If you haven’t watched Selling Sunset yet, do yourself a favor: Pour a glass a wine, slip on your coziest sweats and queue up Netflix. One star you’ll quickly be mesmerized by is Christine Quinn, who does glam like no one else. Now, the 31-year-old beauty is making her first foray into the beauty industry with the launch of her sassy makeup collection in collaboration with Ciaté London. We recently caught up with the blonde bombshell via Zoom to find out more about the new products, as well as her favorite in-office treatments, hair secrets and more.
Were you always glam growing up?
“I discovered beauty at a very young age. My mom is naturally very gorgeous and never wore makeup, but my grandma and my aunt were always very fabulous. My grandma always had red lipstick on, even during the daytime going to the grocery store, and it was SO extra, but I loved it. I’m not going to lie, I don’t look like this every day when I wake up—I wake up a hot mess and my hair is everywhere—but there is this feeling I love about being glam and I feel like I’m the best version of myself and it exudes confidence for me. It’s really this transformation and I think that’s really what makeup has always been about.”
How did your collaboration with Ciaté London come to be?
“Ciaté reached out to me when COVID first started and said they were big fans of the show and loved that I was all about glam, and I was thrilled and honored. I know the brand and had not only seen them in Sephora, but I knew their nail products well. They were known for their Glitter Flip lip, which was this innovative technology that a beauty influencer was talking about and it immediately sold out. I knew that if we were going to collaborate, I wanted to do something very different and innovative, so that’s where we came up with the idea for the thermal lip cream. It’s a patented formula and we have two different shades: one that’s a nude-ish and one that’s a red. It changes colors with hot and cold temperatures, which I thought was really fun.”
What are your other favorites from the collection?
“I wanted an eyeshadow palette that was daytime and nighttime all in one and very universal. I had a good time putting all of the colors together. I think it’s hard with palettes because you either have all mattes or all shimmers, or all dark or light, so I wanted two looks in there that looked good on every skin tone—that was really important to me—and the No Filt-Her highlighter. It was meant originally for the face, but I started using it all over my body as a universal glow with a big fluffy brush and it stays really well—you don’t need a base or any lotion. It’s just really glowy and beautiful.
I also love a good plumping lip gloss, and I definitely wanted to have that in the collection. I wanted to do a shade that was beautiful, so we decided on red, but it looks different on every skin tone and you can amp it up and add more product if you want it to be darker. I’m one of those people who always need something on my lips.”
What about the packaging? It’s so fun and different.
“The packaging was really fun for me. There’s this New York street artist 1PENEMY who’s known for doing graffiti, and he does these portraits of celebrity mugshots—he’s done Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. I thought it was so cool because he made it so gritty, but there was something so glam about it. I contacted him and said, ‘I know this is really weird, but I’m doing this makeup collaboration and we’re trying to incorporate the sweet and sassy—these two very versatile sides that I think every woman and person has—and I think you’re the best person for the project.’ He was the person who came up with the packaging and I thought it was really on par and I love it.”
What other beauty products are you currently using that you love?
“My face routine is always changing now since having a baby—sometimes it’s dry, sometimes it’s oily, sometimes it’s breaking out. My number-one staple that I love is Mario Badescu’s spot-treatment that I use when I’m breaking out. I also love a good serum, and Summer Fridays has a great face oil that I love. Kora Organics has a really nice eye cream and I love her turmeric lotion. I also love incorporating retinol once a week—no more than that—as well as glycolic acid and vitamin C. It’s a little potion I mix up every night so it’s never really the same.”
What are your everyday beauty staples when you’re not filming?
“When I’m just running around and not filming, I love mascara, lip gloss and concealer, and maybe bronzer and highlighter if I have time. But I’m a mom, so that’s all I got.”
Speaking of being a mom [Quinn welcomed baby boy Christian in July], did your beauty routine change when you were pregnant?
“Yes, and everyone says it’s because you have less time. Of course that’s true, however, I found that my time is more precious and valuable and I wanted to spend it with my baby and my family instead of getting glam. I realized life is so short and so precious and you really just want to spend it with your baby, so that’s a big lesson for me.”
What about your hair? It’s always so fab!
“I’m going to be really transparent, and this is the first time I’m telling anyone this, but when I became a mom, I went through problems with my hair when I was like, ‘OK, I’m really noticing a difference.’ I never had real hair extensions before, ever. Before, I was doing really, really long clip-ins, and they were heavy and they pull your hair and damage your hair. They’re weighted, you know? I finally said, let me try tape-ins, which is what I have right now, and they have made my life so easy. All I do is get out of the shower, blow-dry, they’re good to go, they stay curled. I’m not going to lie, a lot of my hairstyles aren’t as wild and nutty as before, but my hair is bleach blonde, so there’s only so much I can do. I didn’t know we were going to get picked up for 500 million episodes (laughs), but for me the integrity of my hair is really important so I kind of dialed it down a little bit. According to the way I felt that day though, sometimes I was like, ‘Let’s put a feather in it; let’s put crystals in it.’”
Are you still really into fitness?
“I used to be really big into yoga and pilates before I had my baby. I loved doing it. Recovering from a C-section was really difficult for me, and it wasn’t until probably a month ago that I actually felt like a normal human. I’m to the point where I could work out now, but I don’t have the time due to our filming schedule. But, I will get back to it!
You are always on the go! How do you relax?
“I love reading. Lauren Weisberger is an amazing author who writes all these great books, like Devil Wears Prada. She’s got one that just came out called Where the Grass Is Green and the Girls Are Pretty. I love to read books every single night. I also love to meditate. I’ll go on YouTube and I have surround sound in my room, so I’ll look up certain manifestation videos or I’ll do my own, or I’ll journal myself. I love to meditate, journal, read, release and just recap the day.”
What about in-office treatments? What are your favorites?
“Obviously I’m a big fan of filler [laughs], there’s no doubt about that. And Botox—that’s the first thing I did after having my baby. I also used to do Clear + Brilliant religiously, but I haven’t done it in over a year. I’ve also heard great things about new lasers and treatments like Morpheus. I haven’t had a chance to try them yet because I don’t really have a day or two where I can hold off on the makeup. I’ve done Emsculpt procedures on my butt and abs, too. I feel like they do work—I definitely feel sore afterwards. I’m all for cheating to get abs and an ass.”
What can your fans and followers look forward to from you in the next year?
“Through this process of Selling Sunset, I think I’ve really found the things I love, and that’s beauty, fashion and self-care. I’ve also been working full-time on my book, and that’s a labor of love and something I’ve put so much effort and hard work into—lots of blood, sweat and tears. In addition to my book, I think people will be really surprised. This is my first makeup collection launch capsule, but there’s so much more I wish I could say right now about what’s to come in the beauty and fashion realm. TV was and is an amazing outlet for me, but I love to experiment beyond that.”
