Ruby Hammer MBE | Ruby Hammer Beauty

Women to Watch | Beauty Founders

Ruby Hammer MBE: Award-winning makeup artist and founder of Ruby Hammer Beauty reflects on four decades in beauty, entrepreneurship and creating products that stand the test of time.

“Beauty is never measured by age, skin colour or gender. It’s about the energy of the person within.” – Ruby Hammer MBE

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There are very few people who have influenced British beauty quite like Ruby Hammer MBE.

For more than four decades, she’s worked behind the scenes shaping magazine covers, fashion campaigns and some of the industry’s most recognisable faces. As a makeup artist, educator and entrepreneur, Ruby has built a career defined not only by exceptional artistry but by an ability to make beauty feel approachable, effortless and empowering.

After co-founding the hugely successful Ruby & Millie, it would have been easy to rest on an already remarkable legacy. Instead, she channelled decades of professional experience into Ruby Hammer Beauty, creating a carefully edited collection of multi-tasking products designed to simplify beauty routines without compromising on performance.

Everything in the range reflects Ruby’s philosophy that beauty should work for real women living real lives. It’s not about chasing trends or filling makeup bags with products that rarely get used. It’s about intelligent formulas, thoughtful design and helping people feel like the very best version of themselves.

Awarded an MBE for her services to the cosmetics industry, Ruby remains one of beauty’s most respected voices. Yet despite the accolades, what shines through most is her warmth, honesty and unmistakable sense of humour.

As part of Darling Magazine’s Women to Watch | Beauty Founders series, we spoke to Ruby about longevity, launching a beauty brand during lockdown, why beauty has no age limit and the lessons she’s learnt from more than forty years in the industry.

“Don’t try to be Superwoman. That role is already taken.”

1. Tell us about yourself. Who are you outside of your business?

Honestly? I am the exact same person I have always been, completely unfiltered, a bit of a cheeky straight-talker, and an absolute hygiene freak whether we are talking about my home, my personal brushes, or my professional kit! I wear so many hats: a wife, sister, mother, Nani, makeup artist, creator, and brand founder. I truly love every single one of those roles; they all feed into one another and make me who I am.

2. When did you first realise beauty was going to become part of your career?

It was back in the early ’80s when I first started assisting. Like many of the best things in life, I completely fell into it. I had no formal introduction or classic training, but after assisting just a couple of times, something clicked. I fell head over heels with the creative process and stepped fully into the world of beauty without looking back.

3. What problem were you trying to solve when you launched your brand?

I wanted to cut through the noise and make the beauty landscape much easier to navigate. My goal was to create a tightly curated, highly effective range that removes the overwhelming guesswork from getting ready. By distilling beauty down into three essential pillars, eyes, lips, and cheeks – I wanted to give women simple, intuitive techniques and products that deliver maximum impact, even on days when you have very little time or inclination.

4. Was there a defining moment where you thought:

“I’m actually going to do this.”

I was literally sitting on my living room floor, having an informal ‘show and tell’ session with my friend and co-founder. As we were talking and I spread all the ideas out in front of us, the fog just lifted. Everything became crystal clear in my head. In that exact moment, any self-doubt vanished. I looked at what we had, and I just knew with total certainty that we were going to make this happen.

5. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve overcome as a founder?

When you are a founder, the buck ultimately stops with you, every single decision is your responsibility. In the beginning, the intensity was immense. We launched the brand and, just a couple of months later, the world went into lockdown. You can build contingency plans into a business model, but nothing prepares you for an unprecedented global event like that.

Trying to navigate launching a makeup brand at a time when no one was actually wearing makeup was an extraordinary challenge and that was quickly followed by a period of intense political unrest, economic anxiety, and industrial strikes. Consumers shifted toward skincare, but because supply chains were frozen and we physically couldn’t get into the factories, pivoting our production quickly simply wasn’t an option. Surviving that period required deep resilience, patience, and a steadfast belief in the core philosophy of what we were building.

“Every multinational beauty giant started as a small independent brand with a dream.”

6. What’s one thing people assume about running a beauty brand that simply isn’t true?

That it is solely about creating a pretty product!

While the formulation and performance are obviously the heartbeat of the brand, people rarely see the massive commercial undertaking that happens behind the scenes. Bringing a single product to life means navigating complex compliance regulations, negotiating strict MOQs (minimum order quantities), managing intricate packaging timelines, pitching to retailers, and then architecting the storytelling, marketing, and PR. You have to switch hats constantly between being a creative artist and a business strategy operator.

7. What does success mean to you today compared to when you first started?

Honestly, having weathered the storms of the last few years, success today simply means that I am still standing! When you start out, you often have grandiose ideas, but today, true success looks like sustainable, meaningful growth. It means I am reaching a wider, more diverse customer base while still retaining the loyalty of the women who have supported us from day one. It means having the freedom and resources to invest in new product development and thoughtful shade extensions without compromising on our original quality or vision. That steady, loyal community is the ultimate mark of success to me.

8. How do you look after your own wellbeing while running a business?

I just try to do the very best I can without putting unrealistic pressure on myself. I am a big believer in routine maintenance nourishing food, regular manicures and pedicures, great facials, restorative massages, and my absolute saviour, my ‘back lady’!

Crucially, I have completely trained myself out of feeling guilty about just sitting still and doing absolutely nothing. In a world obsessed with hustle, rest is essential. My advice to any woman juggling it all? Don’t try to be Superwoman – that role is already taken.

The Brand

9. Which product best represents your brand and why?

On a purely personal level, the Lip Serum Balm is the product I reach for most. I am prone to dry lips, so I genuinely never leave the house without one tucked into my pocket. However, if we are talking about the ultimate representation of the brand as a whole, it has to be the Mascara & Brow Duo.

It is the absolute distillation of my 40 years of knowledge as a working artist. I wanted to take four decades of professional backstage expertise and engineer it into a single, seamless, space-saving tool that defines your eyes and brows. It represents everything we stand for: smart, streamlined beauty that does the heavy lifting for you without sacrificing high-performance results. When someone says why make it dual purpose…. You wouldn’t frame a Picasso in an ikea frame. In which case why leave your brows ungroomed?!

10. If somebody had never heard of your brand before, what would you want them to know?

I want them to know that this is not a whimsical or trend-driven brand, every single formula and tool is meticulously thought out and backed by real-world artistry experience.

At the same time, beauty should never feel intimidating or clinical. You do not need to be a professional makeup artist to achieve an exceptional finish; I have purposefully designed everything to be intuitive, foolproof, and effortlessly integrated into your everyday life.

11. What are you most proud of building?

On a creative level, I am immensely proud of the simple fact that I can take a concept that lives purely in my head and transform it into a tangible product that ends up in somebody else’s hands. There is a magic in that process that never gets old.

But the greatest reward? Reading the direct messages sent in by our community. Let’s be grounded about it, we aren’t saving lives here! But knowing that a product I created has genuinely boosted a woman’s confidence, that it has made a real, tangible difference in how she looks, feels, and carries herself throughout her day is the most gratifying feeling.

12. What’s next? Any launches… Projects… Collaborations… Dreams…

Coming soon keep your eyes open.

“A genuine, warm smile will always be more captivating than even the most immaculately applied lipstick.”

Darling

Complete this sentence…

Beauty means…

…something entirely different to everyone, and that inclusivity is its greatest power. For me, beauty is never measured by arbitrary standards of perfection, age, skin colour, or gender – it is entirely about the energy of the person within. What lives on the inside inevitably radiates to the outside. I say this as a makeup artist… a genuine, warm smile will always be infinitely more captivating and heartwarming than even the most immaculately applied lipstick.

Complete this sentence…

The one thing I wish every woman knew is..

Just how uniquely powerful you are when you take complete ownership of your life. Step into your autonomy, embrace what makes you an individual, and take responsibility for your own happiness and wellbeing. Above all, build your village, pass on the baton… be generous in giving support to others, but never be too proud to ask for help when you need it yourself. Never, ever underestimate your own resilience—you are infinitely more capable than you think.

Why do you think women should continue supporting independent beauty founders?

I am a firm believer in supporting the beauty ecosystem as a whole… after all, every single multinational giant we see today started out as a small, passionate independent brand with a dream. Whether a business is large or small, behind the scenes, there are always human struggles and mountains to climb.

However, independent founders bring a unique, unfiltered heartbeat to the industry. When you support an indie brand, you aren’t just buying a formula… you are investing in genuine craftsmanship, personal storytelling, and a founder’s uncompromising vision. That diversity and passion is what keeps the beauty world exciting, progressive, and authentic.

Ruby Hammer

• You’ve spent decades shaping the beauty industry as one of the UK’s most respected makeup artists. Looking back, what moment are you most proud of?

When you have been navigating an industry for over four decades, narrowing it down to a single moment feels almost impossible… My career has been defined by distinct chapters, each bringing its own immense sense of pride.

If I look at the milestones that truly shaped me, three stand out: holding my very first magazine cover in my hands and realising I had arrived as an artist, co-founding Ruby & Millie, which completely disrupted the high-street beauty landscape, and, of course, launching my eponymous brand today. But on a personal level, nothing will ever quite compare to the profound honour of being awarded an MBE by the late Queen Elizabeth II for my services to the cosmetics industry. To have my life’s passion recognized at that level is something I will carry with me forever.

• What inspired you to launch Ruby Hammer Beauty after such an established career as a makeup artist?

Once you are a creative at heart, especially one with an entrepreneurial streak there is always something new stirring beneath the surface. True creativity simply demands an outlet! Even after forty years of working backstage, styling editorials, and collaborating with global brands, I still have ideas keeping me up at night.

• What do you think the beauty industry still needs to learn about beauty at every age?

The industry desperately needs to unlearn the outdated narrative that aging is a problem to be fixed. For far too long, beauty marketing has relied on fear-based language and restrictive rules, subtly implying that once a woman reaches a certain milestone, she should fade into the background or swap her favourite products for boring, sensible alternatives.

What the industry needs to understand is that women in their fifties, sixties, seventies, and beyond still crave playfulness, vibrancy, and luxury. We still want luminous skin, beautiful textures, and sometimes a bold lip. What changes with age isn’t our desire to look and feel fabulous.

Quick Fire

Favourite book? The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Morning or night? Both, though generally in the middle.

Coffee or tea? Tea

One beauty product you couldn’t live without? Some kind of multi-tasking balm for lips, nails, elbows, heals, shins. I love products that hydrate and moisturise.

Favourite place to travel? Anywhere that there is sea, Maldives, Turks & Caicos, Mykonos… I love the ocean!

One piece of advice for aspiring founders?

Think to yourself “ why are you doing this?” “Why am I really doing this?”. It is a relentless path so you need a purpose.

After more than forty years in beauty, Ruby Hammer continues to prove that experience never goes out of style.

Her approach has remained refreshingly consistent throughout her career: beauty should be intuitive, inclusive and designed to make people feel confident rather than overwhelmed. Whether she’s creating products, educating consumers or working behind the scenes, her focus has always been on simplifying beauty without losing the joy that comes with it.

That philosophy continues to shape Ruby Hammer Beauty as the brand grows, with the recent launch of new shades in its award-winning Cheek Colours collection, including Bronze, Tawny and Peach, alongside two additions to the popular Lip Serum Balm range in Coral and Deep Nude. With more launches already in development, it’s clear Ruby’s creative curiosity is as strong today as it was when she first stepped onto a fashion set in the early 1980s.

For an industry that often celebrates what’s new, Ruby reminds us that true beauty expertise comes from knowing what really works—and generously sharing that knowledge with others.

Whats Next For Ruby Hammer?

We are just firming up the final dates for upcoming, but we recently launched new shades in the award winning Cheek Colours (Bronze, Tawny and Peach) and Lip Serum Balms (Coral and Deep Nude)

Visit: Ruby Hammer Beauty