Rowi Singh has amassed a huge following thanks to her bright colours and bold looks.
Key Takeaways
- Rowi Singh has a following of nearly 400,000 on Instagram, and has collaborated with the likes of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty and Nike
- Singh has launched her own face jewellery company, Embellish, which she says is an homage to her Indian heritage.
More is more. That’s creator Rowi Singh’s ethos, and sticking to it has earned her an impressive Instagram following of nearly 400,000.
They come for the makeup tutorials and stay for bold styles, bright colours and model poses that ooze confidence, but Singh admits she wasn’t always like this.
“I went to a very conservative school where [exploring my identity] wasn’t really allowed, and I hadn’t been able to connect with the creative side of myself,” she tells Forbes Australia. “In uni, I could wear whatever I wanted so I just started playing with makeup palettes and eyeshadows and realised that beauty has no bounds. You could do whatever, and it just snowballed.”
Post-uni (she graduated after completing a double degree in commerce and arts), Singh took a job working in social media, but when a management team reached out to her, she quickly realised her content creating could become a full-time gig.
“I didn’t really know what to charge for posts, but when I signed to an agency they really cemented my worth,” she recalls. “They helped me understand this was a career option and not just a side hustle – I could do this full-time.”
Singh has since worked with some big-name brands like Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, Nike, Puma, Swarovski, Mecca Cosmetics, The Body Shop and more. In January 2022, she launched her own business: Embellish by Rowi. It is a homage to her Indian heritage, she says.
“Embellishing yourself is very much tied to my Indian culture,” she says. “It’s tied to how we present ourselves – always fully adorned in jewellery. That just made sense to me. Then I thought, ‘why not bring jewellery to your face?’.”
Singh makes the point that she was ahead of the game, using face gems before the cult classic TV show Euphoria came out. When it did, she thought that was the perfect opportunity to create her own sheets and gems that people could use.
“I thought, ‘even if no one uses it… fine. I like it!’” This mentality has gotten Singh to where she is today.
“If I keep thinking about what others think, or how well I’m doing in other people’s eyes, it’ll mess with my head. I need to stay focused on what drives me and what my passions are.”
For creators getting into the game, Singh says it’s no easy feat. Posting a photo isn’t enough – you need a tutorial, a transition, a story. But on the flip side, Singh, who also co-hosts a podcast dissecting the creator economy, says the industry has decentralised.
“Anyone can jump on socials and find a niche they care about and post about it,” she says.
Singh has big plans for herself going forward. “I want to build a makeup empire. I want to build a brand and do creative workshops, and take what I do and make it accessible to others.”