The Labs Kept Missing the Mark. So Celeste Switala Went Home and Made It Herself.

Interview by Heather Anderson

Céleste Switala is a licensed esthetician, professional makeup artist, and the founder of Céleste Switala, a handcrafted micro-batch luxury skincare line based in Oakland, California. With products stocked at Wolf & Badger and Blend Bunny Cosmetics, and coverage in publications including Vogue and Harper's Bazaar has built something that looks effortless from the outside and is anything but on the inside. What she has made is a line of botanical face oils so beautiful they look like a rainbow on a shelf, rooted in a decade of hands-on expertise and a deep commitment to slow, ethical manufacturing. She is also, as you are about to find out, a very good storyteller.

You were 28 at launch. You already had a skincare studio at 18, a commercial makeup career in your early twenties, and now a luxury product line stocked in major retail. What is actually going on with you? Have you always been wired like this?

I think I have always been wired like this, and my ambition has continued to evolve over the years. Growing up, I had this very specific vision of having my own skincare studio, a place for people to come in and be taken care of. I remember sitting in the backseat of my parents' car as a kid, just staring out the window, visualizing what that would look like when I was grown up.

I graduated high school at 17, moved to Santa Clara, went to beauty school, and had my esthetician license before I turned 18. Within a year, I had opened my own skincare studio in downtown Sebastopol, where I grew up. I ran it for three years and built a lovely clientele. During that time, I stumbled into makeup work on commercial and short film sets, which opened a world I had genuinely never imagined was available to me. My first job was for a Credit Karma commercial. Not fancy, but the production team took me under their wing. I made a point of being so impressive on that first day that they would want to bring me back. They did, and for about three years I worked with them almost exclusively as their go-to makeup artist.

That time taught me a lot. Outside of doing makeup, I also got opportunities to style, act, and direct for various projects. Mostly I was just absorbing as much as I possibly could.

This is a family-owned, mother-daughter business at its core. What is it like building something this intimate with your mom?

My mother Jessica is one of my best friends, and I feel so lucky I get to do this with her. Growing up, I helped her with her luxury floral design business in Napa and Sonoma County, so we had already developed a really strong working relationship on top of the personal one. When I got the idea to start this brand after the pandemic hit, having her support wasn't optional for me. I asked her, Mom, will you help me with this? I need your guidance. You have so much experience that matters here. She said yes.

She’s amazing and shows up in all of the ways you could imagine a mother showing up for her child. She comes to set with me sometimes, helps me bounce ideas, and has helped keep me level-headed when I was spiraling and wanted to quit. Part of it is also just an excuse to spend more time together. At a stage in life when a lot of people our age are separated from their parents by natural circumstance, I am really intentional about including my mom in the things that excite me. I do not take this time for granted.

“Doing makeup on someone, being an esthetician and touching someone’s face, is a very sacred act. Think about how few people in the world actually touch your face.”
— Céleste Switala

How did this brand actually get made? Walk us through the leap from idea to product.

For about a year and a half, we had someone mentoring us through the process of building something like this. Neither of us had ever done a product based business before, we had only ever been service providers so we really didn’t have much knowledge going into this about what it would take. Along with a crash course in the beauty industry business, it ultimately meant sending formulas to overseas labs, waiting for them to produce samples that matched what we had asked for. By the end of this time period, we had not gotten anything back that was even close.

It was the middle of the pandemic. We were a tiny new brand with no budget, competing for lab time with the L'Oreals of the world and our formulas weren’t getting the attention they needed and we had not gotten anything back that was even close. At some point we just looked at each other and thought, we can do this ourselves. We basically took back the formula and started working in the kitchen. Within a month, we had nailed every formula that the labs had been failing to produce.

That was our first launch, under a different brand name. What became Céleste Switala grew out of that — and it grew fast

You have been inside beauty for years as an esthetician and a makeup artist on set. What do people on the outside not fully understand about what that work actually is?

I personally love being on set. The locations people and challenges are always different, and those are some of the things I enjoy most about it. The unglamorous reality is that often I do not receive a call sheet until the night before. A 4am wake-up call to a location I did not know about 12 hours prior to the 7am call time is completely normal. There is a lot of invisible preparation that goes into being ready to show up and just work. You research, restock product, wash brushes, clean, sanitize and organize your kit and tools, plan routes, and so much more.

But what I think people underestimate is the intimacy of the work itself. Doing makeup on someone, being an esthetician and touching someone's face, is a very sacred act. Think about how few people in the world actually touch your face. Yourself, maybe your partner, your kids, a close friend or parent. That is it. And when people sit in your chair, they often start sharing things they carry with them, their insecurities, the hard things that are is happening in their life, goals they're working towards, small and big wins they’re celebrating. The space you hold as a makeup artist has to be judgment-free and genuinely safe and encouraging. I like to think of myself as my clients' cheerleader and biggest supporter while they’re in my care. They flew in the night before. They have their whole lives going on. My job is to help them feel good, look their best, and ultimately support them in whatever way I can so that they’re able to show up and shine. There is so much connection and magic  in those spaces.

What do you love about having your business based in Oakland?

My mom grew up in Berkeley, so the Bay Area has always been a part of my life. I love that we are here. Working in San Francisco as a makeup artist, and having the skincare business based in Oakland, getting to give back to this incredibly diverse and beautiful community of people. These are not incidental things. They matter to how we think about the brand.

Your line feels restrained, intentional, almost anti-hype. What were you absolutely not willing to compromise on?

Quality of ingredients, integrity with our values and efficacy of our formulas, beautiful packaging and products that made you feel good. But there was something else too. Every product you see in the line is 100 percent natural and non-toxic. There are no artificial dyes, no synthetic fragrances of any kind outside of the botanical ingredients themselves. I took color theory from my makeup artist background and applied it directly to the formulas, because I wanted to showcase the beauty of nature and show how it could be harnessed without synthetic colorants and fragrances.

I also want to say this clearly: when we were building this line in 2020, there was a lot of anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and legislation in the world, and unfortunately there is even more of that today. In my own way, this line is a love letter to that community. Every color in these bottles comes from ingredients found in nature, offered to us by the world exactly as they are. Beautiful. Beneficial. Expressive. Made to support us and make us feel good. Nature is incredibly inclusive in that way. That felt important to me then, and it still does.

You are unapologetically focused on oils. Why oils? What do they do that creams just can't?

I actually fell in love with cold pressed oils during the pandemic. I hadn’t explored them much before, even as an esthetician. But once I started incorporating them into my skin prep on set for clients, my technique changed completely. The results on camera were different. My own skin was different, healthier and more balanced than ever before.

Here is the thing about creams: if you look at your moisturizer, there are almost certainly oils in it. But nine times out of ten the base is water, and because water and oil do not mix on their own, there are emulsifiers, and because there is water, you need preservatives to keep it shelf-stable and safe from bacterias. With a pure face oil, none of that is necessary. Oil is a natural preservative. I do not have to add anything extra. What you get is a more concentrated version of what the cream was already trying to do, with nothing in it that does not need to be there.

And I want to be clear: creams are great. I am not telling anyone to throw theirs out. You can layer our oil over your cream or even mix it  if you feel like you need more hydration or longer lasting moisture. A lot of people do. But the oil does the concentrated work and if you're layering, it will help to seal everything in.

"Skin that craves ritual, not routine." Most moms are doing their skincare with a toddler on the other side of the bathroom door. What does ritual actually look like in real life?

I created these products with parents in mind. I understand the limited time you have for yourself and how much you give to everyone else. I really wanted to make something that could be used on its own, layered into an existing routine, safe for you, safe for your kids, and completely supportive of your life as it is right now.

None of us have time for a ten-step routine. That is just the truth. So what I built is essentially a multitasking moisturizer with a specific intention. Each oil in the collection targets a different concern: brightening, reviving, clarifying, soothing, balancing, nourishing. You can use them on your face, your body, your hair. You can mix a drop into your makeup to adjust the opacity and add luminosity. People with beards love them for their softening and hydrating benefits. You can apply and walk out the door. I really wanted to give as much versatility as possible in one single product, because as humans, and especially as moms, we have to be versatile. So I wanted our products to match that.

Your collection is basically a rainbow. Walk us through the colors and what makes each one.

Every color in the line comes entirely from the ingredients themselves. No dyes. No artificial colorants or synthetic fragrances. Here is what we have right now:

  • Naked Glow Brightening Face Oil is a vivid orange-red, from the high concentration of beta carotene in sea buckthorn and astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is an antioxidant superhero and  is  6,000 times more powerful than vitamin C, while being gentle making it a sensitive skin friendly alternative. So this one is particularly good if you have stubborn dark spots and have struggled to find the right product to help even your skin tone. Finished with a sensual blend of vanilla, rose de mai, bergamot, jasmine and ylang ylang, Naked Glow is more than skincare-it’s a ritual in pleasure.

  • High Vibe Clarifying Face Oil is a beautiful golden jojoba oil — lightweight and bright, finished with an uplifting combination of jasmine and lemon, ideal for combination and oily skin. Jojoba, which is at the core of all our products,  is a natural humectant meaning that it is pulling moisture from the air all throughout the day keeping your skin hydrated and balanced.

  • Filthy Rich Reviving Face Oil by Jordan Liberty  is a vibrant bright green and our most complex formula with 30+ rare superfood ingredients— a collaboration with our friend, celebrity makeup artist and photographer Jordan Liberty — with gotu kola, neroli, sandalwood, green caviar, and bakuchiol, which is a gentler alternative to retinol.

  • Nature's Nirvana Soothing Face Oil is a stunning teal with blue tansy, yarrow, squalane, and magnolia bark extract that helps to visibly calm redness and sensitivity, while strengthening the skin barrier as its earthy fragrance instantly transports you to a meditative walk through the woods. 

  • Infinite Icon Nourishing Face Oil is a rich emerald green with shea, avocado, acai, and finished with a subtle brown sugar-like aroma, naturally derived from Tamanu Oil. This is a great option for everyone, especially those with sensitive and dry skin types as well as curly and coarse hair types.

  • Blissed Out Balancing Face Oil is a soft hazy shade of lavender, the color coming entirely from the cold pressed blueberry seed oil. Three ingredients total: blueberry seed oil, Squalane, and jojoba keep the skin balanced and hydrated as blueberry calms inflammation . It is one of the gentlest oil in the line, ideal for any skin type, including the most sensitive.

The colors can be a little intimidating at first. People worry they are going to walk around looking green or purple. From the moment you pump them into your hand and apply to your skin, the color starts to fade and as you apply and massage them in it disappears blends completely. What it leaves behind is just your skin, but better. NAKED GLOW Brightening Face Oil is the only minor exception to this rule. Because our skin loves beta carotene, this one is going to make your skin look a little more awake, refreshed and instantly brightened. This is done intentionally to give you a subtle glow.

You produce in micro-batches, work with small-scale growers, and support beyond-organic producers who do not have formal certifications. That is the harder, slower path. Why choose it?

I want to see positive change ripple into the world and I want to be a real part of creating that. I see this business as a vehicle for that.

There is a real hunger for slowness. For something that was made with care by someone who actually thought about the people using it, the planet and our impact on it. As a small business, we are always looking to collaborate with and support other small businesses and suppliers who share that.

You are in year one of this launch. What are you actually focused on right now?

Honestly, all of it at once, and in a way that is still sustainable for a two-three person operation where we wear every hat. We are working on retail expansion, pop-ups, intimate house demo events, getting the product into people's hands. We recently attended one of the largest beauty events in the country. The Makeup Show in New York in May of with one of our favorite retail partners, Blend Bunny Cosmetics. We've expanded our retail footprint — we're now carried at Wolf & Badger, Blend Bunny Cosmetics, and Manhattan Wardrobe Supply in New York City — and we're actively looking for more partners including beauty and wellness spaces, salon and spa partners, more pro beauty suppliers, tattoo shops and beyond.

Your private demo events have been a hit. What makes them special, and what kind of space or host makes an ideal partner?

They are fun, and I think that is honestly the whole point. It’s an intimate experience with no pressure but a real focus. We create a safe, welcoming space for people to come and relax for a little while, have something to eat and drink, get a skincare consultation, learn a makeup tip or two. I work with the group, and one-on-one to figure out what the skin is craving or what could help someone feel a little more polished and elevated. Sometimes it is just a technique people have not encountered yet. These events bring joy and community, and those feel like two things we are all pretty hungry for right now.

What I need is pretty simple: a commitment of 10 to 30 people and a space that can hold them. That is really it. We can customize from there depending on what kind of space is hosting, whether that is someone's living room, a wellness practice, salon, cafe, tattoo studio or something more unexpected.

For someone who is skincare-curious but completely overwhelmed, what is the one product you would hand her and say, start here?

Blissed Out, every time. It works on every skin type, including the most sensitive. It is gentle, it is beautiful, smells like fresh blueberries and it will not overwhelm you or your skin and has a velvety soft, non-greasy finish.

What I have done with all of these formulas is the research, the testing, the ingredient sourcing, the texture, the finish, the scent. All of that work has already been done for you. You can absolutely go out and buy a single-ingredient squalane or sea buckthorn oil somewhere else. But what you get here is the thoughtfully handcrafted, professional formulas ready to use.  and the intention behind all of it, already figured out. You just pick it up and use it. The neroli and sandalwood in Filthy Rich Naked Glow will make your brain feel like you are at the spa for 45 seconds even if your kid is knocking on the door. That counts.

Five years from now, what does Céleste Switala look like at scale, without losing the soul?

We have expanded the product range, and ideally the team and our workspace. The more creative partners and collaborators I have to bounce ideas off of and support me in the process, the better I am as a founder. The more I can create things that actually serve people and bring them joy. That is where I want to be: more products, more collaborators, still handcrafted, still intentional, still made with care. That part does not change.

Where can people find your products, book a consultation, or talk to you about hosting an event?

The best place to start is the website. There is a product-matching quiz on the homepage, and I am available for questions and consultations. If you want to host an event or talk about a retail or collaboration opportunity, please reach out through our contact form. 

Connect with Céleste Switala on Facebook or Instagram.

You can also find her on The M List, The Mamahood's searchable database of mom-recommended resources, or connect and collaborate with Céleste Switala inside The Club membership for women Founders.

Heather Anderson