Actress Drew Barrymore poses for a photograph in Toronto on Thursday, November 13, 2014. Barrymore launched a new cosmetics range called Flower Beauty. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO - With two young daughters at home and a growing cosmetics company to oversee, Drew Barrymore says acting currently fits in "less and less" with her busy schedule.

"By no means, I'm not going to not do it or giving up on it or anything like that — but I think it will be very few and far between," Barrymore said during an interview in Toronto in support of the Canadian launch of her cosmetics line Flower Beauty.

"I think being a mom is so the first priority and filmmaking is a really tough job."

She paused.

"Let me rephrase that. There are much tougher jobs out there. Filmmaking is a time requirement," said Barrymore, who recently filmed the drama "Miss You Already" opposite Toni Collette.

"I don't want to do a job where you go to work before your kids wake up and come home after they go to sleep. It's not OK. I don't want to do that. I just think for right now, it's too challenging. It's too hard to balance."

The affable actress, producer and director is keeping plenty busy with Flower as co-founder and face of the brand. The affordable line includes foundations, powders, blushes, lip glosses, nail lacquers and brushes and will be carried exclusively at Walmart in Canada — just as it is in the U.S. Flower also recently launched a trio of fragrances: Cherished, Radiant and Sultry.

"It's really about wearability," said Barrymore. "You can have really loud, fun, expressive colour play but I think at the end of the day women want to wear something — even if it's vibrant — I think they don't want it to be shocking. So, you try to really make things that are chic."

After years spent with Cover Girl as a co-creative director, Barrymore said she loved working on campaigns for the cosmetics brand and "fell in love with the marketing to women." Flower doesn't currently use any marketing and advertising dollars, relying instead on social campaigns and devoting money towards developing formulas, she added.

Barrymore is very hands-on behind the scenes, spending time in the labs as well as focusing on the most minute details.

"I will belabour over a bottom label and how the name is put on there and how the clarity of the sticker comes out against the colour of the component," she said. "And you'll work on it and it will go through a scan at the store and they'll put a bar code on the bottom and now you can't see it. This is not good! Back to the drawing board.

"You're just constantly kind of in creation, or trying to control work through every single kink that crops up every single day. But it's wonderful and it's a great mindframe to be in of what women want and what women need and what they deserve and what they should have and what you fight to get them."

While fellow actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Blake Lively have made off-screen forays with their lifestyles websites, Barrymore doesn't see herself staking out similar territory anytime soon.

"I've tried to figure out what it is about lifestyles that I just don't think I would be necessarily good at. And I think I don't know if I could ever present myself as 'I know how to do this so let me share it with you' because there's just so much I don't know how to do," she said candidly.

"I love design and I love cooking, but I don't have anything of wisdom to share about both of those at this point of my life. And I love restaurants — I could make a good list of restaurants — I don't really know how to show people a great way to live. I just really kind of dive in wholeheartedly into the things that I do."

More than three decades since her breakout role in Steven Spielberg's classic "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," Barrymore is among the rare child actors who have successfully transitioned to adult stardom. In addition to acting, she is co-founder of production company Flower Films and made her directorial debut in 2009 with "Whip It" starring Canadian Ellen Page.

Barrymore is preparing to mark another major milestone in February, and expressed excitement in anticipation of turning 40.

"I never felt the age I was," she admitted.

"I was too young to be doing certain things, and then I didn't feel grown-up enough to sometimes be the age I was. The place I was at in my life and the number never felt like it had such symmetry as it will turning 40. It's really nice!" she added, laughing.

— Follow @lauren_larose on Twitter.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2014