In work and in life, Gucci Westman doesn’t settle. Eight years after launching her eponymous cosmetics brand Westman Atelier, the makeup artist feels more self-assured than ever. “When it comes to makeup and skincare, I don’t doubt myself—I don’t second guess,” she says. Her vision is backed by her business partner and husband David Neville, and a team equally as passionate about the brand’s growth as she is.
“I felt really strongly that this was a proposition that there would be an appetite for, because I know there are a lot of women like myself who want to look a little like a better version of themselves with very little effort. And they want to also experience some form of joy while doing it. And hey, what about having creating better skin along the way?” The more you get to know Westman, the more you understand why the brand resonates with so many women globally.
Kate Weizman, the Atelier’s chief marketing officer, calls Gucci herself the brand’s secret sauce. “You want to be friends with her, you want to be like her,” and by osmosis, follow her beauty advice religiously. Despite being aspirational in her success and expertise, Westman maintains a certain warmth that allows her to really connect with her audience. “I love making people feel happy and confident,” she says. “I love interacting with people, and seeing the expression on their faces when they look in the mirror [after a makeup consultation]. It never gets old.”
From her early days of working on Vogue shoots with legendary stylist Grace Coddington, Westman became known for creating skin that looked alive; beauty that felt elevated and enhanced, radiant and fresh—contrary to the matte, shine-free glam of the early aughts. “Instead of piling on a new face, she let my skin breathe, mixing and then spot-painting different colors onto every imperfection,” Cameron Diaz previously said. “To this day, no one does skin like Gucci.”
She credits her upbringing to her unique approach to skin-care. “I grew up in an ashram in California when I was little,” she says, citing the presence of spirituality in her family, including Hinduism and Buddhism that emphasized the connection between lifestyle and well-being. “I was always interested in ingredients because of that.” So, when it came time to make something of her own, she knew it had to be performance-driven. Her parameters were clear: no phthalates, parabens, pegs, mineral oils, or synthetics. She stood her ground during the formulation process, when contract manufacturers tried to push back. “Thank God I’m so stubborn,” she jokes.
Westman’s high standards and expectations come as little surprise. “I don’t let myself disappoint myself as it relates to our products,” she says. “Nothing is perfect but it’s pretty excellent.” That is her goal with Westman Atelier: striving for excellence, always being nimble, and listening to the audience. Through her brand, she hopes to create a space for women to share valuable information with each other, in an effort to lift each other up. Community is of utmost priority, when it comes to scaling a beauty brand and in life. “A lot of my inspiration comes from how I grew up, and being able to travel frequently.” These days, she’s between her upstate New York base, Milan (near where Westman Atelier makes many of its products), Paris, Asia, London, Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Rome where she travels for work and leisure.
Her love of learning more about other cultures isn’t the only part of her childhood she still embraces; it also plays a role in how she takes care of herself. Wellness, she explains, was an innate part of her family life. “It was just part of how we lived—being out doors a lot, meditating, exercising, and eating really good food,” she continues. “Even though I didn’t like it at the time necessarily, you learn to appreciate it so much. I’m like ‘gosh, that was so lucky that I grew up like that.’” Nowadays, this means focusing on strength versus aesthetics: “I am quite consistent with exercise, how I eat, how I take care of myself, and I know what I need,” she says.
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