Yesterday afternoon, we hosted an intimate group of industry friends at 10 William St to welcome our new beauty editor, Emily Algar. From suspended black roses to Vermouth-and-soda aperitifs, the anti-beauty beauty event not only served as an opportunity to connect and make introductions, but to lay the foundations for all RUSSH beauty is, and will expand to be.
At RUSSH, we know beauty demands the personal. It doesn’t seem to tire of voyeurism. Intimacy works. If we distill the changes in the industry down to one thing, the most successful brands today aren’t just selling products so much as they are selling a community; a place to engage and connect with other people. The best brands create a place for us to feel seen and to recognise ourselves in others. A platform to discuss our skin, what has worked for us and to share what hasn’t. There’s nothing more validating than reading about someone’s weird beauty habit and thinking, yep same.
"I've been fascinated by beauty since I was really young; both in a functional and frivolous sense. Sometimes it's a means to an end (a skin-clearing serum; a lip balm that actually heals) but it can be beautiful, luxurious, and steeped in creativity, too. It's also a conduit for connection; I've had hour-long conversations about hormonal acne with complete strangers over social media, and we've kept in touch," shares Algar.
This leads us to RUSSH Beauty 2.0.
Putting aside debates about the ever-changing role of media and platforms, our role is to simply lead the conversation for the community; to host a platform that aims to reflect a version of beauty that’s recognisable to all. To share and attempt to be honest in a way where ‘authenticity’ and accuracy doesn’t feel like a marketing tool. Always with a deep knowing that our appearance does not equal our worth but the clarity of understanding the power of how healthy skin/an incredible lipstick/a flattering haircut can make us feel. Which is great.
"What I envision for RUSSH beauty is a content offering that's interesting and dynamic, but also intimate, open and personal – I really want to speak to our community, and not at them. I want to carry on a sense of realness, and create a hub to share stores and swap recommendations. Essentially, multi-channel content that honours how we really interact with beauty in our everyday lives."
Our editorial manifesto all across RUSSH is to make people ‘feel’. Beauty is all about this. In a space where there is no right answer (after all, the experts all tell us different things), all that really matters is how we feel and what answer works for you.
RUSSH will always be here to showcase the WHOLE world of beauty. We aren’t here to push natural beauty on you, just like we won’t advocate for cosmetic surgery. Restriction culture doesn’t have a place here. We won’t tell you what you need to do, but we will share what we do and have done and how it has made us feel. Never prescriptive but openly sharing.
RUSSH is here to help our community make considered choices. To indulge in a powerhouse serum but know that a supermarket find can be just as effective. To understand gut health and know vegetables have endless health benefits but that a truly delicious bowl of pasta is good for the soul, and that’s equally important.
Crucially, we know that being an interesting person is more important than how we look, but that a properly fluffed brow doesn’t diminish this. And while our worth isn’t based on the fragility of our outward appearance, we want to create a dialogue to discuss our image and wellbeing that feels closer to the people we actually are.
We want to share, create, amplify stories, listen and engage; open you up to interesting people and the greatest experts, but also our own team of editors (hi, Emily). And we can’t wait to hear what you think.
