From linens to lipsticks.
One of Harlin's fondest childhood memories is watching her mother get glammed up each evening. Those quiet moments — a mother and daughter bonding over beauty — planted a seed that would grow into a life's work.
After the sudden loss of her father at seventeen, Harlin launched a home-based linen business to support her family — a venture that returned nearly 30x profit and gave her the confidence to build something of her own.
Over 13+ years she shaped some of India's best-known beauty names — Velvette, SUGAR Cosmetics, Unilever / Lakmé, and Nykaa's private label — pairing global beauty codes with a sharp read of where the Indian consumer was underserved.
Having battled rosacea and dermatitis herself, Harlin knew first-hand how few makeup products were truly safe for reactive, breakout-prone skin. That experience became the conviction behind House of Makeup — beauty that works with sensitive skin, not against it.
She founded House of Makeup to close that gap. The brand weathered the pandemic by pivoting fully online, relaunched in June 2023 on pre-Series A funding, and today spans 10 product families and 50+ SKUs across face, lips and eyes.
