May 18th, 2020
We caught up with Alice Moore, celebrity MUA, facialist, reflexologist and health coach. We wanted to know how she managed to achieve all that as well as work on Hollywood blockbusters, such as the Mission Impossible franchise, The Mummy and Jack Reacher and create her own skincare brand – Kyūshi. Keep reading to find out.
What’s your background and what brought you into beauty? What or who were your influences?
I’ve always been artistic rather than academic and I started my journey in a small hairdressers in my local town. I originally wanted to be a session stylist in fashion, so I went to London College of Fashion to do Hair and Makeup styling for Fashion. I fell in love with London and found myself studying Make Up, Prosthetics and Wig Design again at LCF. I loved it, struggled for a few years to keep my head above water but said yes to every job paid or not. I met some incredible people, then got my big break into the film industry as a trainee in the workshop for Dark Shadows from the amazing Kristyan Mallett.
From there I knew I wasn’t cut out for workshop world but was so grateful to have experienced it. I went on to be a trainee for some incredible, kind talented people in crowd rooms for a few years then went on to continue learning and climbing the ladder under Sarah Monzani, now a dear friend. I feel truly blessed to have worked with some amazing people who in a sometimes difficult and challenging industry have always shown me true kindness. They influenced me to create to the best of my ability, and treat those above you in the ladder and climbing up with love and respect.
What’s your earliest makeup memory?
Oh gosh, well I grew up in the 90s/00s so crimped hair, blue eyeshadow, sparkly lipgloss the classics.
What’s the first product you remember using as a teenager and has that affected your later product choices?
Black eyeliner, I’ve had a winged liquid eyeliner for as long as I can remember. Rimmel Exaggerate was always my absolute favourite. Since making the shift over to ‘greener’ makeup choices I now use Ilia and Zuzu Luxe.
You are a professional make-up artist – working with high profile clients on Hollywood films – yet you’ve managed to create your own range of facial oils. What was the impetus for this? How do you manage to juggle both roles?
Oh my gosh! I never set out to create a brand alongside filming Mission Impossible whilst living in a hotel. Looking back I’m not sure how I actually did it; it’s such a blur. I trained with Formula Botanica to improve my knowledge basically, and create products to help with my own issue of Perioral Dermatitis at the time. Kyūshi was born out of lots of trial and error; friends and colleagues loved it and thus a business was born.
I put the success of the business and life in general to recognising my own strengths and weaknesses and outsourcing to talented people who are specialists in their fields to help me grow the business. I’ve also been blessed with amazing assistants and peers on set, who have grown into dear friends. I’ve always felt extremely supported by wonderful humans around me.
Photo Credit – Chiabella James – on set of The Mummy
What were the first steps to setting up Kyūshi Skincare and what advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
My advice would be, none of us know what we’re doing. Don’t try and do it all yourself, ask for help, find people who you align with and bring them on board, its money well spent. My second piece of advice I was given by a fellow skincare company owner was that it’s like a rollercoaster, one day you love it so much and the next you wonder what on earth you’ve done and if people will ever buy it. Keep going, don’t give up.
What did you want to achieve with your product line? How long did it take you to create and develop the concept from start to finish and bring it to market?
I wanted to create a a range of products that the whole household can use, as ‘natural’ as possible, whilst delivering the ritual of breathing to try and lower systemic stress, something essential in this busy world. I wanted them to be interchangeable, for example you can use The Power of Ten as a booster oil to any of the others. I wanted to give people control over their own skincare, our skin is an ever changing living thing. I wanted my four face oils to deliver results for all skin types. Dependent on your lifestyle, environment and diet you can have dry skin, breakouts and dull skin all in one week and with Kyūshi you’ve got something to cover all of those things.
What’s your favourite of your own products? And is there a product you wish you had created?
I do use and love them all, and have done for years now. My go to favourite is Chamomile & Helichrysum combined with Power of Ten. I always have these with me, if I’m travelling especially. I wish I’d created Tata Harper Floral Hydrating Essence it works so beautifully underneath Kyūshi Face oils.
What’s your own skin care regime?
I’ve always been diligent about taking my makeup off and washing my face properly; I’ve never been a face wipe user. I’m a big believer that self-care is really important, especially in this fast-paced world we’re living in, a moment to yourself to Pause and Breathe can work wonders after a long tough day.
Morning: Splash of water in the shower, I stopped cleansing in the morning around a year ago and found my skin was much brighter and happier for it. I then go straight on with a spray of Tata Harper Floral Essence and Kyushi Chamomile & Helichrysum and Power of Ten whilst my skin is still damp. I use Suntegrity Tinted Sunscreen about 10-15 mins later.
Night time – Double Cleanse with a warm flannel (I make my own cleanser) then I rotate Vitamin C, Retinol and Glycolic, three nights a week followed by Jasmine, Lavender & Cedarwood or Chamomile whichever one my skin is feeling.
I believe facial and lymphatic massage is really important and something I try and incorporate daily. I’m a Dien Chan Zone Facial Reflexologist which you can do on yourself which I’ve found I’m doing a lot more of now. I’m also a big fan of Red Light Therapy and regularly use a MITO panel on my face.
What is your greatest achievement so far with regards to your products? Why do you think they are so well-regarded?
Every time someone is kind enough to take the time out of their day to write me an email about how much one of my face oils has helped clear up their acne or reduced scarring and that it’s made a huge difference to their mental wellbeing. That for me is the greatest achievement. Alongside that being in The Sunday Times, Style Magazine was a huge personal achievement for me with a glowing review by India Knight was amazing.
Did you ever expect your career to be this varied? What is next on the horizon for you and the brand?
I always see that quote floating around ‘Remember that you once dreamed of being where you are right now’ and I look back to the time when I just wanted to be in the film industry travelling the world and it felt unachievable and so far away. I feel very blessed to have had some of the most amazing experiences with amazing people, I definitely didn’t expect to be where I am right now at all. My brand is growing and there is an exciting collaboration on the horizon, I’m now a facialist, health coach and training to be a nutritional therapist and recently launched Kyushi Wellness with my partner so things are definitely busy while we wait for the film industry to get back on its feet.
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