Interview with BeautyEditor.ca

Every woman has a source of beauty insight. It may be a colleague, friend or magazine… Mine is Michelle from BeautyEditor.ca. Michelle is fun, witty and knows her stuff! Ever wonder what’s in a beauty editor’s makeup bag? Ever wish you could ask them about their beauty routine? PartyMixtape has got you covered! In the following interview, Michelle reveals the upcoming trends and products you are guaranteed to be lusting over this fall!

The lovely Michelle from BEAUTYEDITOR.ca

How did you start in the beauty industry?

Like just about everyone in the industry I started with an internship — I was at a magazine called The Look (published by St. Joseph Media), which ended up folding in 2006. After my internship finished I was lucky enough to land a beauty editor job at the same magazine, where I stayed for two years. When The Look ceased publication I moved over to ELLE Canada, where I was beauty and health editor and later, contributing editor. For the past few years I've been a free agent, writing for magazines such as ELLE Canada, FLARE, Canadian Living, Chatelaine and FASHION, and then spending the rest of the time on BEAUTYEDITOR.ca.

What inspired you to create BeautyEditor.ca?

I started the site on a whim shortly after I left ELLE Canada. I realized that I had acquired a ton of beauty "knowledge" over the years from this somewhat bizarre career where you spend your time testing the dozens of products that land on your desk every week, swanning about at swanky media launches and interviewing all the top dermatologists, makeup artists and hair experts. I was just bursting with insider stuff to share—but the problem in magazines is that you always have space constraints. So all these great tips were going to waste! I also felt like the magazine "voice" for beauty information was so formal (and often intimidating), and that there was an opportunity to approach the topic in a much more casual, fun, conversational way.

As a beauty editor, you are constantly discovering new trends. Are there any new products and trends that you are excited about?

Always! In products, there are three newbies that I'm super excited about right now. Anastasia just came out with Lash Genius, which is a clear topcoat that turns any mascara waterproof. It's fantastic. A couple of companies are coming out with three-pronged eyeliners. I believe the one from Too Faced is already out, and another brand will launch next month. What these do is let you create a thicker-looking lash line by stamping the three dots right at the base of your lashes. The last product is a new foundation but I'm not sure that I'm allowed to mention the brand or the concept yet. All I will say is that it's like nothing you've seen before, and it blows BB Creams out of the water. In terms of fall trends, I'm loving all the dramatic eye looks. Probably my two favourites were the electric blue lashes at Stella McCartney and liner at Anna Sui. I still haven't really embraced the dark, Gothic lipstick thing—but it's going to be big, so I'll probably come around.

1. Anastasia’s Lash Genius

2. Too Faced 3 Ways Lash Lining Tool

3. Blue lashes are trending. Try Dior’s version!

What are three of your daily reads?

I check a ton of beauty sites and magazines but because I'm so immersed in the topic I usually just skim the content. Probably the one I enjoy the most is Glamour's beauty blog—for my site it's all about the headlines and I find Glamour does such a great job of writing them. They always suck me in to wanting to read the posts. Aside from that my guilty pleasures are Crazy Days and Nights and Get Off My Internets. The former is a gossip site that has wicked blind item reveals, and the latter basically just calls out bloggers on the internet for their narcissistic behaviour. It's hilarious (and keeps me in line!).

What is your daily beauty routine like?

If I'm at home writing, I'll apply a series of masks instead of putting on makeup. For events I'll put in some more effort, although I'm still pretty low-key (read: lazy). Always sunscreen, and then I spend the majority of time on whatever combo of BB Cream/primer/concealer/foundation/powder that I feel like that day. Then just mascara, nude eyeshadow, sometimes liner, blush and a lip gloss or lipstick. Because I am paranoid about my hair colour fading, I usually just let it dry naturally and spray in a ton of dry shampoo to give it texture.

Three must have products for the summer:

1. I can't live without SkinCeuticals sunscreen — it's the best mineral one out there and doesn't leave a white cast or make you greasy.

2. Bright nail polish. My pick of the season is Camera by Essie—a pinky coral.

3. That mascara-waterproofing product I mentioned above... it's called Lash Genius by Anastasia.

1. Camera nail polish by Essie

2. SkinCeuticals sunscreen

What is the best purchase you ever made?

I finally got on board the Retin-A train this year after years of interviewing dermatologists and hearing them tell me it's the gold standard for anti-aging. I'll let you know how that goes in five or 10 years, but for now I've noticed better skin texture and cleaner pores—so that's something!

What do you keep in your makeup bag?

At home I have waaaay too many products to fit in just one makeup bag (it's a real problem), but in my purse I carry fragrance, concealer, stick blush, a nail file, a hair brush/mirror compact, blotting papers and about 40 different types of lip products. (How they all get in there I don't know!)

Which modern day icons do you look up to?

I love Emma Stone for her beauty risk-taking. She always gets it right without looking overdone. Olivia Wilde is great too. For hair, I have a special place in my heart for the strawberry blondes, so I'm always saving pics of Amy Adams (and now this C-lister called Holland Roden) to take to my hairdresser.

Are the most expensive products better than the more affordable ones?

It really depends. Everyone should have an antioxidant serum in their skincare regimen, and they don't come cheap. I also think foundation, fragrance and high-quality hair tools are worth splurging on. Most other categories have perfectly fine drugstore offerings... so it's really a matter of prioritizing based on your needs. Will the Tom Ford lipstick be nicer to use than the Rimmel one? Of course. But nobody's going to know it's Tom Ford when you're walking down the street!

What are some of the biggest mistakes you see women doing?

I really wish women would get over the blonde highlight thing. It's so dated-looking now to have such obvious streaks with an ashy base. It's far more flattering for most people to do a darker, warmer all-over colour on their base with subtle, tone-on-tone highlights. I also think women wear too much makeup in general when they go out at night. When the outfit is sexy, your makeup shouldn't be over the top as well.

Name your top three songs:

Well according to my iTunes here are three that have received some of the most plays:

Tenderness by General Public (cheesy I know)

Ice Skating Girl (Linus Loves Remix) by Rekindle (I heard this in Anthropologie and Shazam'ed it)

Teenage Dream by Katy Perry (the pinnacle of her oeuvre, right??)