Clean colour in five seconds flat, with Jillian Dempsey

These are lazy girl eye products in the best sense. Dabbed with a finger, blended in seconds, worn sheer. Jillian Dempsey talks khol that glides, tints that multitask and why a tight edit sells harder than another palette.

The number on the label that tells you the most about Jillian Dempsey is 6,000. That is vibrations per minute, the speed of her Gold Sculpting Bar, a 24k gold plated T bar made in Japan. It is not colour, but it explains her colour. Prep first, then a sheer wash and a smudged line.

Dempsey comes to this brand after three decades in the chair. She trained as a makeup artist, did a stint at Shu Uemura, opened Delux with her sister, then spent six years from 2006 as Avon first global creative colour director. Her eponymous line launched in 2015, with one source citing 2014, as a clean answer to red carpet work.

What it is now is a tightly edited line out of Beverly Hills. Lid Tint, Khol Eyeliner, Cheek Tint, Spot Stick, mascara, lip gloss, hair pomades and that gold tool. The promise on the site reads Clean Beauty That Breaks All The Rules, with products described as finger friendly, fuss free, and built to take the guesswork out of getting gorgeous.

What others miss is the discipline. Dempsey has said she did not want to repeat what was already on the shelf. No big palette, no shade sprawl for its own sake. She talks about undertones and payoff like an artist and about cost of goods and reorders like a buyer. That is why Gloss Report wanted the conversation.

Your Delux years taught you that natural cost too much at the time, and you have quoted that cost of goods would have been too high. What changed by 2015 that let you launch a clean line that could still perform on set.

With Delux, I could not afford to do anything that was natural. The cost of goods would have been too high, and I was working at a different scale with different labs. By the time I started Jillian Dempsey, I had three decades in the kit and I knew exactly what I needed to perform. I did not want to launch a big colour wall. I wanted eye essentials that would work on a long day, under hot lights, on sensitive eyes.

So I kept it tight. Lid Tint and Khol came first because that is what I reached for. I sourced plant derived oils and waxes that gave me glide without tug, and natural antioxidants to support wear. Certified organic where we could, where it made sense. It took longer. It cost more. But I was not trying to repeat the same palettes everyone else was making. We are just kind of repeating the same thing over and over again in this industry, and I did not want to add to that.

You say these tints are lazy girl makeup and the easiest five seconds you will ever spend. The formula lists sunflower, castor and sesame oils with candelilla wax and cocoa and shea butters. How did you get that balm slip without losing payoff on the lid.

These tints are lazy girl makeup, the easiest five seconds you will ever spend. You do not need any talent to use them. Just dab them over your lids as you would use a balm. That was the brief. No brush, no primer, no fallout to clean up in the car.

The slip comes from those oils. Sunflower and castor and sesame give glide, then candelilla holds it so it does not travel. Cocoa and shea butters keep it comfortable, and coconut and rosehip oils keep the finish satin rather than dry. We add rosemary and sage and vitamin E. We left out parabens and sulfates and phthalates. It is vegan. You can sheer it out with one tap or build it. You can use it on lips and cheeks too, which artists love because the kit gets lighter. Use within ten months of opening, because that is the honest window for this kind of formula.

Lid Tint now runs to eight shades including Bronze, Lilac, Peach, Dew, Ruby, Glimmer, Shell and Taupe at 28 dollars. That is a considered range, but readers will ask who it leaves out. How do you think about undertone and depth when the finish is sheer.

Sheer does a lot of the work for us, but not all of it. On a sheer formula, undertone shows more than depth, so I look at how a shade behaves on warm, cool and deep skin before I approve it. Bronze and Taupe do the heavy lifting for definition. Dew and Shell are light that reads as glow, not chalk. Peach wakes up tired eyes. Lilac is a cool wash that still flatters warm skin because it is thin. Ruby and Glimmer are play.

At 28 dollars for one compact per shade, I want you to actually finish it. That is why I will not do a twelve pan palette where you use two. Payoff here means even colour in one dab, blendable edges, no patchiness. If a shade only works on one skin tone, it does not make the cut. I would rather do a shade extension done properly than rush ten more. Beginners get an easy win, pros get a fast base that photographs clean.

You created the khol pencil to deliver intense colour and a sultry line with a built in smudger, using 100 percent plant derived ingredients with zero preservatives. Preservative free in an eye pencil is a strong claim. What did that force you to solve.

I created this khol pencil to deliver intense colour and a sultry line thanks to the built in smudger, using 100 percent plant derived ingredients, natural antioxidants, and zero preservatives. That last part made everything harder. Without conventional preservatives, water is the enemy and heat stability matters more. So the base had to be anhydrous and tight.

We built it around organic jojoba oil, shea butter and marula oil, with candelilla and carnauba waxes for structure. That gives the creamy glide that will not tug delicate skin. No parabens, no sulfates, no phthalates, no petrochemicals, no GMOs. It is waterproof and long wearing once it sets, but you have to blend immediately if you want that smoky look. It ranks as a mandatory must in my kit. It is beautifully accentuating, and you can skip the mascara if you do a smudge of liner and blend it softly.

The Khol range includes Jet Black, Rich Brown, Deep Burgundy, Black Sapphire and FTA White at 20 dollars. Black Sapphire and Deep Burgundy read like artist shades. Which sells through, and how do you wear white without it looking stark.

Jet Black and Rich Brown sell through first, as they should. They are the workhorses. Black Sapphire is the one artists ask about backstage because it reads black in photos but navy up close, which softens the lash line on blue and green eyes. Deep Burgundy does the same on brown eyes, warmth without redness.

FTA White is limited and deliberate. Proof clean beauty does not have to be boring. I use it very thin at the inner corner or tight to the waterline, then I smudge and sheer it. Universally flattering means easy to wear, not one shade for all. Keep the line thin, set a cat eye with powder if you need more wear time, and let the smudger do the shaping. At 20 dollars, it is an easy way to test a stronger look. And buy two or more and you get the sharpener, which matters more than people think. A clean point is cleaner colour.

You do not need any talent to use them. Just dab them over your lids as you would use a balm.

Jillian Dempsey

You say you pretty much will not do a job without the Gold Sculpting Bar, calling it your number one essential tool with 6,000 vibrations per minute. At 195 dollars it anchors the line. What does it do before makeup, and what does it not do.

I pretty much will not do a job without using this. It is my number one essential tool to promote a refreshed, depuffed and smoothly contoured face. It is the authentic Gold Bar from Japan with ionic rotations for facial massage. The T bar is 24k gold plated over copper and aluminum, about 1.5 inches wide and 6 inches long, and it runs at 6,000 vibrations per minute.

I use it over dry skin or over serum or oil, with upward and outward strokes for a few minutes before makeup or in the evening. Light pressure around the orbital bone, never on the lids. It helps support the look of circulation and lymphatic drainage, so makeup sits smoother and the face looks less puffy. It does not lift muscle or replace sleep or change structure. It preps. That is why it won ELLE 2024 Tools and Treatments Best in Skincare. It earns its place in the kit and on the retail floor.

Your site is PETA Beauty Without Bunnies certified and you are a member of 1 percent for the Planet with Provenance as a partner. For a two person brand doing 2.8 million dollars, that paperwork is real. Why carry it.

Because claims should connect to something. PETA Beauty Without Bunnies means no animal testing on ingredients or finished products across the supply chain, by signed assurance. That matters for an eye brand. One percent for the Planet means one percent of revenue is donated and verified annually. It was founded in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews. Provenance connects our claims to supply chain evidence so we are not just saying clean.

We are small. LinkedIn lists two people and 2.8 million dollars, and we are incorporated as Darsula Inc. We donated 22,500 dollars to Girls Who Code in 2022. I am female led and based in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, selling a 195 dollar tool through prestige doors like Shopbop and Free People and Moda Operandi. That mix only works if retailers and customers trust the words on the page. Tightly edited means every claim has to hold.

You have said anyone can be a makeup artist nowadays, and you have refused to make yet another eyeshadow palette. With Cheek Tint, Spot Stick, Flyk Trick mascara and lip gloss in the mix, what earns a place in this line next.

We are just kind of repeating the same thing over and over again, so my filter is simple. Does it fill a genuine need, is it finger friendly and fuss free, and will it perform in high definition without a brush. Cheek Tint earned it because it is a cream blush that melts and builds. Spot Stick earned it because precise matte coverage means no full foundation. Flyk Trick earned it as a clean two in one mascara and liner for everyday definition. Lip gloss earned it because fuller looking lips without stickiness or sting is harder than it sounds.

What comes next has to do that same job. Multipurpose, sheer where sheer helps, saturated where line matters. I like products that take the guesswork out of getting gorgeous and translate A list artistry into everyday wear. If it needs a tutorial and three brushes, it is probably not for us.

You work in rooms where the makeup has to look right at hour eight under flash. For someone buying Lid Tint and Khol today, what is the two product routine you would teach in one minute.

Start with skin, then Lid Tint, then Khol. Dab Lid Tint with your finger as a balm and blend in seconds. Bronze or Taupe across the lid, Dew at the inner corner if you want light. No brushes. Then one single stroke of Khol close to the lash, Jet Black or Rich Brown, and blend immediately with the built in smudger for a soft smoky edge. Set a wing with powder if you are going out.

Keep pressure light and layers thin. Transfer happens when you over apply cream, so blot the lid first if you are oily. Wear time improves with less product, not more. That is the whole idea. Clean beauty that breaks all the rules, but follows the ones that matter. High performing, tightly edited, effortless. If you can do fingers and thirty seconds, you can do this.

Closing note from the desk

What stays after this conversation is restraint. Dempsey could have built a wide colour wall. She built eight sheer tints, five khols and one white that knows its lane. The tradeoffs are stated plainly, preservative free where possible, sheer where sheer flatters, tight where tight sells through.

The brand set out to translate A list artistry into everyday wear without repeating the same palette. Finger friendly, fuss free, clean where it counts. On that brief, Lid Tint and Khol make the case. They are easy to buy, easy to use, and easy to reorder.

Product spotlight

Lid Tint, 28 dollars for one compact per shade in Bronze, Lilac, Peach, Dew and four more. A sheer, buildable cream shadow that acts like a balm. Dab with fingers across lids, blend in seconds, layer for more depth. Also works on lips and cheeks for a soft monochromatic finish.

Khôl Eyeliner, 20 dollars for one dual ended pencil per shade in Jet Black, Rich Brown, Deep Burgundy, Black Sapphire and FTA White. A creamy, waterproof khol with a built in smudger for a sultry line or soft smoke. Draw a single stroke close to lashes, blend immediately, set wings with powder.