Unlike famous competitors in the same field, Millie Bobby Brown says the reason she started her beauty line is because she’s not an expert.
“I know nothing about beauty and skin care. That’s why I made this,” the actress told Allure about her Florence by Mills brand.
“I’m taking you on this journey so we can learn more about botanicals, serums, fruit and vegetable extracts, enzymes — things that are so important for your skin but that we don’t know about because we’re young.”
The 18-year-old ‘Stranger Things’ star, who fronts the magazine’s September issue, said her goal was to gain knowledge about the topics, along with those who buy her products, which seem to target a younger audience. .
“Everything is anti-aging, everything is de-puffing. We don’t know what that means,’ she admitted, speaking like a Zoomer. “I need to know more. And I know our generation needs to know more.”
But what Mills lacks in knowledge, she makes up for in ambition. She was about 14 years old when she came up with the concept of creating a beauty empire especially by and for Generation Z.
“I was on a [long] plane trip, and I brought make-up to keep me busy. I realized that I found so much comfort in doing makeup. I didn’t like the idea of hiding who I was, but creating different versions of me,” she said, noting that by the time she landed, she “had a whole idea.”
After naming “a lot of different people,” Brown began laying the groundwork for Florence by Mills, which she named after her great-great-grandmother, whom she “never met.”
“She was very, very independent and unashamedly expressed herself,” Brown said. “I’ve been told I look like her.”
And that’s exactly the energy that the young star says she has brought to her line since the beginning.
“I was quite young, but I think what was so special about my situation is that I could really hold my own in certain things,” she explained. “People are pushing things on you – ‘This is what we do, this is what’s being sold’ – and I was like, ‘I don’t care what’s being sold.'”
Unfortunately, the Netflix star had to learn the hard way that to actually sell anything, she couldn’t get away with just pretending to use her products.
In 2019, she faced backlash for trying to demonstrate how she uses her brand’s face mist, scrub, face wash, moisturizer, and lip oil — but didn’t apply anything to her skin during the video on social media, as many pointed out. even her eye makeup remained intact.
“I’m still learning how to best share my routines as I get to know this space better — I’m no expert,” she then explained in a since-deleted Instagram post.
“I thought it was okay to make a short video replicating my personal process for that evening, but that’s not what was conveyed. I get it, I appreciate all your feedback on this trip, please keep sharing your thoughts and I will! ily guys x #loveandlight.”