Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosie Vu
Hi Rosie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hi, my name is Rosie and together with Quynh, we are the sister-duo that make up Stardusted Beauty!
Before we became estheticians, we were on completely different life paths. Quynh was pursuing her PharmD in pharmacy school and I was going through art school with dreams of being a visual development artist. When Quynh graduated, she always knew that pharmacy didn’t make her happy; it was such a stressful field with little time for herself or for family. Suddenly, an opportunity to pursue beauty opened up in Houston, which we never considered as a career option before. Many people were already against Quynh’s decision to leave pharmacy, but she has always been the kind of person to be open-minded and fight for what makes her happy. And so, she made the big decision to leave behind her degree and move outside of New Orleans, which has been our comfort and home for so many years.
As for me, I was going through art school online due to COVID, needed a new change of scenery before my big move to California, and decided to follow her to Houston. It was during this time that I started working through my own struggles with art school, realizing how unhealthy and neglectful this life was making me. I had to take a hard look at my life and my values, and question whether or not I still wanted to pursue this art career. It was with the help of Quynh, who was always by my side for the big decisions in my life and whose courage inspired me, that I decided to drop out of art school and change direction towards beauty as well.
Growing up, we’ve always shared the struggle of never feeling enough – we were never pretty enough and our confidence was at an all-time low. When people around you hold you to a certain beauty standard, you learn to feel self-conscious about your image in every angle possible. Then we discovered makeup and skincare, and that’s when everything changed. By having a safe space with each other, we got to take care of ourselves and learn how to feel beautiful. Everyday, we did our skincare routines together. We started wearing makeup, buying new clothes, and trying new things. Self-care has always been so important to us because it changed our own self-image so drastically, and gave us the love that we needed for ourselves.
When we were going through pharmacy and art, we quickly lost that routine from how busy and stressed we were. That’s why the neglect hit us so hard and when the beauty opportunity came up, it was a chance for us to not only help ourselves once again, but help other people who are struggling through the same things.
When we started Stardusted Beauty, our mission was to help people take care of themselves and empower them to find their own beauty. We aim to embrace natural beauty by enhancing it, so that you feel beautiful and comfortable in your own skin. Everyone deserves to shine in the way they want to and walk out with all the confidence that they deserve! Whether it’s through helping you achieve that glowing skin or enhancing your natural brows/lashes, this is a safe and judgment-free space we created where your needs and concerns are always met, and your beauty shines with a little touch of stardust.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a very challenging road for us. The decision to leave our respective fields was definitely not an easy one and at the time, it felt like it was us against the world. Sometimes, it felt like a lonely road to walk and it was easy to get lost. But no matter what, we knew we had each other and were prepared to tackle whatever obstacles lay ahead. We questioned many times if we should do this, but we always pushed each other to keep going. We didn’t even know anyone in Houston at the time besides each other. I couldn’t have asked for a better business partner and a sister, and I would do it all over again!
We completely dove right into business the moment we finished esthetician school because we had such a strong vision in mind. Looking back, there were so many things that were overwhelming about starting and operating a business. None of us had any idea of how any of this worked like the legal aspects, running social media and marketing, how to get clients, how to set up services, what brands to work with or equipment to get.
Running your own business has definitely been one of the most challenging aspects about following our passion, but it has pushed our personal growth the most and is something we continue to tackle to this day! As long as we remain true to ourselves and believe in our work, good things will always come out of it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are licensed as estheticians, brow artists, and certified in lashes. Since our goal is to enhance natural beauty, we specialize in healthy skincare and natural lash/brow looks and designs. We believe beauty should be a good experience, where you enjoy yourself and feel comfortable achieving that effortless beauty you already have.
With our skin treatments, we have developed our unique facials by blending Asian and Western skincare + techniques. We love Asian skincare growing up and it makes up our biggest philosophy, where we focus on skin maintenance and having a healthy skin barrier before treating other concerns. With the professional treatments and brands we learned through esthetician school, which was European-based, we combined both into our 100% customized, gentle, non-invasive and restorative facials that are versatile for any skin type or concern. Even our most sensitive skin clients can enjoy the benefits of having glowing, milky skin without reactions or other issues. Quynh’s background in pharmacy allows her to use her medical knowledge to carefully create our sanitation + facial protocols and curate the products we use at Stardusted Beauty today.
Our brow specialty is microblading, which is a technique we specifically chose because of how seamlessly the strokes blend with the natural brow hairs. I flew to California for my training, where I studied and specialized in natural, full, fluffy brow looks. I absolutely love brows for how personalized they are, they help frame our face by balancing, softening, or emphasizing our facial features. With my background in art, I am very meticulous and detail-oriented with how I draw my brow strokes and have a good eye for facial symmetry + aesthetic. Anyone who comes to me for microblading will always be in good care, and I personally never microblade anyone who is not 110% ready! Nothing makes me more happy than for people to love their brows everyday and to get complimented for them.
Our lashes are very comfortable and lightweight on the eyes, making them perfect for both special occasions and everyday wear. We get so happy when we do lashes for women on their wedding day or pregnant women who want to look good at the hospital, but we also love our regulars who have chosen lashes as their form of self-care with us every month. Either way, we specialize in very natural and enhanced lash looks, and emphasize on proper eye + lashcare. Everything we do has to help improve hair and skin health so that our clients can feel beautiful in a sustainable and healthy way.
What does success mean to you?
Success to us is when we can help clients feel truly beautiful in their own skin. Everyone’s beauty journey is very different and unique to them, so we really focus on paying attention to what each person needs. Some clients are really insecure about skin like acne, hyperpigmentation, dullness, aging, etc. and some have many sensitivities that they feel helpless about having a skincare routine. We help them physically transform their skin inside and out, and help them learn how they can take care of their skin. Seeing their eyes light up when they see themselves in the mirror and happy giggles is extremely heartwarming and rewarding!
Some people might look for beauty in their features, like wishing they had fuller brows or curlier, long lashes. They enjoy having a beauty maintenance routine every month, and we love seeing how comfortable they are coming to see us! But more importantly, how much more confident they become in themselves, how their aura becomes lighter and brighter, and how much they love getting their monthly services done.
Some clients might not be so straightforward. Sometimes, it starts with simply providing a listening ear or words of encouragement. Some want a space for themselves to relax and unwind without judgment, so that they can start looking at themselves and learn how to enjoy that self-care time. Whatever the intentions are, we try our best to provide the care they need.
We feel success when our clients give us a long hug at the end of the appointment and leave with excited chatter out the door. We feel success when they leave kindhearted reviews and refer their family and friends, because they want them to share that experience too. At the end of the day, the active feedback our clients give us tells us that we are succeeding in our mission of helping people!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stardustedbeauty.carrd.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stardustedbeauty/
- Other: https://stardustedbeauty.glossgenius.com/
