Despite her fame, Gwen Stefani appears by all accounts to be an approachable and easy-going person — just don't compare the singer's new make-up line, GXVE Beauty, with other celebrity offerings.

"I get feisty about that," laughs the former lead singer of rock band No Doubt. "This is not another celebrity line. I'm not a celebrity — I'm from Anaheim and I've played with and been obsessed with make-up my entire life."

We are at a modest Italian restaurant in Anaheim [in the US state of California], not far from where the singer once lived and where her parents had their first date, to talk about the launch of GXVE Beauty.

The environment notwithstanding, Stefani is in high-glam rock-chic mode — she's wearing a white leotard-style top, low rise skinny jeans and high-heeled boots, has chunky rings on every finger, sports a high blonde ponytail and, of course, has make-up on — black liner and a bright red lip.

GXVE (pronounced "give" and reminiscent of how she signed her name in high school) Beauty has been four years in the making, and Stefani was involved at every turn.

"This is so unbelievably surreal, I'm out of my brain right now," she says. "I feel like everything I've done in my entire life, speaking from my heart, has led to this moment. This feels definitely like the next chapter in my life."

Stefani remembers having the idea for a beauty brand "when my life fell apart" (she filed for divorce from singer Gavin Rossdale in 2015, and has since found happiness again with country singer Blake Shelton).

"A lot of beautiful things came out of that, and this is one of those ideas," she said. "I wanted to do something that was truly mine, something I know I am good at."

As a child, Stefani played with and was obsessed with make-up and she would rummage through her friend's mum's cosmetics collection.

When she was a little older, she worked as a make-up girl behind the counter for Italian brand Borghese, doing makeovers and selling products in a shopping centre.

"I had no training," she said. "They just opened it up to me and said, 'Make a display.'"

The drive behind GXVE Beauty is the same drive that has motivated Stefani all her life — when she co-founded No Doubt in the late 1980s, she did it for the love of music, not fame.

"We weren't trying to do anything, we were just being who we were," she says. "And it's kind of the same with this, except I have all that experience and truth and passion behind me."

Stefani does all her own make-up for her concerts, and she has been an ambassador for major beauty companies such as Revlon, L'Oreal and Urban Decay — an unusual feat in an industry that usually will not front a celebrity used by a competitor brand.

"This line is for someone who is passionate about make-up," she says.

"Make-up is not just about the formulas. It's a feeling you get when you pick it up, and you have that version of who you want to be that day, and how you show up, and you do it for someone else and that is the gift they are receiving."

GXVE Beauty currently has eight products — three red lipsticks, eyeliner, an eyeshadow set, two brow products and a priming oil — priced between US$21 and US$48. The lipsticks come in a matt and a satin bullet lipstick, and a matt liquid. They are designed to suit all skin tones.

Stefani's signature boldness infuses the line and the messaging around it, which reflects her own approach to beauty.

"This is my make-up, and I want to play with it and have fun and be creative. That's what we're doing here. It's not rocket science."

This article was first published in South China Morning Post.