As any lipstick lover will tell you, swiping on the perfect hue adds a little bit of magic to any ordinary day. Gabriela Navejas — co-founder of the clean lipstick line Madame Gabriela Beauty — knows this well after growing up in a lineage of inspiring women who’d always apply lipstick before leaving the house. 

Over dinner in Paris one night, she and her co-founder Geoffrey Christiansen banded together to create a clean line of lipsticks featuring skincare ingredients like Mānuka honey. The result is an award-winning formula you’ll never want to take off.

Here’s the full scoop from Gabriela herself.

1. Tell us about why you decided to start Madame Gabriela — was there a specific moment when you knew you just had to bring it to life?

After 15 years climbing the corporate ladder, I felt I needed to change directions and keep challenging myself. So, one night, I was in Paris having dinner with my now co-founder Geoffrey… one thing led to another and right then and there we decided to launch our lipstick line!

2. Why lipstick?

At that life-changing dinner, we were discussing the most important women in our lives and learned that they all had one thing in common: they’d apply lipstick wherever we were going. So, lipstick it was!

3. Your lipsticks have the loveliest names. How did you develop and name each one?

I’m fascinated by the fact that in different places, women embrace beauty differently. My business partner Geoffrey and I are both huge travelers, and I believe that anywhere you travel, you have the chance to see a whole new perspective. So in honor of beauty all over the world, we named our first shades after our favorite cities and the best times — we think — to be there. 

Sydney at 8AM, Saint Tropez at 11AM, New York at 1PM, and Paris at 7PM were born. 

We hope that each time you apply your lipstick, you’re transported a bit to the magic of that city.

4. Tell us about the ingredients and why you selected them. 

Geoffrey’s from Australia and his family is the biggest honey supplier in the country. So every time he’d come back to the States from visiting his family, he’d bring me a pot of Mānuka honey — and it was pure gold. I’d use it as a skin scrub and a healing aid for scratches and burns. 

When we decided to start making lipsticks, two things were a must: 1) it had to be non-toxic, and 2) it had to have Mānuka honey.

Creating the formula for our lipsticks was quite difficult. Mānuka honey is very dense. We also requested for other plant-based ingredients like avocado, thyme, rosemary, and lavender oil to be used and our chemist was challenged, to say the least. But we couldn’t be happier with the final result. 

5. What are some lipstick application tips you think every woman should know about?

I like to layer my lipsticks from our collection for the perfect hue.

In the morning, I’ll apply Saint Tropez at 11AM for extra moisture. Then I’ll dab on New York at 1PM for that perfect rosy hue.

Or, try mixing Paris at 7PM and New York at 1PM — it’ll create sparks!

6. So many of us feel overwhelmed at times. What are your go-to tips for managing overwhelm?

So true. The news these days can be hard to digest. 

I love walking with my dog, watching funny movies with my daughter, and playing board games with my family. These definitely make you escape it all.

7. What’s the best part about getting older?

Experience!

“Gosh, if I had known…” I tend to say this to myself more often than not. 

I think after you turn 45, you sort of come to terms with the fact that everything will be okay one way or another.

8. Tell us about an experience or defining moment that’s influenced your outlook on beauty.  

Oh — watching my 98-year-old grandmother apply her lipstick in the bedroom before going into the living room! She’s my inspiration for all things beauty and outlook on life. She’d say: “Never leave the house without lipstick and a nice necklace,” and she did that until she passed away at nearly 99 years old.

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