On a hot summer Friday last June, I spent my afternoon talking with Hailey Bieber about what was then the latest launch from her skincare brand Rhode: the Glazing Milk. When I asked about her plans for the brand, she teased the possibility of creating color cosmetics—specifically, blush. I remember thinking: In the world of celebrity beauty launches, blush created by Hailey Bieber makes perfect sense. Now, almost a year after that conversation, the model and expectant mother has finally released the must-have blush of the summer.
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For months, Bieber has been teasing Rhode’s Pocket Blushes as the secret to her perfectly flushed cheeks. The six shades of the aptly named product—Freckle, Juice Box, Piggy, Sleepy Girl, Spicy Marg, and Toasted Teddy—each come in a pocket-size brown tube, in a departure from the brand’s signature gray packaging. As a beauty editor, I see a lot of blushes on my desk, so I had high expectations for the Rhode Pocket Blushes, which launched on June 20. And they were met: I instantly fell in love with the buttery formula—you could say it was love at first swipe.
I’m so excited to chat with you, because I spoke to you almost a year ago about the Glazing Milk, and you teased blushes then. Why do you feel now is the right time to launch the Pocket Blushes?
Summer is such a fun time to introduce a color product—[and] they are finally ready. We’ve been working on this blush for two years, so it’s been a long process. We had a whole other formula that was confirmed and ready to go, but it didn’t feel right to me, so we scrapped it. I really wanted this blush to be one that you keep reaching for. For me, that was because of the pigment and texture, which is this buttery formula. The lab calls it a “melting blush,” which I think is interesting from a texture perspective. It gives the skin a dewy finish without a greasy feeling. So, it definitely was a process to check all those boxes, but I feel like we got there. It’s that perfect flush.
How did you decide which shades to release first?
We wanted to create those colors that you reach for on an everyday basis. Everyone’s skin tone and undertones are so different, but we tried to create those nude hues, pinks, pops of color, and ones that are a bit more bronzy. We will continue to build on the range of colors, but I felt like this was a good core to start with. I wanted there to be a shade for everyone. I also have a lot of fun mixing the shades. I’ve been mixing Piggy and Sleepy Girl a lot. Or I’ll mix Piggy and Juice Box if I’m, like, feeling fun.
If there were only one shade you could wear for the rest of your life, which one would you pick?
It’s really hard, but I find myself reaching for Piggy on a day-to-day basis. I personally love, like, a baby-pink blush, and that’s our version of it.
The names are so fun. How did you come up with them?
The naming process is always really fun—and sometimes can be hard, because you’re trying to emulate something and bring a story to life. Piggy is named after my dog; her name is Piggy [Lou], and she’s a blonde Yorkie. She has a lot of charisma and attitude. When I first got her, we dressed her up as a pig for Halloween, and I wanted to embody her spirit in the blush. Spicy Marg came to us one day in the office during the summer, when we all wanted to drink a spicy margarita—which is safe to say is everyone’s favorite drink in the warm weather. I love any spicy drink with Tajín on the rim and sipping it on the beach. That’s heavenly.
I also love the name Pocket Blush since I always carry a blush—along with a million lip glosses—in my bag.
I had this idea to name it Pocket Blush, because I wanted the story of the blushes to follow the idea [of] when I’m going out to dinner or to a concert and stick a lip liner, a lip, and a blush in my pocket to reapply really quickly in the bathroom or on the go. And like you said, I always have my emergency kit of makeup in my bag; it usually consists of a brow, concealer, cheek, lip, and maybe a mini powder to round it out.
Also, I could be out and about all day with zero makeup—only skincare—but I put a pop of color on my cheek and it brings my whole face to life. Blush brings vibrance to the face, and that’s why I wanted to make the blushes so skincare-forward, so it really was a natural, dewy look. We are entering the color category, but with these hybrid makeup/skincare products, which feels very authentic to us. We’re not going to make an eye shadow palette or liquid eyeliner [with just color]—we’ll always have a skin-first approach.
Have you seen the boyfriend blush trend?
What is boyfriend blush? Where have I been? Because I feel like I go on TikTok a lot, but I’ve never seen it.
It’s this trend where people place their blush in a specific spot to replicate the natural flush men get from playing rugby.
It’s funny, because I kept saying we need to bottle the flush a baby gets after a really good nap. I love the cute little pink cheeks. They look alive, and that was part of our concept for the Pocket Blushes. It’s the real color and flush you got from your skin, which is similar to the boyfriend trend.
There are so many ways to apply blush. What’s your preferred method of applying it? And is there such a thing as too much blush?
For me, it’s twofold. If I’m at home and doing a full face of makeup for dinner, I will use a brush for more coverage. But on a day-to-day basis, I apply it straight to the skin and blend out with my fingers—or I tap the blush onto my finger and put it on my cheeks. Blush is such an individual experience. I approach it by starting with less product, because I’d rather build and add more on top of that. I always love the pinched or sun-kissed cheeks look—like I just took a nap in the sun. How have you been applying it?
I’ve actually been applying it directly to my skin, which I never do. We get so many brushes and tools here, but the Pocket Blush really melts into the skin, and there’s no need for a brush.
That’s exactly what I wanted—a beautiful, melting texture. It really soaks into the skin and gives you that real flush look.
Yes, I love the texture so much. Also, is that a life-size blush behind you? [Points to prop behind Bieber.
Yes! We used it in the campaign imagery to show scale. We wanted to make the bottle really big and the model really tiny to show the duality of the size.
That’s so cute. In terms of the packaging, it’s a different color from the rest of the Rhode products. Why is that?
I love it when everything looks uniform. Since we’re just getting into color, I liked the idea of flesh tones, which is out of the box yet still in the same world as the Rhode gray. I use a lot of flesh tones, like creams, nudes, tans, in my house. I also felt as though the tan-nude shade looked pretty when you pop off the cap and see the blush color. It really spoke to me. It took us a second to nail this color identity for this new [category], but against the gray lip tints and the eggshell cleanser packaging, it all looks as though it’s from the same family.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for length and clarity.
Cre: Harper’s Bazaar Magazine
