Look like Laura

As Fish­Head’s beauty edit­or, I’m in the lucky pos­i­tion of being able to test drive new and excit­ing products, while as a polit­ic­al report­er for News­talk ZB, I need hassle-free skin and hair products that stay put while I’m run­ning round Par­lia­ment, trav­el­ling over­seas or rub­bing shoulders with power players.

Here are my favour­ites for work and play.

Skin

My skin is a real mix: oily, dry, red, plus I’m get­ting a fore­head wrinkle while still bat­tling pimples. I keep it bal­anced with nat­ur­al products like Rose­hip by Ess­ano Gentle Foam­ing Facial Cleanser, and LA’BONIC Liquid Gold Regen­er­at­ing Night Oil as a skin ser­um (or in dry hair!).Cli­nique Repair­wear Uplift­ing SPF15 is a great day­time mois­tur­iser, while Nel­son-made Oxy­gen Blemish/Acne Gel is an excel­lent zit-zap­per. I fight under-eye circles with Kiehl’s Eye Alert, while the new Almay Smart Shade CC con­ceal­er and high­light­er gives excel­lent cov­er­age without look­ing like warpaint.

Makeup

Des­pite the beauty edit­or title, I do my best to get away with wear­ing as little makeup as I can, as often as pos­sible. My go-to products are Garni­er BB Cream — it has com­pletely replaced found­a­tion in my makeup bag — with a sweep of Rim­mel Scanda­leyes Retro Glam mas­cara and good old Nivea Repair and Pro­tec­tion lip balm. For a bit more oomph, Aus­tral­is Liquid Eye­liner has excel­lent stay­ing power and won’t break the bank, while the Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose Eye Palette is ideal for tak­ing a look from day to night.
For an event-ready look, I’ll add a sweep of Smash­box Blush in Idol­ize Me and MAC Min­er­al­ize Skin­fin­ish Nat­ur­al powder and MAC lip­stick (I’m cur­rently chan­nel­ling Lorde in vampy Hang-Up).

Hair

You won’t find a bet­ter super­mar­ket sham­poo and con­di­tion­er than Schwar­zkopf Extra Care Ulti­mate Oil Elixir — it makes my hair smell and feel crazy good. I also chuck in Mat­rix Bio­lage Exquis­ite Oil before and after blow-dry­ing to lock in mois­ture, or to save time I’ll add an extra day between washes with Joico Instant Refresh Dry Sham­poo.

When my hair needs extra help, I head in to see Tony Bar­rett at JAM, who nev­er tells me off for my DIY cut and dye jobs.

Body

I can’t get enough of Palmer’s mois­tur­iser range — the All Over Body Firm­ing Lotion is deli­cious, with cocoa but­ter for dry winter skin (it’s also ideal for the flaky heal­ing stage of a tat­too). My nail pol­ish col­lec­tion is out of con­trol — filled with Revlon’s super fun, scen­ted Par­fumer­ie col­lec­tion and L’Oréal Col­or Riche’s huge col­lec­tion of vibrant shades. I nev­er leave the house without a spritz of Marc Jac­obs Daisy, and for extra pam­per­ing I vis­it Julie Rou­ti­er at Essen­ciel Mas­sage Ther­apy — get ready for pain as she beats your knots into oblivion!