You’d struggle to find a beauty fan who hasn’t heard of Caroline Hirons. Starting her eponymous blog in 2010, she grew a loyal fanbase by combining years of experience working at beauty brands (both on-counter and consulting behind the scenes) into refreshingly honest reviews and her now-iconic ‘cheat sheets’.

Some 160 million views later, and Hirons has released two bestselling skincare books, is an ambassador for the British Beauty Council, and founded Beauty Backed Trust, a charity supporting those working in the beauty industry.

More recently, she launched the popular Skin Rocks app, before launching her own six-piece Skin Rocks skincare line. Yep, she has achieved a lot over the years. So much so that we named Hirons our Industry Figure of the Year at the Stylist Best Beauty Awards 2024.

The skincare expert joined us at Stylist Live for a chat to discuss entrepreneurship, her refreshing approach to honesty and skincare. Here’s what she had to say… 

“I wanted Skin Rocks to be science-backed. We clinically trial every single product and nothing comes out until it’s ready, so we didn’t launch with a full [skincare] routine. We launched with what was ready, which was retinoids. I think people were expecting to me do a cleansing balm first because that’s my usual ‘big thing’ but we launched the cleansing cream before it – because it was ready. That’s why. There’s no master plan; it’s still very bootstrapped. If [a product being developed] doesn’t have great results, we go back to the drawing board.

“[If you’re setting up a business] for money, you’re never going to make money. You might make a bit, but it’s not sustainable – you have to do it with passion. You have to be committed to what you’re doing. Also, make sure there’s a reason to launch. What is your reason? Why do we need this product?”

“I’ve always had quite a high bullshit detector, and I don’t like people being ripped off. My mum raised me to be an ethical person. You tell the truth. What bugs me is, as women, we get asked all the time about [how we’re not afraid to call things out], but no one asks men those things. We all have opinions; there just comes a point where you’re confident enough to say: ‘Actually, I don’t think this is right.’”

“Once we came out of lockdown and people went back to work, Beauty Backed Trust became a grant programme. People want to further their skills, want to do training programmes and that kind of thing. We still help people financially, but we also tried to split it and make it more about making people better at their jobs. Whatever they wanted to do, we would help them do it.”

“People always ask me: ‘What can I do about my pores?’ Your pores are fine. But don’t stress. As you get older, they’re going to get bigger. If you’ve got oily skin, they’re going to get bigger. Use a retinoid, go and see a facialist, but chill out, please.”

“I’m like Switzerland; I don’t like to keep plugging my own brand, but from Skin Rocks, I’d say the Cleanser, £32. From other brands, I’d recommend The Inkey List’s Peptide Moisturiser, £15.99. If you want to throw in an SPF, anything from La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios range or something from Garnier. And then a nice, cheap lip balm.

“Don’t stress about your skin. It’ll be fine. You’re going to break out – it’s not acne. Your skin is probably just dehydrated. Start there because everyone is dehydrated. If you had perfect skin this morning or if you had a facial and left with perfect skin, you’ll be dehydrated by the time you get home. It’s perfectly normal, it’s what happens. Hydrate your skin – and that doesn’t mean just drinking water. Get a mist. Get a light moisturiser. Don’t think that a heavy moisturiser equals hydration. There are plenty of brilliant products and plenty of brilliant, qualified people.”

Images: shot by Farheenxo