beauty

Triple cleansing and a $195 eye shadow palette: Every beauty product Rowi Singh uses on her face.

 

What I Put On My Face is Mamamia’s new celebrity beauty series that goes inside the beauty cabinets of some of Australia’s most influential women. From what skincare products they use to their go-to makeup tips, it’s a pervy look at exactly what they put on their face. And body. And hair. You get the idea.

This week, we speak to Rowi Singh. Rowi is an Aussie content creator and beauty influencer, and if you’re not already following her on Instagram, you’re missing out! Fusing her unique and eccentric sense of style with her Punjabi heritage, Rowi is known for creating vibrant, original beauty looks that blend her culture with what everyone’s talking about in pop culture. Rowi talks about what it’s like being in the beauty industry when you have bad skin, as well as the foundations that perfectly match her skin tone and the ultimate trick for getting off stubborn eye makeup. Enjoy!

To listen to Rowi on the You Beauty podcast, get it in your ears below. Post continues after audio.

Rowi Singh’s skincare routine.

I struggle with my skin constantly. I feel like people don’t really see it because they’re used to seeing me all dressed up and with my makeup looking flawless on Instagram, but I have struggled in the past because I’ve got oily/combination skin.

In high school, I was fine but over the past couple of years in my early twenties, pimples started erupting all over my cheeks and forehead. It’s so crippling, especially when you work in the beauty sphere as a public figure and people are looking at your face all the time and you feel so self conscious. I’ve made an effort to have a really regimented skincare routine for myself that I know works. I also go to Infinity Skin Clinic, what really helped was the Deep Sea Skin Peel.

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I start off, always, by removing my makeup with coconut oil because I feel like it’s really gentle on my skin. The key here is, it’s not just any coconut oil, it’s got to be non-comedogenic because there are some types of coconut oil that will clog your pores. It helps to lift the makeup off your face and it’s really moisturising as well.

I need something that’s going to work and is gentle because I’m removing my makeup every day, sometimes twice a day. Wipes don’t really cut it for me because I get a rash around my eyes when I use them and they’re not so great for the environment. A bit of coconut oil melted in with my fingertips does it for me.

 

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I’ll do a second cleanse with a Tatcha (product) or The Glow Recipe cleanser. The Tatcha oil is so moisturising and if the coconut oil can’t get something off, the Tatcha one will definitely get it off. It’s an extra step that’s great for highly pigmented eyeliners and eye shadows, so I massage it around the eye area and it helps lift everything. The blueberry cleanser smells so good. After that double cleanse, I could go in with a makeup wipe and there’d be nothing left.

I also use a FOREO facial device. When my boyfriend asked ‘what’s that?’ I explained to him that it’s a face vibrator. I do it after I cleanse, it helps to lift any remaining bits of makeup, but it also just feels nice. It’s a part of my skincare routine where I can just chill. It’s that 10 minutes of your day when it’s just you in front of the mirror, taking it all off, it’s actually quite therapeutic! Then it’s tea tree oil blotted on blemishes, a Vitamin C serum to brighten and a moisturising night cream to finish.

Oh, and Sephora Collection face masks are my obsession. I have a problem. The bubble face mask is so fun, and I’m all about the fun, gimmicky face masks.

Her favourite products.

Virgin Unrefined Coconut Oil.

Virgin Unrefined Coconut Oil.
Image: iHerb.
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Tatcha One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil, $73.

Tatcha One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil
Image: Mecca.
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Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Gentle Cleanser, $52.

glow recipe blueberry cleanser
Image: Mecca.

FOREO The Luna 3 for Normal Skin, $299.

FOREO The Luna 3 for Normal Skin
Image: Mecca.
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Sephora Face Masks, from $6.

Sephora face masks
Image: Sephora.
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Rowi Singh’s makeup routine.

Post-uni was when experimenting with makeup started for me, because in school you never really get the opportunity to be creative in the way you want to be. You're forced to fit yourself into little corners. I feel like with makeup and creating these looks on Instagram, you can create your own rules, and I wanted to express myself creatively. I didn't know how, but I started with makeup because you can have one palette and create 50 looks - it was very economical for me, to be honest. I started with one palette and practiced a lot, then began creating more editorial looks and it snowballed from there.

There's not a lot of brown women doing what I'm doing for multiple reasons. It's a cultural thing. We're told to get a good degree and become a doctor or a lawyer, something that is successful in our parents' eyes, and going against the grain has inspired a lot of other brown women to just do what they love rather than what they think they should love. That's the avenue I've taken, and I've struggled with that. It's the misfit experience of not being 'Indian enough' to be Indian and not 'Australian enough' to be Australian, so I created my own little space. It's about how makeup can be a vehicle for self expression.

 

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When I'm doing my day-to-day makeup, I always use a primer. I'm not sure if it's just in my head that I have to, but I feel like it does help prep my skin for the day because I get very oily in my T-zone. It mattes things down but keeps it looking fresh. It's quite difficult for me to switch up my foundations - I have two staples, the Pat McGrath Sublime Skin Fetish and Fenty Beauty Hydrating Foundation - because it's hard to find an exact match. Even if a brand has 50 shades, there's always something a little bit off, so I stick to the brands I know for sure have my shade.

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I tend to learn about makeup by looking and practicing on my own face rather than from YouTube. A lot of beauty influencers look amazing because they're doing their makeup in front of 10 different cameras and 10 different lighting options, but as soon as you bring that out into the day, the makeup is going to look cakey. I simplify things - with the Tarte Shape Tape concealer, two dots under the eye is all you need, it spreads like wildfire. You don't need to do the whole triangle concealer thing.

Because I do a lot of heavy looks [for Instagram], day-to-day I tend to keep things more neutral or simple so I can give my face a break. But then I also can't resist. Sometimes I'll go to do a subtle eye and then think actually no, I'm going in with a glitter shade, even though it's 9:30am. My favourite eyeshadow palette is the Pat Mcgrath Mothership II Sublime Eyeshadow Palette. I know some people might roll their eyes because lordy it's expensive, but what an incredible palette. Some of the most pigmented shadows I've used, ever, are in that palette and the glitter just slides on. It's so easy to use, I just use my fingers and one swipe, and you're done in under 10 seconds.

 

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The Kat Von D liner is my staple because, to be honest, I'm terrible at liner and I should not be admitting that as someone who does makeup as their job. I can do something crazy like a cut-crease graphic liner, but a simple black wing and it doesn't work out. But this liner helps. I don't have extensions, I don't mind my natural lashes so I put a lot of effort into curling them back, fluffing them up and adding a couple of coats of Benefit mascara.

My thing as of late is a really powerful, punchy eye and a soft, glossy lip. That always goes down well because I eat off my lipstick constantly. Coffee? It's gone. Bagel? It's gone. Gloss is easy because it does come off but you can re-apply it in two seconds without a mirror. I really like Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb, it has shea butter in it, so it's very moisturising. Even my boyfriend asks to borrow it. I've also just started using Laneige lip products and they've changed my life.

Her favourite products.

Pat Mcgrath Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Primer, $99.

Pat Mcgrath Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Primer
Image: Sephora.
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Pat Mcgrath Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Foundation, $106.

Pat Mcgrath Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Foundation,
Image: Sephora.
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Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Hydrating Longwear Foundation, $52.

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Hydrating Longwear Foundation
Image: Sephora.

Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer, $40.

Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer
Image: Sephora.
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Pat Mcgrath Mothership II Sublime Eyeshadow Palette, $195.

Pat Mcgrath Mothership II Sublime Eyeshadow Palette
Image: Sephora.
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Kat Von D Tattoo Liner, $28.

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner
Image: Sephora.

Benefit BADgal Bang! Mascara, $43.

Benefit BADgal Bang! Mascara
Image: Benefit.
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Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer, $30.

Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer
Image: Sephora.
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Fenty Beauty Stunna Lip Paint Longwear Fluid Lip Color in Uncuffed, $36.

Fenty Beauty Stunna Lip Paint Longwear Fluid Lip Color in Uncuffed
Image: Sephora.

LANEIGE Lip Glowy Balm in Grapefruit, $23.

LANEIGE Lip Glowy Balm in Grapefruit
Image: Sephora.
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LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask, $28.

LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask
Image: Sephora.
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Rowi Singh’s hair and body care routine.

I get quite a few compliments on my hair and it's because I've never died it and it's virgin baby hair. I don't wash it every day, probably more like every three or four days. Some people think that's gross but also, natural oils are really good for your hair.

I pop in some dry shampoo on the third and fourth days to get me through. I do use the OUAI oil through my hair when it's wet before I dry it and it comes out nice and soft and silky.

Fragrance-wise, I went to an event for the Kat Von D Saints and Sinners fragrances about a year-and-a-half ago and they're great because there's one for each of my two moods. If I want to feel light, summery and fresh, I use the white one, which is an airy scent. The black one is a night time vibe.

Her favourite products.

OUAI Hair Oil, $48.

OUAI Hair Oil
Image: Sephora.
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Kat Von D Saint Eau De Parfum, 50ml for $90.

Kat Von D Saint Eau De Parfum
Image: Sephora.
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Kat Von D Sinner Eau de Parfum, 50ml for $90.

Kat Von D Sinner Eau de Parfum
Image: Sephora.

Have you tried any of Rowi's favourite beauty products? Tell us in the comments. 

You can read more from our What I Put On My Face series below: