THE LIFE OF RILEY | Sunday Riley Victoria Will

WHEN SHE WAS 12 years old, Sunday Riley got her first wrinkle cream. "I bought it myself," said the 36-year-old Houston-born-and-bred founder of the eponymous skin care and cosmetics brand. "I was interested in makeup and beauty at a young age."

It wasn't just a phase. After studying chemistry at the University of Texas, she worked in cosmetics labs, where she found she could bridge a gap. "Whenever there was miscommunication between the scientists and the marketing people, I was able to say: 'I understand what they're saying,' " Ms. Riley explained.

When she launched her own line in 2009, that experience gave her an advantage over other product-peddling aestheticians and makeup artists. "I knew about a lot of little secrets in the industry," she said. "All ingredients are not created equal. When you go and buy chemicals for your skin care products, you can buy different grades, and that completely affects the products." She added, "The person selling it at Sephora probably has no idea."

Her ethos is to buy the purest, A-grade raw materials and to make sure they're formulated in a way that's effective. While her products don't qualify as "all-natural," she describes her method as "clean technology." "[It's] sustainable chemistry with more purified ingredients," she said. "Transformative ingredients tend to be very advanced, the opposite of what you would find in most natural products."

Of course, Ms. Riley's way of working doesn't come cheap—her best-selling Good Genes serum is $105 for one ounce. Later this month, she's planning to launch two new oil formulas: Isis, which targets wrinkles, and the light and quick-to-absorb Artemis. Early next spring, look for new foundations and brushes.

Clockwise from left: Sunday Riley Good Genes; 'The Paleo Diet' by Dr. Loren Cordain; Sunday Riley Honeymoon blush; Kérastase shampoo; neroli oil; fresh aloe vera F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal (treatment, book, oil); Getty Images (aloe)

Being southern, my aunt and my mother were very into beauty. You didn't leave the house unless you had lipstick on.

I'm a big believer in essential oils. I use neroli, which is really calming and kind of balances your mind. I'll mix neroli and a little bit of lavender and rose. It's something I'll even spray onto my pillow before I go to bed.

One of my favorite ingredients is lactic acid. Short term, it exfoliates and plumps up fine lines naturally. People should use it every night, before they put on anything else. It will help drive that cream or serum deeper into the skin.

My grandmother was into fresh plants. She'd never buy the aloe vera gel that's bright fluorescent green; she'd always cut it fresh outside.

I use a lot of sunscreen. I'm very fair and I live in a very sunny environment. I use my Cashmere SPF 30 first thing in the morning—two pumps is my ritual.

I don't leave the house without my blush on. I use a really peachy color with a little bit of shimmer, called Honest, every morning.

It's incredibly important to apply skin care in the middle of the day, too. I carry a small sample of Juno oil and Good Genes serum in my purse to refresh my skin throughout the day.

I try to avoid all sugar. I'm a paleo diet person—basically a sugar-free, gluten-free diet. Mine's not totally strict. I will eat some dark chocolate, and definitely drink red wine on weekends.

Every day I snack on macadamia nuts. People are very anti-fat, but the right type of fat is actually great. It keeps you from getting hungry, and macadamia nuts are also good for your skin. You need protein for antiaging.

To look awake—I've got two kids and I work late after they go to bed—I use [my mascara] in Midnight Sapphire, a deep indigo black. It really does make the whites of your eyes look brighter.

I always dab concealer on the interior corner of the eye. People just put it in that half-moon of skin under the eye, but that interior spot really gets quite shadowy and tired. If you have darker skin, put just a touch of gold eye shadow there; if you have lighter skin, use a touch of something shell-like.

Sophia Loren Corbis

If you have great blush, mascara, foundation, skin care and a red lipstick, you can pretty much do whatever you want. Those are the things that make people say, "Oh, you look great."

For my hair, I tend to use Kérastase products. I'm always looking for the a hair product that's going to make me look like Sophia Loren. I never find it.

My secret indulgence is Thai massage. If you get a regular massage and it's horrible, you're stuck there for an hour. With Thai massage, you have something to focus on, you know: "Twist me! Go for it!"

I'm a big supplement taker: liquid sovereign silver for my immune system, a ton of spirulina and evening primrose oil for my skin. People I work with make fun of me, saying, "It's a pharmacy on your desk!"

For exercise, nothing has changed my body like ballet barre class. In Houston, I go to a place called Define. When I travel, one of the first things I look for after a hotel is where I am going to do my barre class. It has pulled everything in and strengthened it.

I always carry red lipstick. I'm kind of religious about that. I wear Sunday, a red lipstick we came up with that's a very, warm bright red. A lot of women find red lipstick unapproachable, but this is a very friendly red.

—Edited from an interview by Jenni Avins