By Angelina Cappiello
In an effort to combat the challenges posed by a demanding career and the effects of an autoimmune disease on her skin, actress Malea Rose took matters into her own hands. She meticulously developed a premium line of hydrating skincare products renowned for their anti-inflammatory properties,
Vie En Rose. Despite their luxurious quality, she has ensured that they are accessible to all.
The blonde beauty recently opened up to Preferred Health Magazine about her journey to achieving success in the world of skincare.
PHM: I wanted to start by talking about your acting career. You've been in the industry for about 15 years and have worked with some great actors, including Halle Berry, Vin Diesel, Paul Haggis, and Jason Lee. What first sparked your interest in acting?
Malea Rose: I grew up in Kauai, a small, rural town. It was red dirt with beaches, and it was the jungle and there was nothing glamorous about it. And I was so fortunate because my grandparents were from New York, so I would get to go, and I had the best of both worlds. I would get to see these Broadway shows, and I'd get to see them, like, through my grandmother's eyes. And they just had this amazing collection of the coolest, old films like 'Viva Las Vegas,' 'Bye, Bye Birdie,' and 'How to Marry a Millionaire?', just the most incredible movies. To be honest with you, I never wanted to do anything else. The second I saw that, I was like, I want to do this with my life. It's funny because in our high school yearbooks, everyone says, 'This is what I want to do.' I'm the only person who went out and did what they wanted.
PHM: Pivoting in another direction, you've turned your passions from acting to now being the CEO of a skincare line, Vie En Rose—which is terrific. Being in front of the camera probably caused your skin to suffer a bit from wearing that heavier makeup when acting. Did you find that to be the case for you?
MR: Yes. And mainly because, on set, many makeup artists aren't looking at ingredients there. They're looking at what looks best on camera, and all day, they're powdering your face because inevitably you get shiny, and in shots, there needs to be continuity, so all day, they're just putting stuff on you.
Then you have lunch breaks, and they don't wash your face in between. You get back into the makeup chair, and then they take a whole new layer on you and my skin, especially coming from Hawaii where it was so humid and clean, and then to the smoggy L.A., it started to have these terrible reactions. I was sensitive to everything. I was breaking out in a rash, adult acne-ish marks that were not only painful but affected my self-esteem.
Even if you didn't see it, I felt like it was all anyone could see on me. And I truly realized how we feel is how we look.
I never set out to start a company. I had no business background. I didn't know what I was doing. I just set out to cure my own skin issues because I was going to Sephora every day. There was nothing that was all-in-one that actually gave results.
PHM: Let's talk about that because you aren't just a celebrity endorsing a product. You started this company out of necessity. Can you talk about that?
MR: So, I have Graves' disease. I found out a little over a decade ago. I had to have surgery on my leg. The day before I was going into surgery, they called me up, and they said you cannot be under anesthesia. You will have a heart attack! And I'm thinking to myself, 'What!' And they tell me that my thyroid levels are so high and so whacked that I would metabolize the anesthesia, and I would have a heart attack when I went under. So, they canceled the surgery. I had to go and do every sort of testing, every kind of blood testing, every type of radiology testing, and get my hormone levels back on track. I didn't realize I probably had it for so long because I've always suffered from insomnia and dry skin; I can be very up and very down. And you know what? You don't realize that your thyroid really is the center of so much of your life. It affects your mood, it affects your metabolism, it affects you're sleeping. It involves having sweaty palms or being too cold. And I didn't know that. I've been dealing with this my entire life.
It's interesting because I've had people use it against me when I tell them that I have Graves' disease. I've been shamed for having it. What people don't understand is that it seems like a very small thing, but it's actually like every day of my life, I have to level my pills. I have to level my body. I have to get blood tests every three months. And, there are some days when I'm on a lot of the pills that I feel like my body is glued down to the bed. I have no energy. I am lethargic. I have to cut my calories in half unless I want to balloon. And then there are days I can tell when my thyroid is swollen because I am so hyperactive.
PHM: Inflammation, now that is something that I find interesting about your Vie En Rose skincare line. The ingredients used are CBD, Cannarose, which is very specific to your brand, again good for inflammation. When it comes to Graves' disease, that's a big deal.
Tell me why you chose those ingredients.
MR: I never set out to create, you know, CBD can be very hokey. And the government, as we know, makes money off of keeping you sick. So, anything that can get you off of pharmaceuticals, opioids, and acne medications, is illegal and banned.
So, CBD has this terrible taboo of not only weed culture, but also being not good or cliché, and it's also still in a class one with opioids. So, they won't do clinical testing, which I find to be quite validating in the fact that it is something that is such a miracle component.
When I started formulating, I had all my formulations with and without CBD, and let me tell you, you can see the difference. Inflammation of the skin is what causes acne, psoriasis, and rosacea. Inflammation of the thyroid causes hyperthyroidism, and inflammation of the gut causes all sorts of gut diseases and, you know, inflammation of the body. CBD is the most amazing ingredient because it hits the three main causes of aging: inflammation, dehydration, and free radical damage. It's a miracle plant, and we haven't even tapped into the other molecules like the CBNs, the CBGs, etc. I have absolutely no T.H.C in my products because, you know, we absorb 60% of what we put on our skin. THC in little bits is great for pain, but I have friends who use my products who have Lyme disease, and they swear by it. My oil is the only thing that gets their hands from having chronic pain and inflammation.
I've got girlfriends who break out with rashes. They put the oil on, wake up the next morning, and it's gone. There is something to the formulations. And it's its way past, just like the Cannarose and the CBD. My ingredients are the absolute best on the market because I was my own customer. I was curing my own skin and my lab will never take a startup ever again because I fought them tooth and nail about every single ingredient. I sat there, and I Google'd every single ingredient. What was its purpose?
Is this emulsifying? Is it for absorption? I have Swiss glacier water, alpine rose stem cells, 30 botanicals, coconut water, rose water, aqua cell, which is derived from watermelon, apple rind, lentils, and Hydraulic acid. You know, even if you took the CBD out, it would still be the best ingredients you've ever used in your entire life.
To learn more visit www.VieEnRose.com