Gen Z Loves TikTok-Viral Quiet-Luxury Beauty—Here’s Why

You’re a content creator praised for your elegant style and founder of the skincare line, Marie Louise Cosmetics. What was the inspiration behind the brand?

I launched it during my junior year of college at Howard as a pre-med student. I pivoted after its launch and came back to L.A. (where I’m from), to focus on the brand full time. This was during the boom between 2013 and 2015 when everyone on Youtube was doing DIY skincare, and I was completely obsessed with it!

I have really dry, eczema-prone skin, so I was making face masks and creams to try, and one of the girls on my dorm floor asked if I was selling it. The premise of the brand is reviving older beauty rituals of the past in new, fun, and fresh ways for Gen Z and young millennials. It’s taking all the things we loved about the beauty rituals the women of our family taught us and re-engineering those for the future.

Recently, there’s been an uptick in searches for the quiet luxury aesthetic among social media users (especially TikTok). What is your definition of the term and how, if at all, does it apply to your lifestyle?

I think it’s interesting because I was in no way intentionally trying to jump on the quiet luxury trend. My wedding just happened to be at a time that was really popular on social media! I think the wedding was grouped into people’s idea of what quiet luxury is, whether that’s their definition of what a luxury-driven wedding would look like compared to something else, or the style of dress. Certain beauty products and brands have definitely played a role in the aesthetic since people will select what they think pertain to it.

Right now, I like to think of it as valuing quality over quantity. It may not be the amount of something you show, but more highlighting or prioritizing one of something that is super special. My personal idea of luxury still goes back to quality. But anything can be luxurious. Having access to water bottles is luxurious for some, while going to the mall on a Monday and having a solo lunch can be luxurious to others. For me, something doesn’t have to be designer or expensive to be luxurious.