There’s nothing subtle about Curb Your Enthusiasm, but when it comes to what Cheryl Hines does in her “real life,” it’s a bit more under-the-radar.
“I launched this line because I knew I was going to miss my daughter, Catherine Young, when she graduated high school!” the 57-year-old actress—who also went to cosmetology school—laughs over the phone when asked about her brand-new, somewhat-quiet venture, Hines+Young. “I was already starting to miss her, so I asked her if she wanted to start a company together. She said yes, and that’s where it began.”
As Hines explains, the pair has been very active with Waterkeeper Alliance (a global network that protects clean water) for years and were on a mission to get out the word on how much pollution single-use plastics cause. “We wanted to start a beautiful luxury line that does not come in plastic—that was our goal. From there, we created products that we would love to use, that would make us feel good, and we had such a great time coming up with our Hines+Young collection. We have luxurious body creams that are made from natural ingredients like aloe, and cocoa butter, and just really beautiful clean ingredients, and they come in aluminum tins. You can take them anywhere with you—to the beach, on vacation, wherever.”
In addition to skin and body-care, the line features candles that pay homage to Hines’ family and growing up in Florida. “We also made beautiful all-natural candles that are made from soy wax and cotton wicks. They have the most natural fragrances that are so beautiful and luxurious, and they just make you feel good when you light them. Everything in our line is a nod to the beach, and how it makes you feel. I love conjuring up that feeling—what I call that ‘floaty feeling’ you get when you’re on the beach all day, or on the beach at night, or just sitting outside smelling the jasmine and the sea grass.”
Besides that “Florida feeling,” the state connection has a more personal story for Hines.
“It was important to tell the story because I grew up with very little,” the two-time Emmy nominee shares. “I have great memories of my childhood because of my family, of course—we always had fun together—but also because of my experience at the beach. That, and the experiences I’ve had since then, and the fact that I learned a lot about products in cosmetology school all went into this.
As I’ve worked in this industry and worked with amazing professionals, I learned what having a luxury product means—and I wanted people to be able to experience that at a reasonable price point. When I look at beauty products and luxury products, there seems to be such a difference in prices and quality. Oftentimes, you are sacrificing quality if you buy a candle that might be inexpensive. But candles are pricey! And they’re pricey because the good ones are hand-poured. I understand that because now I’m in the candle business; I’ve learned a lot!
But I wanted to give people a chance to have really nice things, without having to break the bank. I love candles so much, and when people gift me a candle that’s really nice, I don’t light it because it’s so expensive and I often feel like, ‘Oh, today is not a special day, so I’m not going to light the candle.’ Which sounds ridiculous, but it’s how I am!”
And she says she’s still that way with beauty products. “I have products that somebody might gift me that are so high-end, and nice, and expensive that I don’t want to use them every day, probably because of my upbringing—we only use really nice, really expensive things on special days! But I wanted people to feel like, ‘Oh! You should light a candle every night if you want.’ And it shouldn’t have to break the bank. You should do something nice for yourself, and take a moment for yourself, and use your good body cream every day.”
The only tiny work conflict for the mother-daughter duo, Hines shares, is that they don’t always see eye-to-eye on what they should post on social media for the brand.
“It’s really fun working with her, and at the same time, she’s 19 and I’m a little older, so we have a different point of view on things! She is our number-one person overseeing social media, but the other day, I sent her a picture and I said, ‘How about if we post this one?’ She said something along the lines of, ‘No offense, but your Instagram looks like a mom’s Instagram.’ That’s not what we’re going for with Hines+Young! Which is great. That’s what I want her to say because I want her to represent her generation. At the same time, is that what you want to hear? No!
But I do want her generation to be heard and to be valued, because it seems like the younger generation is more concerned about plastics, and recycling, and keeping oceans clean. Whereas my generation…I don’t know how it happened…but we’ve really leaned into plastics, and wrongly thinking how great plastics are because they’re so convenient.
It’s a nice combination of the two of us because we want our brand to be known for considering the environment and, at the same time, we want to be known for what’s in our products because we’ve taken great care to put this collection together.”
