If manifestation had a case study, REFY Beauty might just be it. Long before the brand ever hit Sephora shelves, co-founder Jenna Meek was already speaking it into existence. Fast forward to now, and REFY is officially launching in Sephora Middle East, selling out fast and rewriting what it means to be a modern beauty brand. Over coffee and candid conversation, Jenna gets real about trusting your intuition, ignoring the noise, and why being a little delulu might just be a business strategy.
Cosmo ME: When did you first realise beauty was something you wanted to pursue?
Jenna: I’ve always loved beauty. Even when I was really young, I was always getting ready, doing my friends’ makeup. I actually started my first little side project when I was 12, trying to do kids’ parties and princess makeovers after advertising at a local supermarket. It all stopped when my mum got a call from someone wanting to book me and realised I was far too young to be running a business. But from that age, I knew beauty was always going to be part of my life. It’s always been in me.
Cosmo ME: How did you meet your co-founder, Jess, and how did REFY come to life?
Jenna: We met on a photoshoot. Jess was modelling, and at the time I had my first business. I was watching her do her brows and I remember thinking, this is incredible, but it was taking so long. We started talking about how there wasn’t a brow product on the market that could achieve that same look in a quicker, simpler way. That conversation was really where everything sparked.
Cosmo ME: Beauty is such a crowded space. How do you stand out?
Jenna: Even though we are a beauty brand, I don’t always see us as one in the traditional sense. We don’t really look at other beauty brands for inspiration. We look more to fashion, architecture, and lifestyle brands and bring those ideas into beauty. Doing things differently, rather than following what everyone else is doing, is what’s really set us apart and created the success we’ve had.
Cosmo ME: What’s next for you beyond REFY?
Jenna: I’ve recently done Dragons’ Den in the UK, which is launching in 2026. [Pitching my business ideas] was a huge moment for me. Watching that show growing up is probably what made me want to be an entrepreneur in the first place. Being able to go from watching entrepreneurs pitch to becoming a Dragon myself feels very full circle.
Cosmo ME: What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Jenna: It’s really easy to hear a lot of noise when you’re starting a business; everyone has an opinion on what you should do or which direction you should go. The best advice I’ve ever followed is listening to my gut and my intuition. Take advice, of course, but if it doesn’t align with what you want or who you are, you have to trust yourself. You’re your own biggest supporter.
Cosmo ME: How much of your success is planning versus dreaming?
Jenna: Manifestation has been a huge part of our journey. When we first launched REFY, there were five of us, no investment, no second product, no real business plan. But we had a vision and we believed in it.
On our first shoot, I made Jess hold up the product and say, ‘We’ve just launched in Sephora.’ She thought I was mad because Sephora wasn’t even speaking to us at the time. Three months later, we got an email from Sephora in the US asking to test our products.
Five years ago, Jess stood in the Dubai Mall Sephora and sent me a picture saying, ‘We’ll be in this store one day.’ Seeing REFY launch there today is incredible.