Rose Inc. Review
I couldn’t resist trying this minimalistic makeup brand—and I have zero regrets
Credit:
Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser
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Any beauty brand with minimalist packaging piques my interest. Maybe I’m a product of the Glossier popularity wave or I’m optimistic and think plain packaging means the formula inside stands on its own, sans the need for a glamorous exterior. Regardless, Rose Inc.’s pinkish cream, curved components caught my eye in Sephora one day. I hadn’t heard of the brand, but not so long after, I saw Rose Siard, a makeup guru on Instagram and TikTok with no relation to it, call Rose Inc.’s skin tint a “filter in a bottle” for the skin. There it was: my reason to dive in face-first (so to speak).
What is Rose Inc.?
Rose Inc. is named for co-developer Rosie Huntington-Whitely and informed by her experience sitting in the makeup chair as a model. Biotechnology company Amyris got its “proprietary science” and “sustainable ingredients” involved to create the skincare and makeup line. “As someone who suffers from skin challenges, I know the importance of ingredients that deliver,” says Huntington-Whitely on the Rose Inc. site. Along with choosing ingredients that the brand describes as “sustainable” and “clean,” Huntington-Whitely chose to focus on simple products: “Time is a luxury, so these products create an instant effect with ease.”
Rose Inc. offers a variety of beauty products and tools, ranging from $5 for a terry cloth headband to $72 for a skin-brightening serum. Most full-size cosmetic items fall in the $30 range. I tested the brand’s most popular makeup: Blush Divine Radiant Lip & Cheek Color ($30), Solar Infusion Soft-Focus Cream Bronzer ($36), Solar Radiance Hydrating Cream Highlighter ($30), Satin Lip Color Rich Refillable Lipstick ($28), Softlight Luminous Hydrating Concealer ($30), and Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum ($49)—and I liked them (mostly), in that order.
1. Blush Divine Radiant Lip & Cheek Color
Rose Inc.’s line includes a cream bronzer (left), highlighter (center), and blush (right).
What it claims: This cream blush claims to glide onto the skin and blend in for a smooth, glowy appearance. It contains squalane, vitamin E, and hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump the skin. The blush is available in 12 shades, ranging from a light pink to a deep berry, and all claim to be long-wearing and buildable for subtle or intense color. The $30 compact is refillable, thanks to a magnetized bottom that allows you to pop one color out and add another one in. A refill pan, which comes in a plastic container, costs $18.
What it’s like to use it: Rose Inc. sent me its blush in the berry-pink shade “Azalea” and a refill pan in the coral-pink hue “Anemone.” The texture of the creams inside their respective pans has the appearance of a saturated ink pad. When I wore either, I dipped into them with either my finger or the E.L.F. Cosmetics Putty Primer Brush, my go-to applicator for cream blushes. Both shades appear lighter and brighter on the skin than they do in the densely packed pans, but they offer plenty of pigment to give the cheeks a beautiful wash of color. (While I had on “Anemone,” my friend even asked what blush I was wearing because she liked it.) Though the blushes claim to give a glowy appearance to the skin, they’re not wet-looking or shiny. It’s a subtle texture that blends well into the skin. And despite having to blot sweat off my face while testing these in the summer, the color lasted through several hours of wear.
Popping “Azalea” out of its magnetized spot in the compact was easy, albeit challenging because I wasn’t working with an empty pan so I had to take care not to mash the blush it contained. The brand recommends sliding a safety pin underneath the metal pan in the refillable compact to release the magnet. You can then peel the refill pan from the plastic container it’s glued into and pop it into place. I reached for a fine-tipped pair of tweezers instead and that worked just fine. Of the refillable products Rose Inc. offers, this is the only one they sent me two shades so I could test that feature. That said, if they’re all as easy as this, refilling is a piece of cake.
2. Solar Infusion Soft-Focus Cream Bronzer
What it claims: Solar Infusion is a “mistake-proof bronzer” that claims to blur pores and texture as well as add warmth to the skin—that last part being the primary purpose for a bronzer. It contains tourmaline to “illuminate skin without shimmer,” quartz to add a “soft-focus glow” to the skin, vitamins C and E to protect the skin, and squalane to hydrate. The $36 bronzer is available in four warm brown shades: “Parrot Cay” (light), “Kauai” (medium), “Seychelles” (medium-deep), and “Capri” (deep). This one isn’t refillable.
What it’s like to use it: I received this bronzer just before it launched and before it was in its finalized packaging, so the compact doesn't have a shade name on it, but I believe it’s “Parrot Cay,” the lightest of the bunch. Looking at it in the pan, I worried the shade may be too warm for my very light, neutral-toned complexion, but it sheers out to add a thin layer of subtle warmth once on my skin. I see zero off-putting orangeness and the product glides on over the skin without any patchiness. I recommend swirling a makeup brush into the pan—I used E.L.F.’s Travel Blending Brush—to pick up formula and gently tap it onto the skin wherever you want warmth, like at your temples, cheekbones, and jawline.
3. Solar Radiance Hydrating Cream Highlighter
What it claims: This cream claims to be a “highlighter and skin-smoothing hybrid” that gives you a natural-looking gleam anywhere you apply it. It contains sea holly cells (a plant extract) to plump the skin, rose extract to brighten and improve skin texture, squalane to hydrate, and “illuminating particles” to assumably add luminosity “without settling into pores and lines.” The $30 refillable highlighter comes in five shimmery shades: “Brilliant” (pearly white), “Opalescent” (pink), “Prismatic” (gold), “Glancing” (rose gold), and “Lustrous” (copper). A refill pan costs $18.
What it’s like to use it: As with the bronzer, my compact doesn’t state the shade name, but I’d identify it as “Glancing,” which appears like a peachy rose gold on my very light skin tone. The color is darker than I’d typically use to bring a sheen to the tops of my cheekbones, but it works well to layer it on top of my blush to add shimmer to the area while lending a peachy tone to the pink blush. Despite being a cream, this applies with a powdery texture that I don’t love. I’m used to emollient creams that, because of their oilier consistency, naturally impart a gleam. But the same can’t be said of Solar Radiance, which only provides a highlight to the skin because of its shimmer. I wouldn’t steer anyone away from this, unless you have very dry skin and that’s your motivation for using cream highlighter in the first place, but know that the texture may not be what you’d expect.
4. Satin Lip Color Rich Refillable Lipstick
Like other products from the line, Rose Inc.’s Satin Lip Color is refillable.
What it claims: This $28 refillable bullet lipstick claims to moisturize and plump the lips as well as reduce the look of vertical lip lines using ingredients like squalane, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin E. It’s available in 10 shades ranging from a light beige to a deep plum. A refill tube costs $18.
What it’s like to use it: The coral-pink shade “Poetic” is a lipstick color I’d reach for every day. It’s not bright enough to make a statement or clash with an outfit, but it brings the oomph to my naturally light pink lips that I feel they need on days I’m wearing makeup. The formula tugs a little while I’m gliding it across my lips, but it’s not uncomfortable or dry-feeling. Right after application, it doesn’t feel like I’m wearing anything; the only giveaway is the semi-sweet fragrance the formula gives off. However, within an hour post-application, my lips start to feel dry and I become more aware of the fact I’m wearing something on them. This isn’t uncommon for me to feel about lip products, so I don’t blame Rose Inc. specifically and I would still wear “Poetic”—but it isn’t the moisturizing miracle-worker of a lipstick the brand makes it out to be, at least not for me.
5. Softlight Luminous Hydrating Concealer
The Rose Inc. concealer is available in 20 shades.
What it claims: This concealer claims to brighten and blur the skin with a formula that “minimizes the look of fine lines, redness, and discoloration.” It also claims to hydrate with squalane and hyaluronic acid and protect with vitamin E. It offers medium, buildable coverage and comes in 20 shades ranging from very light to very deep with a variety of undertones. Like the bronzer, this doesn’t have a refill option.
What it’s like to use it: I dislike most concealers I’ve tried because of my dry under-eyes that have fine lines from smiling (thanks a lot, joy). That aside, I had high hopes for Softlight Luminous Hydrating Concealer after reading its claims.
I received the two lightest shades in the line: “010,” for very light, neutral skin, and “020” for light, peach-toned skin. The difference between these two shades astounds me. Shade “010” looks like a pale gray—my roommate and I pondered if this may be better off used at a funeral home. Shade “020” on the other hand, looks orange next to my skin and several shades too dark for under my eyes or anywhere else on my face. Both shades were unusable for me, and mixing them together didn’t fix the problem (I tried!). When I applied “010” under my eyes to get a feel for the texture and coverage, it looked patchy—again, not uncommon for concealers in this area on me—but it offered decent coverage. Without having a proper shade, though, it’s impossible to give this a true test. If you’re wondering if you should skip this concealer, I’d say yes, unless you know you can find a shade that suits you by looking in-store—Rose Inc.’s website is very misleading with both its photos and descriptions of the concealers, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are similarly large gaps between other consecutively numbered shades.
For a concealer with medium coverage, a hydrating consistency, and a better shade range, I recommend spending your cash on the Kosas Revealer Concealer instead.
6. Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum
Rose Inc.’s tinted serum offers very sheer coverage.
What it claims: This tinted serum aims to give the skin sheer coverage while acting like skincare with plumping hyaluronic acid, hydrating squalane, and skin-protecting peptides. Housed in a pump bottle, the serum looks like a clear liquid with tiny spheres of pigment inside them. Rose Inc. says the “microencapsulated pigment bursts on contact and effortlessly blends across the face, blurring the complexion for a luminous finish.” It’s available in 14 shades, from a very light with pink undertones to very deep with red undertones.
What it’s like to use it: Finally, I’m getting to the product that turned me on to Rose Inc. in the first place, the so-claimed “filter in a bottle” tinted serum. There’s no other way to say it: This looks terrible on me. Whether I applied it with the “Number 3 Foundation Brush” the brand sent me or my BeautyBlender sponge, I couldn’t make this appear blended and smooth on my skin. The serum and pigment capsules, even as I rubbed them together, sat on top of my skin and looked streaky and patchy. The formula clung to any peach fuzz on my face, emphasizing the hairy texture. The shade was also too light and pink-toned for my complexion, but the next darkest shade looks too dark and warm-toned on the website. I’m not sure how this could look like a filter on anyone’s skin after trying it myself.
If you want a product that feels comfortable and provides only light coverage that blends well, I recommend the Rare Beauty Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer.
Should you try Rose Inc.?
Try Rose Inc.’s bronzer (left) and blush (right) before anything else from the line.
If you like—most products do what they claim
If you’re going to try only one or two things from Rose Inc., let it be the Blush Divine Radiant Lip & Cheek Color and/or Solar Infusion Soft-Focus Cream Bronzer. Both cream products are easy to use and give your skin a beautiful hint of color that you can build up for bolder results.
The next worthy options are the Solar Radiance Hydrating Cream Highlighter and Satin Lip Color Rich Refillable Lipstick. Though these weren’t amazing matches for my skin and preferences, the shades I tried were beautiful and the formulas could be right up your alley.
I don’t regret trying a single thing from the brand—even if experimenting did lead me to scrap my entire makeup look some days (thanks, terrible tinted serum). Why? I know I would’ve kept eyeing it in Sephora until I got my hands on it. And while nothing wowed me so much for a repeat purchase, I found a couple potential winners from Rose Inc. that you may want to integrate into your routine.
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