Getting Sticky With: Violette Serrat

Words by Anamaria Glavan

Violette Serratt emerged at a time when beauty trends were rigid: sharp contouring, baking, winged liner executed with surgical precision by every ambidextrous YouTuber. Violette’s approach, by contrast, felt refreshingly intimate, like an invitation to play rather than perfect. She encouraged the use of color and self-expression through the most mundane of everyday routines: makeup. 

And while the internet has long been enamored with “French girl” makeup—think effortless bright red lips, a trope that elicits an eye roll even from me, an American—Violette’s philosophy extends beyond cultural generalizations and cliché. With a career spanning tenures at Guerlain and Estée Lauder, she has since built her own brand, VIOLETTE_FR, with effortless products that balance artistry and ease. (Boum-Boum Milk is a lifesaver, and is aptly-named after the idea that your routine should go as follows: boom boom boom, done.) Some other STJ team favorites include the Baume highlight shine for instant dewy cheek and brow bones, a never fail lip in the cult classic bisou balm in Sucette - and the infamous Yeux Paint, for a pop of shimmery color that's so easy to apply you can even use your fingers, you can tell this was made by a mom! We personally are big fans of this purple.

But motherhood has a certain… how do you say it? It’s paradoxical. Below, Violette reflects on juggling the demands of entrepreneurship while raising two young daughters. And while she may miss her morning pockets of peace, she’s also found the unexpected silver lining of having no time: “It makes me so good at product development.”

Parenting = paradoxical 

When it comes to balancing personal and professional life, something gotta give, you know? I’m not going to sugarcoat it. My company is my baby and it's very personal to me. And the way I do business is also very personal. I put a lot of emotion into it, and that emotion is energy. It's time consuming. Yet while I can feel drained physically, I’m also energized because I'm so in love with my kids and I'm so in love with my work. Being a parent is paradoxical in that way; it’s completely contradictory all the time. 

I don't want my choices to impact my kids negatively and I’m very conscious of how my decisions will affect them—but I also can't completely impose on my work. I took a huge risk in building a company. So I’m trying to allow myself to have a family schedule that sets a cultural standard for other moms in the office. I want everyone that has kids in the future to know that in this company, we are human and we are considerate of the fact that you are a mom and that this impacts your life. 

I’ve heard a lot of language around how being a woman is no excuse to be late or leave work early, but I don't agree. We have periods, we have postpartum depression, we have young children. We cannot simply ignore these parts of ourselves. I’m still learning how to be a CEO and I’m still learning how to be a parent. I don’t have all the answers, but I am keeping this framework in mind. 

The heart (knows) what it wants 

I'm not very good at making life decisions based on practical things. My heart is my guide and I believe everything will organize itself around that. So if I want kids, even if it's the worst moment in my career to have a kid, I believe that the universe ensures that everything will fall into place. And it took me years to get pregnant—so when I did get pregnant, I knew it was the “perfect” time for me. 

And I really believe that the universe has got our back. That doesn't mean that we live in a fairy tale, but if you trust things are going to fall into place, I believe they will. For big decisions, like building a family, there's never a right time. You just have to do it when you are emotionally in a good place, when you feel that you can give all your love to this little person. 

I will say: I was worried for my second child because I finally had my company and my pregnancy came at a moment where I really couldn't see myself leaving the office. I was still involved in every single detail and making the decisions without too much of a sounding board but a month before my maternity leave, I met the person that was hired as my interim CEO and that gave me peace of mind. So it was stressful, but it did work out.

Color moods: not applicable on weekends 

I try to inspire people, and getting ready and using color is such a ritual of self-care and celebrating yourself. But I mean, the weekends are so rough. I feel like I've been put in a laundry machine on the highest mode and have just been thrown out. Then I blink, and it’s Monday morning. I have more needs, less time. Why do I have more needs? Because I sleep less. Like I said before—something’s gotta give. 

And one luxury that has left my life since having children is those little pockets of peace. That has been hard on me, to wake up in the morning and not have tea on my own. I usually need a really long time to be by myself and that's very important for me; but however early I wake up, there's always going to be at least one kid that's going to wake up at the same time. It’s like they can feel me! But I know this is temporary and I am always reminding myself that. 

I’ve also aged, and that has impacted my energy. I look at pictures of me now versus before I had kids and I see a big difference. I laugh about it with my husband. Like damn, life took a toll on us. But we’re in the happiest place in our lives. It’s all good. 

Ready, set, Boum-Boum, go

I have a very short routine now and I want it to be efficient and effortless. I used to have an hour to do my skincare routine and now I have five minutes. And while it’s challenging to lose that moment of peace, it also makes me so good at product development. I’m serving people and myself by creating products that are extremely efficient. 

I want everything to be easy, easy, easy. When January 1st comes, everyone is thinking, okay: I'm gonna drink celery juice, I'm gonna meditate, I’m gonna do a hair scalp serum every night. You last three days and it never works. That’s why I want things that are boom, boom, boom, done. (Editor’s note: this is indeed why the cult-favorite Boum-Boum Milk is called, well, Boum-Boum milk.) 

I'm also conscious of safety and wellbeing for the long run, and we’re thorough from the way we harvest ingredients to the way we work with our vendor. So in the end, all my work is also helping my personal life. I can use Boum Boum milk on my children for example and I know it won’t bother them. 

A certain… how do you say it? 

Motherhood is so intimate and it’s hard to generalize by culture. French philosophy emphasizes a strong “frame” with boundaries we don’t cross, like family night routines and teaching kids how to behave in public and adapt to adult life. We don't use screens at restaurants, though I never judge a parent who does—you never know, tomorrow that might be us. But we really try to help our kids learn how to behave at dinner. It's really hard, but we’re trying. 

I would say the bigger difference between France and the US is in school culture. Parents are not that involved in school and day-to-day development needs or fundraising in France. But at the end of the day I love mixing cultures. My husband’s family is Chinese, so we blend influences. It’s a learning experience but a fun one.

The family effort behind the VIOLETTE_FR x UNICEF campaign 

My daughter has been drawing since she was a little peanut. She’s always had a little notebook and pen with; I remember she was drawing little circles so I introduced her to Yayoi, and she loved it. It’s very sweet. 

Ines is such an empath; she feels her emotions very strongly and she is worried about children in the world that don't have the luck or privileges that she has. So when she turned four, I asked her if it was okay that I take two of her drawings and do T-shirts around them, where all the proceeds would go to UNICEF and to children in the world who need it.

We talked about the idea and yes, she’s young, but kids understand things. I want her to feel empowered and to know that she can make an impact on the world. We shot the campaign in her room to make it fun and personal. It was funny: she looked at the drawings and said, These are so old. 

Explaining emotions 

My kids' emotions are something I take very seriously. I want to help them navigate and identify their feelings from a young age. When they’re in a bad mood, I’ll explain to them that when they’re tired, their brain might talk to their heart and tell them things that are not necessarily real—that if we go to sleep, we will probably feel better after. I want them to know how to acknowledge their feelings when they are overwhelmed. 

When my oldest was a baby, if she heard another baby crying, she would want to be present and would start crying herself. That’s a wonderful quality, and I want to nurture that empathy while also helping her learn how to protect herself through it. 

No such thing as a universal experience 

Everyone experiences motherhood differently. For some people the first few months are a blessing. For others, it's really hard; maybe they don’t feel a connection to their kids. Postpartum depression is real. That's something we need to be very benevolent towards. Becoming a parent is a rich road and everyone’s experience will be different, but what’s important to know is that there is no end goal for perfection. You learn as you go. I’m still learning.

I always tell my daughters that they are my gift but they are 3.5 years apart, and so they both need me in different ways. This morning I was telling my oldest that her little sister needs me a lot more right now, that I’m sorry I haven’t been as present for her in the past few months and that I feel really shitty about it. That she’s gaining more independence and I will have more time eventually to be a better and more present mom for you. Everyone navigates their own difficulties in this process. 

Parenting your child, parenting yourself

Parenthood is not a one-way street. Have you ever noticed that sometimes if you’re feeling like shit, but somebody else is feeling even more like shit and then when you help that person, you feel good afterwards? Sometimes giving all this advice and time and love to another person and really seeing them makes you feel better with yourself, too. 

Motherhood is an amazing, amazing experience. And everything you tell your kid, you're also telling yourself. I was a very happy person before my children but I did suffer from anxiety—and when my daughter was born, I felt that my anxiety sort of went away because I wasn’t as centered on myself. Suddenly I had this little person that was my whole life. My subconscious transitioned to, she's okay and that's all that matters. And every struggle I go through with her helps me go through it with myself. It’s wonderful. 

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