Beauty Expert Caroline Hirons on the Skincare We Actually Need - and What She'll Never Be Without
Beauty expert and Skin Rocks founder Caroline Hirons at Fairmont St Andrews for the launch of Fairmont x Skin Rocks Signature Facial.
After more than 25 years in the beauty industry, Caroline Hirons knows a thing or two about what works – and what really doesn’t. Hood talks to the skincare expert and Skin Rocks founder about cutting through the hype, the products she uses every day and why great skin doesn’t need to be complicated.
There are few people in beauty quite as refreshingly straightforward as Caroline Hirons.
Facialist, bestselling author, skincare expert and the woman behind one of beauty’s most influential online communities, Hirons has spent decades telling us what our skin needs – and, perhaps more importantly, what it doesn’t.
Long before TikTok turned ingredients into trends and skincare routines stretched to ten steps and beyond, she was encouraging her audience to read labels, understand actives and stop being seduced by clever marketing.
After more than 25 years working within the beauty industry, launching her own skincare line might have seemed inevitable. Yet when Skin Rocks arrived in 2022, it wasn’t with an enormous range designed to fill every available space on the bathroom shelf. Instead, Hirons launched with just two retinoids.
The reason was characteristically simple: they were ready.
“I’d seen and tested thousands of products over the years through the blog and had strong ideas on what I would want,” she tells Hood. “A brand that was science-led and education-first, highly effective and easy to understand.”
And she wasn’t prepared to rush it.
“Every product has taken years of development. We launched with Retinoids 1 and 2 because they were the first ones to be ready. I’ll only release something when it is absolutely right.”
CUTTING THROUGH THE SKINCARE NOISE
That measured approach feels particularly relevant in a beauty landscape where new ingredients, products and supposed miracle solutions arrive at dizzying speed.
Hirons has watched plenty of them come and go.
“I’ve seen all of the trends come and go, but as a facialist I know what skin actually needs,” she says. “It would make no sense for me to create a brand that wasn’t based on science, and sold through fear and misinformation, as opposed to fact.”
It’s an approach that has helped her build an extraordinarily loyal following. Hirons doesn’t talk down to her audience and she doesn’t pretend everyone needs everything.
“I can see through that in an instant, and I know my community can too.”
That thinking carries through to Skin Rocks.
“Every product has a clear purpose, every formula is clinically proven, and we will always tell you if you don’t need something,” she says. “We don’t create products to follow trends, we create products that will have a permanent place in someone’s skincare routine.”
Which raises the obvious question: what does the woman who has tried thousands of beauty products actually use herself?
CAROLINE HIRONS’ SKINCARE ROUTINE
Caroline’s Skin Rocks skincare range - every product has a purpose.
Happily, it’s refreshingly manageable.
“My daily morning routine starts with a simple quick cleanse,” says Hirons, who uses Skin Rocks The Cream Cleanser on dry skin before removing it with a damp flannel.
Next comes The Strong Acid, followed by The Amplifier, which she describes as “the first hydration leave-on part of your routine” and is designed to work alongside ingredients including vitamin C, retinoids, hyaluronic acid and peptides.
Then comes the product she refuses to be without.
“The Antioxidant. My personal favourite product in our range, this is our fantastic vitamin C and is my non-negotiable. I’ll never be without it.”
She follows with The Eye Cream – “under moisturiser, never over” – The Moisturiser and whichever SPF she happens to be testing that day.
And at night?
“I double cleanse using our Cleansing Balm and Cream Cleanser, and then I throw on Retinoid 3 and The Eye Cream. So easy and quick.”
Coming from someone with access to almost limitless skincare, the simplicity is rather reassuring.
WHY THE FACIALIST MATTERS AS MUCH AS THE FACIAL
The Fairmont x Skin Rocks 50-minute facial is a personalised treatment using Skin Rocks formulations alongside specialist facial techniques and lifting massage.
Hirons’ belief that skincare should be understandable extends beyond the products we use at home.
It sits at the centre of Skin Rocks Pro, the professional arm of the brand, which has brought her approach into treatment rooms – including, for the first time in a Scottish luxury spa, Fairmont St Andrews.
The Fairmont x Skin Rocks Signature Facial is a 50-minute personalised treatment using Skin Rocks formulations alongside specialist facial techniques and lifting massage. But for Hirons, the products are only part of what makes a treatment work.
“I genuinely believe the facialist is the most important part of any treatment,” she says.
“You can have the most incredible skincare in the world, but it’s the expertise of the facialist, their knowledge, their touch and their ability to personalise every treatment, that transforms a facial into an exceptional experience.”
It’s why therapist education has been such an important element of the Fairmont partnership, with the spa team undergoing extensive Skin Rocks training rather than simply being handed a new set of products and a treatment protocol.
“We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all treatments,” Hirons explains. “We invest in developing facialists so they have the confidence and expertise to understand the skin in front of them and personalise every experience to the individual guest. When you invest in the facialist, every guest benefits.”
THE NEW FACE OF LUXURY WELLNESS
Hirons believes today’s spa guest increasingly wants to leave with more than a temporary feeling of relaxation.
It also reflects a wider shift in what we expect when we book ourselves into a spa.
A beautiful treatment room, fluffy robe and an hour away from our phones still have considerable appeal, of course. But Hirons believes today’s spa guest increasingly wants to leave with more than a temporary feeling of relaxation.
“I think today’s guest expects more from a spa experience than ever before,” she says. “Relaxation will always be an important part of wellbeing, but increasingly people also want treatments that deliver visible, lasting results. They don’t believe they should have to choose between luxury and efficacy.”
For Hirons, the future lies in bringing the two together.
“The future of luxury wellness is about bringing together clinically proven skincare, highly skilled facialists and meaningful education. Products are only one part of the story.”
It’s part of the reason Fairmont St Andrews appealed as Skin Rocks Pro’s first luxury spa partnership in Scotland.
“Launching Skin Rocks Pro was one of the proudest moments of my career,” she says. “Our ambition hasn’t been simply to place our products in treatment rooms, but to build meaningful partnerships with businesses that share our values around education, expertise and outstanding guest experiences.”
Fairmont, she says, shared that thinking from the outset.
“What stood out most to me was its commitment to excellence, its passion for investing in its people and continually raising standards, which mirrors everything we believe in at Skin Rocks.”
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Hirons is less forthcoming on that one.
“You’ll have to wait and see.”
What she will say is that the next phase of Skin Rocks isn’t simply about getting bigger.
“Our ambition isn’t simply to grow, it’s to grow with the right professional partners. We’re passionate about working with businesses that share our values and want to elevate professional skincare through education, expertise and results.”
It’s a philosophy that brings us back to what has made Hirons such an influential voice in beauty in the first place. Beneath the products, treatments and ingredients, her message has always been about giving people enough information to make their own decisions.
And that, ultimately, is what she wants guests to take away from the Fairmont treatment too.
“The very best treatments don’t end when the facial finishes,” she says. “They give guests the knowledge and confidence to continue looking after their skin long after they’ve returned home.”
Which might just be the most Caroline Hirons approach to luxury skincare imaginable: enjoy the facial, absolutely – but make sure you leave knowing what to do with your skin afterwards.
THE TREATMENT
The Fairmont x Skin Rocks Signature Facial is available at Fairmont St Andrews. The bespoke 50-minute treatment costs £115 per person and is tailored to individual skin needs using Skin Rocks formulations and specialist facial techniques.