Kylie Jenner, Kate Moss and Botox with Rodial founder Maria Hatzistefanis

Only after an MBA and a brief career in investment banking — Hatzistefanis consulted at Booz Allen Hamilton in New York, then worked in finance at Solomon Brothers — did she realise this time’s impact.

“I love fashion, but beauty was always more of a home for me,” she smiles from Dublin, where she is on a press tour for Rodial. 

Beauty, and business, it seems, given that Hatzistefanis’ global beauty brands Rodial and Nip + Fab have been the toast of the town since 1999, with everyone from Sienna Miller to Kate Middleton hooked. 

“The whole royal family are into using Rodial, I believe,” she says, aghast. “Even Camilla — and that’s been the case since very early on.”

Hatzistefanis launched Rodial, a brand perhaps best known for its thick, cylindrical highlighters and serums with names like Snake Serum (which contains a neuropeptide that mimics the paralysing effects of Temple vipers’ venom) in 1999.

Entirely self-funded (“I obviously tried for funding but that didn’t happen, so I moved on”), she knew her singular business strategy from the get-go: high-end ingredients that provided a natural alternative to plastic surgery.

“We started with body care,” she says. “But it wasn’t until we released Snake Serum that we really created a splash. 

At the time, all the usual product names were everywhere; anti-ageing, hydrating etc. So we wanted to create a shock factor, which we did with the name and photo shoot in which we had snakes,” she laughs. 

“That was before social media, remember. So the only way you could get the word out was in the press.”

Rodial is a rarity in beauty, in that it remains independent and privately owned by Hatzistefanis. Nip + Fab, another brand of Hatzistefanis’, came in 2010, as a more affordable line to cater to a millennial market. Kylie Jenner was an early adoptee.

“She posted about us organically on Instagram which gave us loads of buzz, so we contacted [her mother] Kris Jenner, not thinking she would even read the email, but she got back to us right away. Kylie was 16 at the time and we kind of got her on the crest of a wave,” Hatzistefanis says.

“When we worked with her she had very thin lips, and then by the time we did the campaign, they were much bigger. So everyone was talking about her.”

Other fans came by way of Oscars goodie bags.

“All the Jennifers — Aniston, JLo, Lawrence — found us then. And we had the Rodial Beauty Awards from 2013 to 2018 where we honoured our Women Of The Year, but the year Kate Moss won it, she never turned up. It started to become difficult in recent years because most of these celebrities have beauty contracts now, so can’t talk about our products even if they do love them. But lots of them still use us. Margot Robbie spoke about us just recently.”

Hatzistefanis is known in the business as one of the industry’s early risers. The day we spoke, she woke up at a reasonable 6am, but 4.30am starts are not unusual.

“Having that hour alone sets the tone for the day,” she says. “It puts me in the right mindset.”

As for future plans, the beauty entrepreneur has plenty; a fourth book; another series of Dragon’s Den Greece; and more innovation with Rodial and Nip + Fab. 

I couldn’t leave without asking her opinion on one more thing, however: we know the lore of Rodial’s Banana Lowlighter (€38.50, simplybe.ie) and the virality of the Dragon’s Blood Sculpting Gel (€110.45, Look Fantastic), but what is Rodial’s most underrated product?

“The Bee Venom Eye Cream (€166.75, Space NK),” she says. 

“I was one of those people who never used to use eye cream. But after a certain age, you really need it. Even if you already get Botox, that wears off after a while.”