From Pendant to Palette: Lauren Rubinski on Turning Hourglass Makeup Into A Keepsake
BY SOPHIE CHUNG
For the cognoscenti who eschews trends.
18 SEP - 2026
“I design for someone who is free. Someone who doesn’t follow rules or trends too closely but instead chooses pieces that resonate with them personally.”
For fifteen years, Paris-based creative director and designer, Lauren Rubinski, has built a world where jewellery, fashion and craftsmanship intersect, anchored by history, emotion and permanence.
At only 24 years old, she founded her first brand Pristine. Famed for her bead letter necklaces, signet rings and chunky yet lightweight chain-link gold chokers, she soon amassed fans such as Hailey Bieber, Rihanna, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Emily Ratajkowski Kate Moss.
Then, in 2025, Rubinski expanded into fashion with Rubirosa’s, a ready-to-wear house with its flagship in Paris’ historic 7th arrondissement. Offering unisex cotton shirting, cashmere knits and leather loafers, Rubirosa’s is a strictly offline boutique that focuses on the quality classics with a twist. Encouraging the experience of discovery, the store is an ode to opulence with its dark wood paneling, Austrian blinds, plush red carpet, retro velvet sofas, and vintage haberdashery shelving.
And now, Rubinski’s artistic tendencies are lent to her first beauty collaboration with Hourglass. Built around her language of meaningful symbols, her signature charms of the heart, horseshoe, clover and key are tied to each palette: Wish, Hope, Luck, and Love.
Designed for the cognoscenti who eschews trends in favour of craftsmanship, Rubinski talks about her earliest memories of jewellery, the emotional pull of collecting, and how she hopes the palettes will serve as meaningful reminders for the people who carry them.
How would you describe your connection to jewelry growing up?
Jewelry has always been part of my life. I grew up surrounded by it, and it has always been something deeply connected to family and memories. My father loved gifting jewelry to my mother, and I remember admiring the beautiful pieces he chose for her. My grandmother was also passionate about jewelry, and in the 1980s she began sourcing stones in India and pairing them with pieces crafted in Italy, which was incredibly uncommon at the time. Looking back, I realize that jewelry wasn’t simply something we wore. It was part of our family's culture. Every piece carried a story, a memory, or an emotion. That’s probably where my obsession began.
What is your earliest memory of jewelry?
One of my most vivid memories is collecting Dodo Pomellato charms with my sister. My father also adored the brand, and birthdays, holidays, and life milestones became opportunities to receive a new charm. Each one became attached to a specific memory or moment in our lives. Looking back, I think that was when I understood that jewelry could be much more than an object. It could become a personal archive of memories.
"I didn’t want the palette to feel temporary or purely decorative. I wanted it to feel like an object, something you would want to keep, display, gift, or collect. As a collector myself, I wanted it to have emotional value beyond its function."
What was your earliest artistic experience?
The Picasso Museum. My mother was born in Antibes, and we spent every summer there growing up. Visiting the museum became part of our family ritual. It was one of my earliest experiences of understanding art as something alive, something you could return to and see differently each time.
What inspires your creative process?
My inspiration is never fixed. It can come from an antique jewel, a painting, a photograph, a silhouette, a material, or even a gesture. What interests me most is transformation, the fact that the final piece often bears very little resemblance to where it began. I’m not interested in reproducing, but in translating.
I’m especially fascinated by the secondary details in paintings: the backgrounds, the forgotten corners, the hidden textures. There are often so many subtle elements that spark an idea. Sometimes it’s a single detail that becomes the starting point for an entire piece. The process itself is where the real creation happens.
Do you remember the first piece of jewelry you ever designed?
Yes, it was a diamond horn pendant I designed in 2008. It was one of the first times I translated an idea into an actual piece of jewelry. That piece eventually became the foundation of my brand, Pristine.
Is there a difference for you between your work on the page and the jewelry you design?
Yes and no. A sketch or inspiration can be very far from the final piece. Sometimes a tiny detail catches my eye and becomes the starting point for something much bigger. For me, the process is always about transformation - taking the idea and turning it into an object that has presence and meaning.
What makes you most proud of the jewelry you create?
Honestly, it’s when the people I love wear my jewelry and genuinely connect with it. My family’s reaction has always meant more to me than anything else. If the people closest to me connect with a piece, then I feel I’ve created something truly meaningful.
Tell us about the person you design for?
I design for someone who is free. Someone who doesn’t follow rules or trends too closely but instead chooses pieces that resonate with them personally. I imagine someone curious, independent, and confident enough to create their own style. My jewelry is meant to become part of someone’s life. Something they wear naturally and effortlessly, almost as if they have always owned it.
Can you describe your creative process - from idea to final piece?
Inspiration for me can really come from any medium. I collect references, sketches, images, and ideas, then refine, simplify, and distill them until I arrive at the strongest version of the design. It’s a process of editing and removing what feels unnecessary until the piece feels inevitable.
What excited you about collaborating with Hourglass?
The opportunity to approach a beauty object the way I approach jewelry. I didn’t want the palette to feel temporary or purely decorative. I wanted it to feel like an object, something you would want to keep, display, gift, or collect. As a collector myself, I wanted it to have emotional value beyond its function.
What interested me most about this collaboration was that contrast: taking something as ephemeral as makeup and approaching it with the same emotional and symbolic weight as jewelry. I wanted to think of the palette not simply as makeup, but as an object. Something tactile, collectible, and almost sentimental, something you keep close, the way you would a piece of jewelry or a personal lucky charm.
I think makeup and jewelry ultimately share the same language. They allow people to construct identity, create rituals, and express something deeply personal, whether loudly or quietly.
What is your relationship with makeup? Do you see it as a form of self-expression?
Jewelry has always been my instinctive form of self-expression - it feels permanent and intimate, almost like a second skin, and carries memories in a way that feels deeply personal.
Makeup has always played a slightly different role for me. It is more immediate and just as expressive, and it has the power to transform not only how you look, but how you feel. In that sense, I see a real parallel between makeup and jewelry. Both allow people to express their identity, create rituals, and tell a personal story.
Your jewelry and the Ambient Lighting powders are both crafted in Italy. Why do you turn to Italian craftsmanship?
Italy has always felt like a natural creative language to me. In Italy, there is an instinctive understanding of craftsmanship, proportion, quality, and detail. It’s a place where beauty and precision coexist effortlessly. That sensibility has always resonated with me.
Why did you choose these symbols for the Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked palettes?
I have always been drawn to symbols as there is something ancient and universal about them. I am also a little superstitious. The heart, the horseshoe, the clover, the key - each carries its own meaning: love, luck, protection, and new beginnings. I love the idea that a symbol can hold intention, that it can become something you carry with you, almost like a personal lucky charm.
What do you hope people take away from the collection?
The idea was to create something meaningful for yourself or someone you love. I hope people keep these palettes for a long time, and beyond makeup I wanted them to feel like personal objects. I love the idea of carrying something beautiful and meaningful in my bag that feels lucky, reassuring, and timeless. Whether it's a wish, hope, luck, or love, they are small reminders that something special is always ahead.
Hourglass is known for its vegan and cruelty-free values. How do those align with your own?
I deeply admire that commitment, and it reflects a level of consciousness and responsibility that feels incredibly important today. I believe in creating beautiful objects and being mindful of their impact to do good. I love that these palettes are part of the Unlocked collection which supports the Nonhuman Rights Project – it just makes the collaboration feel even more meaningful.
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