Conversations with Ashley Rodden

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley Rodden

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My background and schooling are a fashion and beauty story like no other – from interning in the public relations department at Chanel, Inc., in NYC to traveling to Paris for makeup school. At 20, I was helping the PR execs translate French words in the Chanel offices, running couture gowns flown in from Paris to magazines around New York, and sneaking into celeb parties with my fellow intern and now media mogul, Katie Sturino.

In 2006, I founded LOVER® Cosmetics LLC, a full color cosmetics line. From day one, my goal was to make makeup simple for women. In 2009 I quit my job and flew to Paris, France, to attend the renowned l’Ecole du Maquillage Artistique, Christian Chauveau. After reading a magazine article about Gucci Westman who attended the same school, I decided that was where I too would do my makeup training. For 6 hours a day, and three and a half months, I learned from the best of the best in Paris!

In 2009 LOVER® was named the national sponsor of Miss Teen USA. Our team traveled to the Bahamas for the event and later to New York to present the crowned winner with her sponsorship package.

After hundreds, perhaps thousands of makeovers, I relaunched LOVER® Cosmetics in response to women’s two most common makeup dilemmas: 1) “I don’t know how to do my makeup” and 2) “I don’t have time.” The answer: LOVER®’s magnetic palettes, 5-step makeup regime and our soft, natural approach to makeup help women look good and feel good every day.

LOVER placed 1St runner up in the nation at the 2024 MakeupIn beauty tank competition in New York.

We are also the makeup provider for the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade and Spirit of America, designing more than 1300 makeup kits for cheerleaders and dancers nationwide.

Today, LOVER® is sold online, at our studio in Kansas City, Missouri, at The Grove Spa Brookside and Mission Farms, and at bijin salon & spa in Prairie Village.

Our team conducts private makeup lessons, in-home and via zoom and help women organize their makeup and routine. I regularly do commercial work in the area and appear on Fox 4 monthly as the stations beauty and makeup expert.

LOVER® and Dance Glam by LOVER® also provides professional dance teams / companies with custom-stamped magnetic palettes using our amazing product selection, catering to each team’s color and product needs.

Most importantly, we love making women feel good because they love how they look!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Yes and no! Every time you do something new – it’s a challenge and then easy the next time! My biggest struggle now is navigating the noise of social media and finding our road!

I love the challenge of it all. But, there’s one thing we do best – and that is making women FEEL amazing because we show them HOW to do their makeup using the best quality products!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
While my duties are split in half – business vs creative – I do love the creative aspect of this business. There is nothing more satisfying than showing a woman who perhaps gave up on makeup and herself, HOW to do her makeup in a simple easy way using our 5-step guide and regime.

What sets us apart from most makeup lines – we promote a natural, less-is-more approach to makeup. I do lashes but hide them so that you just look like an elevated version of yourself.

LOVER cosmetics promotes a clean makeup line as well – using products that are USA-made, clean, vegan, paraben free, etc.

I’m most proud of landing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade / Spirit of America account! We love doing the kits and seeing them walk down the parade route in NYC.

I’m also most proud of being first runner up in the nation at the 2024 BeautyTank competition at the MakeupIn trade show. This is a validating moment – knowing we are doing it right with our makeup lessons, 5-steps and customized palettes.

That experience also led me back to NYC to appear on NewBeauty Magazine’s talkshoplive platform to sell and demo our 5-step palettes.

How do you think about happiness?
What makes me happy? I love moments in my studio when women look in the mirror and see the best version of themselves!

I also love our cheer and dance business. We serve a great need here for the dance and cheer community – making competition days really simple with our customized kits!

Pricing:

• $12 – for shadows
• $100 for a prefilled kit: includes beauty packing list, 5-step guide, canvas bag and an easy way to get ready!
• $30 – almost all lip products – from luxury lip glosses to longwear velvet lips
• $38 – our amazing brush set – includes 6 brushes w/labeled brush handles

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lover-cosmetics.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shoplovercosmetics/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LOVERCosmeticsKC
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-maurin-rodden-975b585
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lovercosmetics392