An Interview with Rojin Surreah

Rojin Surreah is a Vancouver-based permanent makeup artist and owner of Rouge Ink. She’s shared her permanent makeup philosophy with us before, and today we are finding more about the artist herself. Her early passion for visual arts, particularly anatomy & facial structure, led to portrait and illustration freelancing in her early teens. She naturally went from drawing realistic faces to enhancing real-life facial features. It’s no exaggeration to say that Rojin treats each client’s face as a work of art. Read on to find out more about the artist.

Tell us about your business! Tell us the nitty gritty details. What are you most proud of or excited about? How did you get to where you are today? How did you overcome challenges? Failures? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?

I am most proud of the care that I put into my clients' experience. My services are robust with CARE and compassion and I like for this to be a core pillar in my business. I got to where I am today by working hard (often not smart, but hard, haha) and a lot of experimentation and autodidactic effort. I overcame challenges by undergoing a lot of personal transformation to step up to the plate. The biggest lesson I've learned is that I don't have to always play by the rules, and I'm allowed to be innovative, and create the vibe of the domain within which I want to operate.

Tell us more about you! Where you come from. What/Who you love. What you do when no one is watching. What’s important to you? Your top 3 favorite beauty products. We want to know everything about you!

I come from Tehran, Iran, and this speaks deeply to how I show up. Everything I do is shrouded in ritual and meaning, and I don't typically play in the shallow end. I love connection and harmony, art and aesthetics. When no one is watching, I'm usually contemplating the universe or deep in some type of reflection. My top 3 favorite beauty products have to be Urban Decay Vice matte lipstick, Stila highlight, and Annabelle metallic eyeliner.

What does courage mean to you? How do you transform the fear into something constructive?

Every single question is SO potent here, but this one resonates a lot right now. "Feel the fear and do it anyway" comes to mind. Often "Resistance" is the negative force that looms over any major prospect that will bring about great impact. The greater the resistance and "fear" around something you dream of doing, likely, the bigger the impact will be.

MEI-CHA is all about community! We want to celebrate your community and those who’ve helped you along your journey. Is there a person, group, organization, resource, etc that you want to thank for their efforts, support, mentorship, love or encouragement?

Yes, my best friend Patrick has been my biggest support system and cheerleader, and my other significant person, Dylan, who has been plugging me into all kinds of self-development/shadow work the last year. Also my business coaches at Kyosei who have helped me a lot with operating systems over the last year and helped me level up. I appreciate all and any support because I often feel like I'm floundering and struggle with self-esteem a lot.

What is your biggest piece of advice for someone who is starting their journey in the beauty industry?

Be patient with yourself and know that the learning curve is steep but also very rewarding. Be persistent and don't fret when you make mistakes, keep your momentum strong.

Follow Rojin @rouge.ink and check out her case study on combo brows!