Emmy-nominated celebrity makeup artist Fiona Stiles has worked with the biggest names, magazines, and brands over the last 30 years. In 2014 she launched Reed Clarke, a highly curated e-commerce site that’s less like Sephora and more like shopping the world with Fiona at your side. After years discovering the best products at pharmacies down tiny alleys in Paris or at kiosks inside Tokyo train stations, Fiona gathered the most special products she’s come across all in one place.
Tell us a bit about you and your company—how did you get started down this path?
I define myself as a beauty tourist. I think the heart of a city is reflected in its retail experiences, and pharmacies are my favorite window into that. I love their utilitarian aspect and the questions they raise: What are the basics? What are the necessities in this country? What are the products that families reach for time and time again, from the mundane to the niche? The answers vary so much from country to country, and I find it far more thrilling than shopping for clothes.
When I moved to New York City after college, I loved going to the Indian markets to buy their kohl liners and see what specialized beauty products they carried. I discovered a store in Soho marked only by a neon arrow and a long set of graffitied steps. It felt more like a small office than a shop, and it sold incredibly specific products from around the world: the perfect box of chalk from Germany, beautiful brass paperclips (that I still have). Each item came with a perforated note that told a love story about the item in a slightly poetic way. The store was Kiosk Kiosk and I’m still on their mailing list, just to read their copy. Even now, my heart races remembering how magical that retail experience was. They brought life, mystery and magic to otherwise mundane items. That’s the feeling I want to share. Maybe not everyone is passionate about the perfect Japanese cotton bud, or the perfect solid body oil, but that’s what lights me up.
When I started Reed Clarke, I knew I didn’t want to focus on beauty products you can find everywhere. And while I love clean beauty, it’s not the whole picture for me. I find the scope of beauty too thrilling to be locked into one lane, so to me the slightly unusual and undiscovered is far more interesting. That’s what I get all tingly about, and those are the products I’m dying to share with people.
Do you do anything special for your skin on a plane (or before flying)?
Even though I’m a makeup artist, I travel pretty light on board for the flight. Maybe it’s because my full kit weighs 60 lbs (plus a 40 lb. bag full of brushes and lashes etc.), and I want to feel unburdened when I travel. That said, there are necessities. I always carry eye cream because I feel like eyes are the first thing to show exhaustion. The PhytoBounce from Superegg is my ride or die, because it absorbs quickly and doesn’t destroy my mascara. I’ll carry the Persphenie Smelling Salts on longer flights, because they don’t take up much room and they feel special and momentarily transport me out of the stale cabin air. The Superegg This Moment Hand Cream is a lovely object that I love taking out of my purse, as well as a stellar hand cream. I decant the HollyBeth Organics Rose Geranium Moisturizer into a smaller container and will use that a few times during the flight—I like that I can use it on my lips and cuticles as well. Ponaris is always with me on flights, because the cabins are so dry and I want to do my best to stave off any cold or flu viruses. And lastly I’m a LanoLips lip balm power user. This is the only product that cures chapped lips as well as prevents them.
What are some of your favorite beauty bring-backs from your travels?
This list might be a little random, but really, these are items I cherish!
Hakuhodo Brushes. The most stunning selection of handmade makeup brushes. After I bought an embarrassing amount of brushes and brought them back to LA, I learned that they had a showroom about 40 minutes from my house. But that’s far less fun than finding the brush store on the second floor of a building on a random street in Tokyo. It’s about the hunt and the adventure!
The straws I got at 7-11 in Tokyo. My clients are always asking for a straw on shoots or press days so they don’t mess up their lipstick. I found these individually wrapped, expandable straws that are also bendy so they’re perfect for my set bag. I’m telling you, only in Japan.
Shara Shara Acerola Moist Oil Balm from Korea. It’s in an adorable little red tin with cherries on it and the balm gives skin a perfect hint of glossy dewiness. The scent is delicately fruity, not remotely overpowering. I bought so many of these I still have one or two left, and I love pulling it out on set because it reminds me of that fun makeup shopping trip to Seoul I took with fellow makeup artist Troy Surratt (creator of Surratt Beauty).
Officine Universelle Buly Bougie Odoriferante Alexandrie Candle in a cloche dome. I bought this from their breathtakingly beautiful shop in Paris and I’ve never burned it. Every time I walk past it, I lift the dome and take a deep inhale. It smells so incredible, I just can’t bear the thought of not having it anymore, so it remains unburned.
The perfect kilt/diaper pin from some little store in Nakameguro. I was taken by these and bought a handful. Random? Yes, absolutely. But they’re perfect, sleek items that are designed so well. They feel important and utilitarian. What an excellent combination.
Santen BeautEye Drops. When something as basic as eye drops are given the level of design attention that might go into a fragrance bottle, my soul lights up. The cap that looks like cut crystal, the beveled edges, the intriguing pink liquid inside…. all for a bottle of eye drops. How magical.
What are a few things you always pack for your beauty/wellness routine?
Reed Clarke Cashmere Blanket: This comes with me everywhere I go. It’s the little bit of coziness I crave on flights and I’ll put it over the bedspread in hotels or use it as a scarf when I’m out on the town. It’s incredibly soft and so versatile.
Ponsont Incense papers: I have these in my purse at all times. Just burning a little corner of the paper is enough to transform a hotel room into a magical place. The owner Justin’s sense of scent is alchemical, I would literally buy anything the man makes. I wish he would do fragrance. He says he won’t but I’m holding out hope.
Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream: Oh how I love this cream. It’s rich enough to make me feel deeply hydrated, but somehow doesn’t make me feel greasy. My skin feels radiant and plump and dewy and it has incredible clinical trials to back up the science of the products.
Korean barley tea & my Fellow Carter Carry Water Bottle: I gave up caffeine recently. I love tea, but am not wild about most herbal teas. I do love the subtle taste of Korean barley tea, so that’s my new go-to. The Fellow Carry Bottle keeps my tea super hot all day and I can throw it in my purse without fear of it leaking.
Millie’s Thai Lemongrass Sipping Broth: I love having this on the plane. I don’t love eating while I fly, but my mouth gets bored and having some broth passes the time and feels satisfying. The broth comes in tea bags, which I think is brilliant.
Lano Lips Lip Balm – It’s honestly the only thing that really cures and prevents chapped lips. I love the weight and slip of it and that it’s unscented and unflavored.
Surratt Expressioniste Lash Curler: I never leave the house without curling my lashes, and this one has been my favorite since it launched. It’s not too curved, so it really gets all of my lashes and gives them just the perfect curl every time.
Sarah Creal Back of the Cab mascara: I prefer a tubing mascara because they don’t run, smudge or smear. This formula gives you nice, long, thick lashes with zero clumping. I love this brand and their ethos—the products are formulated for women over 40 (but of course work on all ages), and as much thought went into the design as the formulation. They’re chic and well thought out and the design is just terrific. 10/10.
Arpin Mirror: Yolanda waxed poetic about this mirror a few months back. I’m literally never without it—I have one in my bathroom and one in my purse at all times. The clarity of the mirror is incredible, and I don’t think I could apply makeup without it. Plus it’s just so elegant and a joy to whip out for a makeup touch up.
Cadence: I’m obsessed with downsizing beauty products. Again, see the above-mentioned combined 100+ lbs. of products I take to work every day. When I travel, I’d rather only take what I need for the trip. Plus then I might have the excuse of needing to buy something fun. The Cadence travel containers are just the right size for bringing only what you need.
RŌZ Hair Milk: Kate Moss in the ‘90s is my forever muse. Hair that’s lank and easy, but always just right. This is a milky textured product that takes the fluffiness out of your hair, and gives you that mid-’90s effortless cool-girl look. It’s also great with blowouts, if that’s your thing. (In the ‘90s on fashion shoots, some hairdressers would use Lubriderm in the hair to give it that lank but not greasy hair. This is the elevated version of that.)
YS Park Crazy Dry Wax: As I get older, like many people, the texture of my hair has changed considerably and my tinsel (a far more festive descriptor than grey hair) is wiry and willful. I can’t recall how I discovered this Japanese wax, but it certainly lives up to its name. I’ve found that the Japanese market really excels in the waxes and pomades category. This is a dry paste that tames the most unruly fly aways—a bit of this wax keeps those errant hairs in check and my bun or low pony sleek.
WELLinsulated Performance Travel Case: Not only are these makeup bags really attractive, the design is also very clever. The zipper is waterproof so any leaks or spills stay in the bag. It’s also heat resistant so it’s an ideal companion for taking to the beach (throw your phone in there and it won’t overheat).
What are a few of your favorite wellness destinations for shopping/treatments/etc?
No surprise that my favorite places are pharmacies….
Bigelow Pharmacy: This store is iconic. I’ve been going here since the mid-’90s and every time I’m in NYC I stop by to see what’s on their shelves. I love that it’s a real community pharmacy as well as a fantastic place for discovering products. They have such a nice combination of practical items, like regular toothpaste, but then right next to it is some amazing toothpaste from another country that you’ve never seen before. I suppose I like going to places that make me feel like I’m somewhere else. Can you tell that I love well-curated stores?
Palace Beauty: This beauty supply store is a destination for every makeup artist and hair stylist working in LA. Owned by the parents of celebrity hairdresser Jenny Cho, it has an amazing selection of Korean beauty products. There are rows of face masks that you’ve never seen anywhere else, as well as your basic beauty staples—you can get tweezers or hair ties, and then also the best Korean makeup. I love swinging by there to see what’s new. Also on the first floor of the building is a massive Korean grocery store, which I love strolling through after makeup shopping.
Murukai Market or any Japanese market anywhere: It all comes back to a better mousetrap for me. As a makeup artist, Q-Tips make me crazy because they leave fluff on my clients’ lashes, but there are packages of tiny cotton buds in Japanese markets that are perfect for cleaning up makeup around the eye. The cotton is so tightly wound and the tip is so thin, they’re ideal for the job. Zero fluff. They sell cotton pads for removing makeup that are also made with a tight weave so again, no fluff on the lashes. The face masks are excellent and they probably come in some crazy-cute packaging that speaks to your inner 4th grader and you can’t help but leave with a dozen. These markets also tend to sell a decent selection of Japanese drugstore makeup, like the perfect curling mascara, wispy lashes that look undetectable, or a super-waterproof eyeliner. I geek out over the colors because they’ll make a brow pencil that’s greige or olive that works so much better than brown. The price point is really affordable and since they’re in the drugstore makeup category the investment and risk is low. Cheap thrills.
Literally any pharmacy. Anywhere.
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