Cotton Rouge is a company and brand started by Katie Cotton in the Upstate of South Carolina. It started simply as a single makeup artist working in all facets of the industry and has since grown into a well known brand encompassing many avenues of beauty and empowering women including a large team of makeup and hair artists, a beauty studio, a photography studio and a specialty false lash line!
The Beginning... Katie moved to the Upstate in early 2006 (read more about her and her journey here) from Los Angeles. She began to rebuild her career as an on location makeup artist working both in production as well as bridal work. While in LA she simply worked under her maiden name, Katie Shawger. After her location change, she decided that while she still wanted to work in facets of production and commercial work she realized that her new home was not going to be the bustling hub of commercial work her previous state had been. This coupled with her appreciation of the "everyday" woman as her client, she decided to create a more specific brand name to encompass more of what she wanted to do in the upstate. She wanted to create a brand that allowed women of every walk of life to feel like the celebrity clients she had worked with in the past.
She chose her new brand name of Cotton Rouge.
The Start of the Team... After a few years of being a solo artist, Katie brought on a few key assistants as she had in LA in order to make sure any job was completed in the most efficient way possible while still holding on to the artist integrity she held dear.
This mindset has continued to be a leading role in the brand of Cotton Rouge.
These assistants proved their worth as solid artists themselves, worth more than mere assistant work. All the while, Katie's work schedule has booked at a capacity that left her unavailable to some of her regular clients. Katie saw a need for a team of artists much like the artist agencies she was used to in LA so that she could make sure that her regular clientele could always be taken care of regardless of her schedule and of course trusting these other artists, she would "book them" for the job. It was at this time that Cotton Rouge & Company began to develop.
The Addition of Photography... in 2009 Katie began to take photography lessons for both personal and professional reasons.
She first began to photograph fashion and beauty makeup as she missed the opportunity to flex her creative muscles in makeup as she had done years ago in the fashion world. While this style of photography was certainly fun, there was still some aspect missing. After 1 boudoir shoot for a friend in late 2010, she immediately discovered what that missing aspect was. It was her love for empowering women to feel like the superstar that they are inside! She began doing more of these sessions and in late 2013 she became the first photographer in the upstate to have a studio outfitted specifically for boudoir photography. Her studio is located in Taylors Mill. Boudoir photography is the majority of business for Cotton Rouge Photo. She does however still greatly enjoy shooting other types of portrait photography. She has had many return clients that after realizing how comfortable Katie made them feel in front of the camera in their next to nothings, that surely they will feel comfortable getting new business head shots or a glamorous photo session with another important person in their life.
Running a Smooth Operation... In order to run her company smoothly and to make sure again, that all clients were taken care of in the best way possible, Katie brought on a full time office manager, Latia Curtis, in early 2013. Latia had already been an artist member of CR&Co and also believed in the same values and branding of Cotton Rouge while having a firm grip of office management, she was an obvious fit! So if you are trying to get ahold of Katie, you very well might get ahold of her!
The Studio and Lash Addition... 2015 introduced both the Cotton Rouge Lash line as well as the new makeup studio, next door to the Cotton Rouge Photo studio. Katie worked closely with designers to create a lash line that rivaled many of the fancier lash lines in order to supply the artist of CR&Co and to eventually retail both online and in the new makeup studio!
Our studio provides an easy location for large group such as bridal parties to get ready should they need a location as well as retail products, teach group lessons and of course meet with our lovely clients.
While many of the artists do still maintain home based studios as does Katie, we love our new home in Taylors Mill!
She chose her new brand name of Cotton Rouge.
The Start of the Team... After a few years of being a solo artist, Katie brought on a few key assistants as she had in LA in order to make sure any job was completed in the most efficient way possible while still holding on to the artist integrity she held dear.
This mindset has continued to be a leading role in the brand of Cotton Rouge.
These assistants proved their worth as solid artists themselves, worth more than mere assistant work. All the while, Katie's work schedule has booked at a capacity that left her unavailable to some of her regular clients. Katie saw a need for a team of artists much like the artist agencies she was used to in LA so that she could make sure that her regular clientele could always be taken care of regardless of her schedule and of course trusting these other artists, she would "book them" for the job. It was at this time that Cotton Rouge & Company began to develop.
The Addition of Photography... in 2009 Katie began to take photography lessons for both personal and professional reasons.
She first began to photograph fashion and beauty makeup as she missed the opportunity to flex her creative muscles in makeup as she had done years ago in the fashion world. While this style of photography was certainly fun, there was still some aspect missing. After 1 boudoir shoot for a friend in late 2010, she immediately discovered what that missing aspect was. It was her love for empowering women to feel like the superstar that they are inside! She began doing more of these sessions and in late 2013 she became the first photographer in the upstate to have a studio outfitted specifically for boudoir photography. Her studio is located in Taylors Mill. Boudoir photography is the majority of business for Cotton Rouge Photo. She does however still greatly enjoy shooting other types of portrait photography. She has had many return clients that after realizing how comfortable Katie made them feel in front of the camera in their next to nothings, that surely they will feel comfortable getting new business head shots or a glamorous photo session with another important person in their life.
Running a Smooth Operation... In order to run her company smoothly and to make sure again, that all clients were taken care of in the best way possible, Katie brought on a full time office manager, Latia Curtis, in early 2013. Latia had already been an artist member of CR&Co and also believed in the same values and branding of Cotton Rouge while having a firm grip of office management, she was an obvious fit! So if you are trying to get ahold of Katie, you very well might get ahold of her!
The Studio and Lash Addition... 2015 introduced both the Cotton Rouge Lash line as well as the new makeup studio, next door to the Cotton Rouge Photo studio. Katie worked closely with designers to create a lash line that rivaled many of the fancier lash lines in order to supply the artist of CR&Co and to eventually retail both online and in the new makeup studio!
Our studio provides an easy location for large group such as bridal parties to get ready should they need a location as well as retail products, teach group lessons and of course meet with our lovely clients.
While many of the artists do still maintain home based studios as does Katie, we love our new home in Taylors Mill!