Rose-Marie Swift

If you’ve ever wondered what a typical Sunday night looks like for an industry original, then look no further. Legendary makeup artist and founder of clean beauty line RMS Beauty, Rose-Marie Swift talks us through her rituals, from her must-have cleanser to her dog Frankie’s unusual bedtime routine…

Rose-Marie Swift Sunday Sessions Shelf

The Wind Down

I usually have brunch in the daytime on a Sunday (I’m a one-on-one type person, I don’t like being in a gang of people), so I’ll always plan a dinner for myself at around 5.30pm. I’ll make a nice meal, something super healthy, I have a thing about cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus… So I make this big huge plate of steamed vegetables and I sprinkle seaweed and macadamia nut oil all over it. Oh, and I’m a potato freak. I have a thing about potatoes so there’ll always be boiled potatoes too. All my friends love it, the always ask me to make it for them, and I’m like, sure, come on over. Whatever I eat has to contain a lot of fibre, I need to push everything through from the week before.

I let go of everything that’s gone on in the week before, because it’s done, it’s gone. My problem is I tend to think too much about everything I have to do in the future, and then I get a little bit overwhelmed. My head is like an electrical power plant, it’s like a time bomb in there, so this is one of the reasons I watch TV. A healer actually told me I’m the type of person who should watch TV, just mindless stuff to help get me out of my own head. I find it a release; I love shows like Deadly Women and Forensic Files, any kind of real stories like that.

After that I’ll take my dog, Frankie, out for a walk. I love just walking around, going to different cafes. I have a food fetish. I’m a major foodie. I should have been a professional food critic. I like clean food and I like spicy food. But I’m not into French food and I hate sauces.

Rose-Marie Swift Sunday Sessions Shelf

The Routine

After dinner and before bed I cleanse my face twice using my RMS Raw Coconut Cream, which is anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. I rub it all over and then – you want the truth? I wipe it all off with dry toilet paper. Honestly I really do. I get the unbleached kind from Wholefoods, but it has to be quite firm because otherwise it just breaks up. I’m not a baby with my face, I’m not prissy with myself at all, I wipe it all off with a bit of firmness. I read some research recently that says the skin produces it’s own good bacteria and we’re washing it off, so I try to be super minimal. If my face is feeling especially dry I’ll put my Beauty Oil on and massage it in. It’s got buriti oil, which has the highest levels of beta carotene and vitamin A than any oil. It’s from the Amazon jungle and I love it. It’s in most of my products and it’s really great for everyone.

I’m incredibly intuitive and hypersensitive to sounds, tastes and smells so I don’t like to have any candles burning or any music playing in the evenings. Even my apartment is soundproofed, I can’t stand hearing a radio or TV through the wall, I lose my mind. I do love the smell of wood burning though, so occasionally I burn Palo Santo, which is petrified wood. I used to mediate a lot but now I tend to only do it in spurts when I’m travelling. It’s really hard for me because I’m so wired up so I say mantras instead to help balance my brain. I do some breathing exercises sometimes but my mind still goes crazy. What I love to do most is just talk to people, I have a few friends who really listen, because it all has to come out. So that’s my meditation.

I’m a shower person only because I know the bath water in New York is so toxic and hate the idea of just sitting in a load of sodium fluoride and nano-particilised pharmaceutical drugs! I know too much, that’s the problem. It’s all self-taught because I ask so many questions all the time. Anyway when I take a shower I keep a little bit of water in the bottom of the cubicle and add a tablespoon of coconut oil. I get through a lot of it. I do a little splash of that all over my body and then get out. If my skin still feels really dry, in the winter especially, I’ll massage my Beauty Oil in, usually all over my legs and feet.

I don’t really have any hair, I usually always wear a hat. I have my hair coloured at O&M, they have a hair dye that’s better than any out there. It’s the best. I have very thin hair and the dye is really natural-looking and makes my hair look so much healthier. I must be the only person that likes the humidity, it makes my skin look younger and my hair look thicker.

Rose-Marie Swift Sunday Sessions Shelf
Rose-Marie Swift Sunday Sessions Shelf

Bedtime

I’m usually in bed by 10pm. Frankie my dog comes to bed with me. I’ve had her for ten years, but I shared her for a long time with my friend Miranda Kerr. Do I have a bedtime ritual? You’re not going to be able to print this, but every night before bed, Frankie, who’s an Aries girl, gets into Alpha Female mode and, well, she humps my arm. She pretty much owns me, so I just let her have her moment and then she settles right down beside me. She’s so cute.

I read a lot of stuff on the Internet in bed, usually some kind of environmental or scientific research. I apply some lip balm too, my Lip & Skin Balm, it’s really heavy duty; when I fly I apply it in a super thick layer all over my face and when I get off the plane I look great. Once I turn in I’m either out like a light or I’m awake all night long, depending on where I am. In New York I have a problem with all the electro magnetic fields, but in Savannah, Georgia where I have another house, I’m out like a light. I probably need around 8-10 hours but actually get around 5-6 hours. I set an alarm if I have to, it depends on how I feel. Frankie never gets out of bed in the morning, I have to grab her, she’s so lazy! She just sits and stares at me.

Rose-Marie Swift
Image: RMS Instagram

Monday Morning

I generally feel okay on Monday mornings. There is one funny thing about Monday mornings; when I was in India I had a famous astrologer read my chart and he told me I had an afflicted moon, which rules your emotions and your intestinal tract. It means my emotions are very unstable. He told me I shouldn’t eat a lot of food on a Monday because Mondays are ruled by the moon, and the more food I eat then the more unstable I’m going to be. And of course that’s the day I’m ravenous, I want to eat everything. Anyway so I try not to eat a lot and it does make me feel better and calmer. First thing I do is drink about a litre of water and then I make an organic smoothie with cauliflower, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, flaxseed, chia seeds, kale and a green powder and that’s my breakfast. Then I have Earl Grey tea with honey, it’s a bit of a ritual for me.

The way I am in the day is how I am when I wake up, which means I’m pretty wired from the off, like a Mexican jumping ball. I don’t even have to take a breath, that’s it. I don’t do much in the way of beauty when I get up, but I will apply a little makeup. I fill in my brows, dot on a bit of concealer and then usually apply red lipstick. It perks up your face, which is important to do as you age because faces tend to get a little monochromatic otherwise.

Rose-Marie Swift
Image: RMS Instagram