Ruby Hammer is a

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

makeup artist and a fashion and beauty entrepreneur. She was awarded an MBE in 2007 for her long-standing contribution to the cosmetics industry.

Early life

Hammer was born to Bangladeshi parents in Jos,

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Ruby Hammer Her father was a doctor. She emigrated with her family to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

at the age of 12. Her parents intended to return to Bangladesh (known as

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

at the time), but the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

broke out there while they were on holiday in England. In 1984, Hammer graduated with a BA (Hons) in Economics from

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

Career

Hammer's first work with makeup artistry was assisting at

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

. After realizing that she could make a living from her hobby, Hammer went on to do the makeup of runway models for designers including

John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer from Gibraltar. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. Since 2014, Galliano has been the creat ...

and

Jasper Conran Jasper Alexander Thirlby Conran (born 12 December 1959) is an English designer. He has worked on collections of womenswear and for the home, as well as productions for the stage in ballet, opera and theatre. Early life He is the second son of ...

. Hammer has worked as a makeup artist on models and celebrities including Sharon Stone, Kate Moss, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen, Caroline Winberg, Elle MacPherson, Alessandra Ambrosia, Tyra Banks, Poppy Delevingne, Cat Deeley, Meghan Markle, Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks. She has also styled the cosmetics looks for the covers of Red Magazine,

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

, Easy Living, Harper's Baazar, You and Stella, and Sunday Times Style. Hammer has worked on advertising campaigns and television commercials for international brands such as

Oil of Olay Olay, previously Oil of Olay, Oil of Olaz, Oil of Ulan or Oil of Ulay, is an American skin care brand owned by Procter & Gamble. For the 2009 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, Olay accounted for an estimated $2.8 billion of P&G's revenue. Ear ...

Pantene Pantene () is a brand of hair care products owned by Procter & Gamble. The product line was first introduced in Europe in 1945 by Hoffmann-La Roche, which branded the name based on panthenol as a shampoo ingredient. It was purchased by Procter ...

and

Head & Shoulders Head & Shoulders (H&S) is an American brand of anti-dandruff and non-dandruff shampoo produced by parent company Procter & Gamble. It was introduced in the United States on 1 January 1961 based in Manhattan and used the slogan THE AMERICA AND WORL ...

. She has been asked to launch products, advise on new looks and train personnel for Estee Lauder,

Clarins Clarins is a family-run French multinational cosmetics company, which was founded in Paris in 1954 by Jacques Courtin-Clarins. In addition to manufacturing and selling skincare and makeup products, the company is also a major player in the spa and ...

Clinique Clinique Laboratories, LLC () is an American manufacturer of skincare, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances, usually sold in high-end department stores. It is a subsidiary of the Estée Lauder Companies. As of 2019, Clinique has over 22,000 cus ...

Aveda Aveda Corporation ( ) is an American cosmetics company founded by Horst Rechelbacher, now owned by Estée Lauder Companies, and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Aveda manufactures skin and body care, cosmetics, perfume (internally call ...

and

Revlon Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it still remains. Revlon was founded by brothe ...

. Hammer's television credits include ''The Clothes Show'', ''BBC Style Challenge'', ''

Britain's Next Top Model ''Britain's Next Top Model'' (or ''Britain & Ireland's Next Top Model'' 2011–13), often abbreviated as ''BNTM'', ''BINTM'', or ''Top Model'', is a British-Irish reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of ''Bri ...

'', ''

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

'', '' This Morning'', Beautification and '' 10 Years Younger'', where she was the resident makeup artist for 3 series. In 1998, Hammer teamed up with beauty publicist Millie Kendall to create the Ruby & Millie cosmetics brand, sold exclusively in

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Stre ...

pharmacies, nationwide. It was the first major UK cosmetics brand to launch in 30 years. In August 1998, the first Ruby & Millie location was opened in

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols is a British luxury department store chain founded in 1831, at its flagship store in Knightsbridge, London. It sells designer fashion collections for men and women, fashion accessories, beauty products, fine wines and luxury f ...

in Leeds and London. Ruby Hammer In December 2009, Ruby & Millie launched the teen cosmetics range Scarlett and Crimson. In September 2011, Hammer launched the cosmetics beauty gifting range "Ruby Hammer Recommends" exclusive to

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

. In August 2019, Hammer launched her capsule collection of beauty essentials which led to the industry nominations of 'Best Newcomer' Vogue Magazine, and Best Expert-Led Beauty Brand. Sunday Times Style.

Awards and recognition

* In December 2002, at the launch of the British Asian Fashion Awards held at

The Clothes Show ''The Clothes Show'' is a British television show about fashion that was broadcast on BBC One from 1986 to 2000, and from 2006 on UKTV Style and Really. At its height, ''The Clothes Show'' had around 9 million viewers every Sunday night. It als ...

, Hammer received an "Outstanding Individuals Award," which pays tribute to an individual or group who has made a significant contribution to the

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Brit ...

or mainstream fashion industry. Ruby Hammer * In 2007, Hammer was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

for her contribution to the cosmetics industry. * In November 2013 she was nominated for the #EightWomen Awards.

Personal life

Ruby lives in London, with her husband Martin Kuczmarski. She has a daughter, who also works in the beauty industry, and one grandchild She can speak fluent English,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

Books

* Hammer, Ruby; Kendall, Millie. (2000). ''Face Up: The Essential Make-up Handbook''.

Ebury Publishing Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...

. .

References

External links

* *
Hammer and Kendall website

Scarlett and Crimson website
* Fox, Imogen

''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. 18 October 1998
Interview: Ruby Hammer
''Female First''. 26 May 2009 * Carly
Ruby Hammer Interview
''Non Stop Mama''. 5 November 2009
Exclusive Interview with Ruby Hammer
''Beauty Sauce''. 31 January 2012

'' TalkTalk'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammer, Ruby 1961 births Living people Nigerian people of Bangladeshi descent British people of Bangladeshi descent Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom British make-up artists British cosmetics businesspeople British women in business British columnists British Asian writers 21st-century British writers 21st-century British women writers Businesspeople from London Writers from London People from Maida Vale Alumni of City, University of London Members of the Order of the British Empire British women columnists