Beauty from the Heart

Today, seeing us out in style for the final episode of series one, I’m joined by a friend of mine. Meet Amanda Confusione from the global education team at IT Cosmetics, and employee #6 of all time!

Obviously I was going to do an episode all about IT Cosmetics. They’re a really special brand to me, I’m their UK and Ireland brand ambassador, and I get to see first hand the impact of their mission to ‘change the conversation around what is beautiful’. No airbrushing, no retouching, just real women and men celebrating their true selves. We also touch on their work with Look Good, Feel Better, one of my favourite charities.

Here are a few of the things we discuss in this week’s episode that you may wish to take a look at… 

I am so excited to have my favourite make-up artists, Sam and Nic Chapman, on the podcast today. What’s so powerful about them is that they’ve made such a huge impact on the beauty community just by being themselves. Over the years they’ve used their platform to speak openly about all kinds of personal experiences, from living through domestic violence to living with depression and MS. Their openness has culminated a community where people feel like they can share and be themselves without judgement.

Today we’re talking about a little bit of everything, be it their first jobs in beauty, the journey to finding a work/life balance and how their early experiences have shaped the women they are now. I loved getting to make this one, I hope you like it too. 

Here are some of the things that we discuss in this episode that you may wish to take a look at… 

Today I’m catching up with an old friend, Amy Conway, the Senior Pro Artist at Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and Charlie Collins, the Director of Partnerships at Smart Works. Together we’re going to talk about the relationship between Bobbi Brown Cosmetics and Smart Works, a charity that coaches unemployed women for job success and dresses them to fit the part. They’re celebrating their 6th birthday this September! 

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics have worked with Smart Works since 2013. During that time they have raised over £250,000 for the charity, enabling Smart Works to open a further six locations across the UK.  

Here are a few of the things we discuss in this week’s episode that you may wish to take a look at… 

Did you know that 1 in 7 women in the UK lack basic literacy skills, impacting their ability to confidently read and write? Today, Lancome share the story of how they work with the National Literacy Trust to mentor young women in the UK with literacy needs. 

Emilie Marsh, Director of Communications at Lancome UK, joins me to explain how the two work together. She also discusses her experience as a successful working woman with dyslexia. Billie Dunne, Programme Manager at the National Literacy Trust, explains how this programme helps young women to reach their full potential and increases their employability. 

I supported a mentoring session earlier this year and have seen first hand the impact these sessions have on a young woman’s confidence. I was surprised to learn how many people (especially women) struggle with basic literacy skills, and I hope someone listening may be inspired to reach out and seek support if this impacts them too.

Here are a few of the things we discuss in this week’s episode that you may wish to take a look at…

Caroline Hirons 

This week, Caroline Hirons is sharing the story of how she founded Give and Make-up to support women in domestic violence situations. 

We also discuss her partnership with the Eve Appeal, a charity focused with gynaecological cancers, and her thoughts on life, love and everything in between. 

Caroline is a very passionate woman, and as such she uses a few pieces of choice language in this episode. There’s some occasional swearing, but mostly just musings from a place of love so I really hope that won’t put you off!  

Here are a few of the things we discuss that you may wish to take a look at… 

Talking body positivity, challenging what we’ve been taught to perceive as beautiful and giving us all of her tips on confidence, this week’s guest is Callie Thorpe.

Callie is a model, blogger and body positivity activist, soon to launch her own podcast called The Confidence Corner. 

Here are a few of the things we discuss in this week’s episode that you may wish to take a look at. Also, just a heads up, there is some occasional swearing in this episode. 

David Petrusich, director of education at Herbivore Botanicals, joins me today to share the many ethical initiatives of this super clean, green beauty brand. With over 35% of the work force coming from the LGBTQIA+ community, Herbivore support many different charities within this community as chosen by their own team. 

In addition to talking all things clean beauty, David himself is an intuitive reader and medium so this conversation takes something of a spiritual turn. If energies and mysticism are your thing, this is the episode for you. 

Here are a few of our conversation pointers that you may wish to take a look at…