35 now, and she’s a busy entrepreneur too. I see her trying to find balance, and she’s doing a great job. It makes me happy to know she understands what I was doing. That’s all you can hope for — that your kids understand your journey and that it gives them strength.
Lee: Speaking of balance, when did you let go of your makeup career to focus on Beautyblender full-time?
Rea Ann: In those first eight years, I was doing both. I’d show up on set, and my friend Sam Fine, who’s a well-known makeup artist, would say, "What are you doing here? Go home!" I’d tell him, "I still have to work." At the time, I was financing everything myself — I still own 100% of Beauty Blender, so I pay for everything. It’s expensive, and when you’re not a business person, you don’t always do things efficiently. I learned through experience.
Eventually, I stopped working on set to focus on the business, but then I felt flat. I needed to get back into product development and get my hands dirty again to stay inspired. I still do makeup sometimes — Regina Hall just took me out of retirement last week. I realized that I need to keep working to stay creative.
Alex: You’ve mentioned competition and dupes. They’re not Beautyblenders — the quality isn’t there. But how did you feel the first time you saw those dupes, and how do you deal with them now?
Rea Ann: The audacity! At first, I was like, how dare they? They know nothing about why I created Beauty Blender or how it works. They were building a business on my back. But I’ve come to accept it as part of the business. Now, it’s about letting people know that we are the category. We are the first, we are the best, and the others wouldn’t exist without us.
Lee: I know you started this journey wanting to send your daughter to private school. How long did it take for you to get to that "aha" moment where you felt like you’d made it?
Rea Ann: It was definitely an "aha" moment, but there was so much that happened in between. I haven’t really talked about this much, but after I separated from my daughter’s father, I had to figure out how to keep my daughter in private school. When the brush roll didn’t happen, I realized I didn’t have the bandwidth to focus on it while working as a makeup artist. But when Beautyblender came along, it was different. It was at the right time, and I just knew this opportunity was bigger.
Alex: You can feel it when something clicks.
Rea Ann: Exactly. With the brush roll, I knew I had to stay focused on makeup artistry, but with Beautyblender, I felt the pull. There was something there.
Alex: How amazing. Before we wrap up, if you could whisper in your ear as a young entrepreneur, what advice would you give yourself the day before you launched Beautyblender?
Rea Ann: Get ready. You have no idea what’s coming — the good, the bad, the dirty, the ugly, all of it. Just get ready. Be resilient.
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