Photos courtesy of Olivia Jade. Interview may receive compensation from purchases of products through included links.
Olivia Jade knows what you’re thinking—another day, another celebrity beauty brand. She’s thinking it too. But for those that don’t know, Jade was something of the original “Get Ready With Me” poster girl. She’s been sharing her beauty routines on Youtube since the age of 14, long before GRWM was even a genre, and long before TikTok existed. Twelve years later, she’s managed to survive every era of the internet. You could argue she might be overqualified for the role of beauty founder, even in an already saturated market. Four years in the making, o.piccola has finally been released. It’s a minimalist, dual-ended product that uses Korean ingredients and straddles the line between skincare and beauty. It’s also a fully self-funded venture that sold out within the first day. Not bad for a project with no investors or backers. Last week, we gave Jade a call to talk about her lip tattoos, her recent move to New York, and a fateful encounter with Anastasia Soare (founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills) that started it all.
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FRIDAY, 2 PM, MAY 15, 2026, NEW YORK
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SANDSTROM: How’s it going?
JADE: It’s good. Busy few days, but all good.
SANDSTROM: I’m sure you’ve been running around like crazy. Did I hear right that you are living in New York now?
JADE: I am. It’s lovely.
SANDSTROM: Why did you decide to make the move?
JADE: Honestly, most of my best friends from my childhood all live in the city and I’m so lucky I can work from anywhere. I was having FOMO and I just moved. My lease was up in LA, and I was like, “If I don’t do it now, I probably never will.” I felt like it was a good time in my life to do it.
SANDSTROM: I’m going to start with a really annoying question. Can you describe the brand in three words?
JADE: Clean. Minimalistic. I don’t know if this is one word, but skin-like. Did that count?
SANDSTROM: That counts.
JADE: It’s really simple. I feel like I’ve said this before, but I’m on the go a lot. I’m on a lot of airplanes and in a lot of different small bathrooms where you don’t have the luxury of drawer space and everything’s just laying out on the counter. So, it was selfishly very important to me to make something that was easy to bring around, but also calming on the eyes. I don’t love intense colors or logos.
SANDSTROM: The brand is completely self-funded. Obviously, you could have done it so many different ways with backers and investors. Why did you opt to do it like this, and how has the experience been so far?
JADE: I’m really surprised at how well we did on our first day. I think documenting it on YouTube for so many years really helped build trust and showed my core audience how invested I was. But you never know, so selling out in a day was a shock. When I was 18, I did a palette with Sephora and told my agents my dream was to have my own makeup line. They set up meetings with incubation companies that front the money but take a big chunk of the company. I talked to my dad, who’s started a lot of businesses, and he just said, “No, you’re not doing that.” I had a lot of money saved from brand deals since I’d been on YouTube since I was 14, so I collected a chunk of that. It was scary to pour my own money into it, but it’s something I’d wanted since I was a teenager.
SANDSTROM: That’s awesome. I imagine a huge benefit is the amount of control you’ll be able to have over the brand.
JADE: I know. I don’t know too many other business owners in this space, and the truth is I don’t really have anybody to ask for creative help or that type of stuff. I’m just kind of the only one in the driver’s seat. So it is nice. It’s exactly my vision coming to life.
SANDSTROM: That’s amazing. You’ve been posting your get ready with me’s since you were 14 or 15, right?
JADE: 14. 2014 was my first YouTube video.
SANDSTROM: Wow. How do you think you were able to survive so many eras of TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram?
JADE: I honestly have no idea and I wonder the same thing. Typically with social media, you have your peak and then you kind of slowly just fall off. But I definitely think times have changed a lot too. When I started, vlogs and lifestyle videos weren’t really a thing. It was strictly makeup tutorials. I’ve really tried to evolve the videos into what my audience suggests and wants to see. I don’t fully know, but I’m really lucky and I hope that it continues.
SANDSTROM: Is there anyone in the beauty space right now that you really look up to?
JADE: Honestly, I was at an event when I first started the line, probably had one too many glasses of champagne, and I saw Anastasia [Soare] who founded Anastasia Beverly Hills. I just went up to her and started asking how she did it. She was so kind, gave me her number, took me to lunch at the Polo Lounge, and let me pick her brain for hours. She’s been a huge inspiration ever since. She started really small and built a multi-billion-dollar company.
SANDSTROM: Is there one specific piece of advice you remember from that lunch that’s stuck with you?
JADE: It wasn’t really specific advice, more just encouragement. Knowing that someone with her level of success had made all the same mistakes and kept going anyway, that stuck with me. Already so many mistakes have come up and I just think, “So many people have done this and they keep going.”
SANDSTROM: What mistakes have come up so far?
JADE: Oh my god. When we launched we didn’t have something turned on on Shopify on the backend, so we lost a good chunk of sales. My sister called me and said “I didn’t have to pay tax on the product” and I was like “Wait, what?” So, make sure you submit your tax ID number before you launch.
SANDSTROM: It happens.
JADE: That was a pretty big mistake, I will say.
SANDSTROM: How quickly did it sell out?
JADE: We sold out of Light within the first couple hours, and then when I woke up the next morning we were sold out of Medium. I thought I would have a few weeks to push the product because I did order a lot of bronzers. I’m very, very grateful that it happened the way it did. I think it’s so cool and such an accomplishment that I’ll actually never forget sitting there watching it happen and just being floored.
SANDSTROM: I can imagine it was a really physical experience?
JADE: The whole week before launch I felt like I was going to vomit. When it went the way it did, it eased a lot of nerves. This is such a passion project. It’s not something I’m releasing just to make money. I’ve thought about it for years and spent so much time on the formula. I think people know when you’ve actually put hard work into something.
SANDSTROM: Obviously, the beauty space is so saturated with celebrity brands now. Were you worried about that going in?
JADE: I know it sounds cliche, but I do think there’s space for everyone if your product is truly innovative and different. I’ve never had a dual-ended product in my collection that actually delivers on both sides. And I have one of the best factories in South Korea producing it. They’re the hub of skincare and makeup and have ingredients we just don’t have in the US, which takes more time and money but elevates the product. I also think of it less as makeup and more as the step after skincare and before makeup. That in-between space is something most brands aren’t really targeting, which made me feel like there was room for it.
SANDSTROM: I want to know what beauty trend you’re sick of seeing.
JADE: I feel like I’m sick of mascara. Sometimes a full beat with no mascara is kind of a moment and it looks better than you would think.
SANDSTROM: What’s a trend that you’re really into?
JADE: I think a trend I’ll always be into is dewy, yummy, glassy skin, which is literally why I created this as my first product. I think another trend that I probably won’t give up are fake freckles. And it would be crazy not to say overlining lips is my favorite thing, because I actually don’t go a day without it. Even if I’m not doing anything, I’ll wake up, brush my teeth and overline my lips. It just sets me up for a good day.
SANDSTROM: What lip liner are you using right now?
JADE: I love Makeup Forever’s lip liners, and I really also like the Summer Friday lip stains. My lips are tattooed this annoying red color, so I’m kind of in a box with what shades I can use. I need to figure it out because I really want to develop lip stuff for o.piccola. I have a vision of what’s not out there and, like, what I need in my everyday life, and I can’t test any of the shades on myself because my lips are red.
SANDSTROM: Can you undo a lip tattoo?
JADE: I think you can laser them. I need to figure it out though because I’m so sick of it.
SANDSTROM: Interesting.
JADE: Yeah, don’t do it.
SANDSTROM: I want to get your take on a few beauty and wellness things, starting with peptides.
JADE: You mean the peptides people are injecting or the peptides that are in moisturizers?
SANDSTROM: Both.
JADE: I’ve heard about peptides, but haven’t tried them. I know some people say, “You don’t know what’s in them,” but I’d be so hypocritical saying that. I drink, I eat unhealthy, and sometimes I’ll smoke a cigarette. So, I can’t really take that stance. I just personally haven’t tried it and I don’t really know why.
SANDSTROM: Okay, the next one is preventative Botox.
JADE: I haven’t done Botox either, though I’m hitting the age where a lot of my friends are starting to. I’m only 26. I’m sure I’ll do it at some point. I just fear the day I start overanalyzing my face looking for wrinkles.
SANDSTROM: Lasers for your face?
JADE: I did a BBL laser in Korea when I was there for the factory—not a Brazilian butt lift. I really felt like it took away a lot of discoloration and evened out my skin tone.
SANDSTROM: Nice. What’s the dream end goal for o.piccola?
JADE: Right now, we’re only shipping domestically, so the immediate dream is expanding to Europe and Canada. Long term, any founder’s dream is to sell their company, but I never want to give up full creative control. It’s my baby and I don’t want a big business coming in without the same level of care. And one day, I’d love to be in Sephora. That would be such a full circle moment from when I was 18 making a palette with them. But the deal would have to be right and all that type of stuff.
SANDSTROM: Can you tease your next product?
JADE: Oh gosh, how do I even tease this? Maybe I can just say: more glow, in a different way. We’re in early phases of development.
