Meet Rowi Singh, the colourful and creative beauty influencer who’s likely taken over your explore page and features in our latest Sportsgirl Beauty campaign, Re-write The Beauty Rules.
It’s easy to get lost scrolling through Rowi’s Instagram full of fun looks and creations, so we sat down with her to talk career, aspirations and all things beauty.
What inspired you to get into beauty?
“I’ve always had this creative inkling and this desire to express myself through art and style. School and Uni never really afforded me the opportunity to be creative in the way I wanted. I had ideas and opinions and I wanted to share this. Expressing myself through makeup allowed me to create my own rules when it came to beauty. It allowed me to push boundaries of conventional beauty and just express myself however I please.”
What obstacles have you had to overcome in your life or career?
“The biggest obstacle has been myself – doubting myself at times and not believing that I can be a successful content creator and make a living from it. I was at a crossroads when I had to decide whether to quit my full time job and pursue content creating/influencing full time. It was scary and exciting but the best decision I’ve ever made.”
What keeps you motivated?
“My passion is to stay creative. I’m inspired by the simplest of things and it motivates me to keep going with my art.”
Rowi Singh using Sportsgirl Beauty’s Chasing Rainbows Palette
What has your experience been in the Australian beauty industry?
“It’s difficult being one of the only brown girls in the Australian beauty industry, but also a huge opportunity to proudly represent women of colour with similar experiences to me. I know everyone works hard in this industry, but I’ve had to especially hustle and prove myself as a worthy content creator as someone who doesn’t embody the blonde-blue-eyed version of beauty. I’ve worked hard to be considered as a true artist, and not just used to tick the diversity checkbox in the beauty industry.”
How would you explain your relationship with social media?
“Relationship status: it’s complicated
It’s genuinely okay because I use social platforms as a source of inspiration for my work, rather than ogling at other people’s highlight reels and making myself feel worse about my life. But it’s hard to battle Instagram’s algorithm – you’re putting all this effort into your work and it’s just not getting seen by my audience. I’ve just accepted that if I keep fussing about numbers, it won’t get me anymore. I need to focus on why I started this in the first place – to express myself!”
What’s one social change you’d like to see happen in 2019?
“One thing I love about Sportsgirl is the cruelty free beauty range – I’d love for all brands to make this a priority for their business! It’s 2019, we should not still be testing on animals.”
Image via @RowiSingh on Instagram
Who inspires you in your life?
“I’m inspired by a lot of brown artists and activists such as Jameela Jamil, Rupi Kaur, Hasan Minhaj, Tan France and Mindy Kaling. My culture usually discourages art as a worthy career, and these icons have proved that it IS possible to be successful in this industry.”
What advice do you have for aspiring beauty artists?
“There are no rules in beauty, just do what works for you!”
What would you like to see more of in the beauty industry?
“More and more women of colour. I feel like Australia is getting there, but we’re not quite there yet! And more inclusivity (larger foundation ranges etc).”
What advice do you have for young Australian women?
“Embrace your difference! Life is too short to be like everyone else. I spent all of high school just trying to fit in, so I wish I knew this earlier. Also you are SO capable of achieving whatever you put your mind to. DO NOT doubt yourself.”
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