Latest / Skin Anarchy / Taylore Glynn, Health and Beauty Editor at Marie Claire

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Taylore Glynn, Health and Beauty Editor at Marie Claire · Skin Anarchy

• 0:01
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• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: This is your host, Ecta, and today I have with me Taylor Flynn.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Taylor is a beauty and health editor at Murray Clare magazine, and I'm so excited she made the time to come on to our little show.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome, Taylor.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for having me.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's my pleasure.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would love to talk to you about how you um ended up at Murray Claire and you know what your background and career history has been in the beauty industry.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I started out with my bachelor's in English and creative writing at Mammoth University.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's like a smaller college uh in the Jersey shore.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: And when I was there, I was in the creative writing program and I ended up getting my master's there as well during a five-year program.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I had a main concentration in creative writing and poetry, which kind of doesn't sound adjacent necessarily to what I do now, but I find that my poetry background uh really helps me writing-wise.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um I love that and I love poetry.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: So kudos to you.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we can talk about poets after this.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um so from there I had a few, while I was in college, I had a few internships at uh L'Oreal, Maybelline, and Garnier.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: And from there, I was on Indeed one day after I graduated, you know, just job searching, and I found the beauty assistant posting for Marie Claire.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't know anyone in magazines, but I thought, hey, you know, I love to write and I love beauty.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: So this seems like the perfect marriage of the two things that I love.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I ended up getting the job, and that's kind of what launched my whole career, which you know, I get anxiety thinking back now of like, what if I had gotten in the shower instead of getting on indeed that day, you know, but um that's that's that's perfect uh serendipity, right?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I love that.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I want to know more about like, you know, in the beauty realm, did you know what you wanted to focus on from the get-go, or were you just kind of like interested overall in beauty and you just kind of dove in and you know, went where it led you?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've always loved doing makeup and doing other people's makeup, so that feels kind of natural to me.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: But once I started the job, um, I was just fascinated with all the science that was came behind skincare um and dermatology and things like that.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, finding new ingredients were was kind of like the most fun part about my job, even just as an assistant doing market work uh for my director at the time, Aaron Flarity.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it gave me a lot of joy finding new things and presenting them to her and that type of thing.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: I was like a raccoon with a shiny rock in that way.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, look what I found.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um Yeah, I love that.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, yeah, go ahead.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, I was gonna say, I'm not necessarily great at doing my own hair.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that's probably not a blind spot.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: I obviously put in the work, but you know, I have a natural proclivity for skincare and makeup.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: I also am the same way.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, as far as skincare goes, I really want to talk skincare with you, obviously, you know, name of the podcast.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: But um, I I want to know, like, when you approach skincare, because you brought up like, you know, dermatologists and stuff, like, how do you see it?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: Just as an overview.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think it should be like a dermatologist and you know, healthcare-run uh sector of the beauty industry, or do you think there's a lot of space for other things as well?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's a lot of space.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think, especially now with TikTok trends and the internet, there's a lot of misinformation.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I definitely think that we need derms to really set a standard for hard facts when it comes to health.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: I did a story about uh teledermatology and kind of the danger we have right now of being in the dermatology dead zones, where basically people have to drive to another state to get their moles checked because it's shown that uh cancer cases are higher in those areas and different types of medical conditions.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And even if you just have low self-esteem due to a skin condition, you know, you shouldn't have to drive four hours away to get an appointment that you might not be able to get uh four months out.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: I definitely think dermatologists are incredibly important.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you have not been to a dermatologist lately, everyone should go.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I also don't necessarily think that the products they recommended the only things we can put on our skin.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um being a Marie, the Global Beauty Authority, I'm used to traveling typically, not in a pandemic, all around the world and discovering ingredients, rituals that people have been using on their skin for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that, you know, we need to look to different cultures and different backgrounds for the things that we're putting on our skin because it's been vetted by, you know, years of generations using it.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, centuries and centuries, especially things like Ayurveda and, you know, a lot of Korean beauty rituals.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I I know there's a lot of history there.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: That's a very interesting topic that you just brought up because um very early in the podcast, um, I had done an episode about just, you know, cultural appropriation and um, you know, just the idea of using, you know, there's a lot of brands out there that use things like turmeric or um, you know, something that is very, very, you know, clearly used in iurethe.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: It has been used in iurethic medicine, but then it they come out with it like it's like the holy grail, you know what I mean, of the of the skincare industry.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: And it's just always, always, you know, boggles my mind how you can take a product from a culture and not give it like, you know, do credit for where it comes from and what the what the culture behind it is.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's honestly one of my biggest comp complaints, especially like you said, when they act like it's this brand new thing that they found.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even kind of a a lot of brands, what they'll they'll do is assign one particular ingredient to one part of the world and basically claim that they own it when, you know, there's different, like for example, I went to India last year um to look at castor oil, which there are different castor oil.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So castor oil obviously has a its place um in Jamaican culture for Jamaican black castor oil, but in India, India is so large that Indian women use castor oil in their hair in different ways.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's even important to look at one, these oils and ingredients being used in different cultures, but also looking at each culture and looking about how they're used differently regionally as well.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: I completely agree.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's interesting you bring that up.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: I remember growing up, you know, my grandmother's, my mother, I mean we all had that kind of stuff, you know, um different oils that, you know, they used and it was like a almost like a ritual every day, you know.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's a lot, a lot goes behind it than just, hey, this works, you know, it's it's a lot of a lot of culture and a lot of history.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I I hear you.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, every time I go on one of these trips, I find it's important, you know, I'm not just going and looking at how it's grown.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm the host that's taking me has been using this ingredient for thousands of years, or this particular founder, you know, has talked to people they trust that have been growing this thing for their entire lives.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I've been I've been to Thailand to go to, like you said, turmeric, you know, a turmeric farm that's it was a nine-hour drive to the top of the mountain.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I just make sure it's responsible reporting every time rather than just, you know, kind of doing the basic due diligence and just claiming that it belongs to one culture when it's a little bit deeper than that.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: I love that you're actually going to the places and like um seeing it yourself firsthand, how it's used.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's really important.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think I've ever talked to somebody who's really done that.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: So that's amazing.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, as a white person, I especially think it's important for me to kind of yes, thank you.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: All of our makeup and all of our skincare, you know, all these things we're borrowing from other places.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's very important to acknowledge that like I am a white person going to another country.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it I like to report on things responsibly because I feel like it's, you know, it's my responsibility as a journalist.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, like I actually want to touch more on that um because right now it's interesting, like, you know, there's a lot of brands.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: So, for example, um, as an editor, you know, if I come to you with a line that says, you know, this is an Ayurvedic brand, it's based in Ayurveda and all the, you know, it has the whole backstory with it, right?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: And then I come with you with another brand that just says, yeah, we're using certain components and, you know, the extract or whatever, like, what would you be more inclined to use?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, does that matter to you?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like the backstory?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, how do you approach that?
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: So it kind of depends.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like when I, when we used to be in the office, or I mean, I guess I do it virtually now, kind of how we accept desk sides or I meet with a lot of people, but a lot of the time, sometimes it's the backstory that draws me.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's because they're using an ingredient I've never heard of.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I kind of look at it different ways.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like if this person, if this brand is claiming that this ingredient is used because it's based in Ayurveda or, you know, their brand's whole identity, that might be one reason for looking into it.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: But sometimes, you know, an ingredient like turmeric or hemp seed oil might just be included into something because of its benefits.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And once an ingredient becomes normalized, a lot of the time, I hate to use the word normalized because it's normal regardless.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but once it becomes more mainstream, um, sometimes it's just included in all these different products, which is also fine with me, you know.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So as long as it's effective, then I'm willing to definitely try it out on my skin and use it.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I always have, you know, like little things I watch out for to make sure brands aren't claiming they discovered it, that type of thing.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and you know, honestly, I'm bringing this up because I'm not gonna lie to you, there's some um uh Asian American founded brands.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna name any names, but like they are actually going to India, finding like these, you know, like the bazaars and stuff, and you can get pretty much anything, like you know, all sorts of little gadgets and stuff.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: They're picking up, you know, I like the other day I saw something where they it's literally something you can buy in the bazaar um in the marketplace.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: And and now it's like you they bought it in bulk and they're selling it as this like new rolling device for your face.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: And when I see that, I get irritated on so many levels, not only because of you're taking it from another country, but also because the labor that went into making that.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like on the rural level in these countries, like people sit, you know, the women and the men sit and they make this.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes children make these things to sell in the marketplace.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like you're using something that a lot of human labor went behind, and you're pretty much, you know, you're molesting that the effort and the real credit is not going to the person who, you know, came up with it.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I have a huge problem with brands in general using those kind of things.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: Especially if there's a product, I mean, especially with, you know, things like CBD and hemp oil.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the time when someone tells me that's in their product, I ask them where it's sourced from.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I usually a bit of a red flag if they can't immediately tell me.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I yeah, I think I think founders, especially, I know they're obviously not cosmetic chemists, so they might not know the very deepest workings of their formula, but I definitely think it's important that they know where their product is coming from.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: I absolutely agree.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: And also, like, it's not even just about where it comes from for me, it's also pricing, right?
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: So, like if you have something that looks very exotic, like for example, um, you know, like a tool, like a mixing tool or something, and say it derives from somewhere in Asia, you know, you you've seen it somewhere, maybe it's like you saw it in China or something.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you've marked up the price now to what, like 80 bucks, right?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: That you're selling this for.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: I want to know how are you giving back to that community that you took this from?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I mean, it's okay to take things from people and give you know credit, but I think there should be this built-in like system where you're either starting a charity or you're, you know, um funding like an orphanage in that country where you got this from, or like, you know, something to give back to that population.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's like it's you know, yeah.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, I completely agree.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I know some brands that you know I've I've interviewed have created like a co-op situation.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, a lot of like a woman in a particular, like a smaller village, that type of thing, are receiving more compensation than just their labor, which I think is extremely important, especially if you're sourcing from a place that um is you know is less accessible and they have less.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's though.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, that that's really good.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's good that you know of some brands like that because I'd love to see more of that.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: But let me shift gears a little bit.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: I want to talk to you about um just, you know, when you're what kind of like pieces do you really try to write?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: Is it more like I know you went into a little bit about you you like to do your research and you like to be well researched, but um, what's a recent piece that you wrote that you were really passionate about?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a field trip page, which typically that's the one that I travel for um once a month to a different country to do on the ground reporting for.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: But lately, because we've kind of been stuck here, um we recently kind of redid our What I Love About Me page.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I used to go to a different city, foreigner domestic, and interview around 20 women just about like their beauty, their style, what it's like to live in that place.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um and now we kind of re-jiggered it so it more focuses on one woman with um kind of a bigger cause.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like you a lot of the time they have a nonprofit.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I usually talk to them about their life and their philanthropy and their vision.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: And then um we can properly link to their cause so people can donate.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's important right now.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's it's great to support small beauty businesses, but it's especially good to support um, you know, nonprofits right now.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um for example, uh a few months back I interviewed Shirley Rains, who founded Beauty to the Streets.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: So she goes to um the homeless people of Skid Row and gives them makeovers and hair washing and meals.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that really moved me because a lot of people might think, you know, why waste time giving makeovers to people who have other needs?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: And she kind of put it perfectly when she said that it's all about dignity and feeling beautiful instills dignity in people, particularly those who may have forgotten this feeling of home or insecurity.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that kind of harkens back to I think that, you know, people might look at beauty as this frivolous thing when I think it's important for people's identities at their core.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, I really love that initiative.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: I have no idea.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna look into that.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'll send you a couple of links after we're done.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's I mean, that's such a great statement.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: I completely agree.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: I think beauty is so, you know, it's very different, it's very unique for each person.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: And if you can make someone feel beautiful, it's like I think one of the greatest accomplishments, in my opinion, because the the you know, the confidence and the all of all the good things that come from that, you know, you really it shines, you know, and that person carries that with them their whole day.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I agree with you.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's so amazing.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's like it's nice to like have an audience and write about these things things online and print, but I also just love when like someone I knew from college like messages me on Instagram and is like, hey, I just had a baby and my skin looks like shit, what'll fix it?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like that's yeah, no, it's it's nice to be able to give people an answer too, especially when it's just gonna make their everyday better.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, um, I I want to talk to you a little bit about um the the concept of just international beauty, right?
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's kind of like a weird and a huge topic, but like I feel like in America, um, for some reason I've found that after I've, you know, I went out into the world and did a little bit of traveling and came back, I noticed that like international beauty here seems to be very like um it's it's like marketed in a certain way.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's almost like the authenticity leaves.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: So do you see that in the editorial world when you're looking at like, I mean, I I don't even know if this is like relevant to um things you work with every day, but I'm just curious, like yeah.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, a lot of brands will kind of uh I mean, basically every beauty brand has to pick a position about what makes them different or what makes them stand out.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of that time it might be the origins of a founder or it might be a certain angle of I again, I'm not gonna bring anybody up, but sometimes it'll be like someone who's like, so I studied abroad in college, I'm like, oh no.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I don't know where I'm going.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but no, I do think that there is some kind of like fetishization of certain cultures in beauty, but I I think that when a brand does their due diligence and again they're response, they're sourcing responsibly, they're doing their research, and they have scientists that are helping them to be um kind of responsible about the way things are formulated.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think there are some brands that do a good job of this, and there are some brands that don't.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, that's true.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: I and you know, and I I think my point is even more towards not even just ingredients and what you're getting and what you're making the product out of, it's more of the the cultural component of it and the societal um component.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: Because, for example, if you're taking something from another culture, um you have to represent it in terms of like, for example, I would like to see women in an advertisement for something that comes from Japan in actual Japanese dress or in uh actually Japan, like you're wearing things that are indicative of the culture at that time.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's not something that's uh, you know, American washed and it's just made to like fit the marketing scene here.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's what I mean.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like okay, completely.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, and I mean I do think that there's this movement towards minimalism in America, especially American beauty, that has kind of whitewashed everything, that even if this brand might actually have strong roots in a culture that the need to make it American, or sometimes people are kind of taking the word American, taking the word modern, and making them mean the same thing when that's not the same thing.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's a great point.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Even wise, it's like why erase um, you know, the cultural beauty of like a particular pattern or colors that are important to that culture and whitewash it and make it this minimalist thing.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I have I have enough white packaging with black letters on my shelf.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like it would be nice to see, you know, to see the culture on my shelf, you know.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, absolutely, yeah.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's not it's not that hard either because you, you know, a lot of the cultures that you're taking it from, they already have the representation right there.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: You just have to follow what they're doing.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Or or use models in your shoot that come from that place.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and honestly, one of the best examples is, you know, I know, like, for example, I don't know if you know a lot about Bollywood, but Bollywood, you know, does this because there's this, you know, I have such I have such a you know intense opinion about what has happened in the East, you know what I mean, with like the westernization of that culture, because there's a lot of ads for like very um high fashion, you know, clothing lines where the models are like Russian, they're not even Indian, you know what I mean?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: And that kind of thing.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: So when I see that trickle-down effect that's occurred over the years, I like who do you blame at that point, right?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like, because you've got an entire society, an entire culture that's like basically misguiding its entire youth now, you know, like no Indian girl looks like that Russian girl that's modeling those clothes.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's not gonna happen.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, and I know I I know that there's you know a lot of skin on that type of thing, and that's definitely um, you know, it's not made better by that type of thing by having white models, you know, represent Bollywood brands and movies and things like that.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's I think that's yeah.
• 20:04
  unknown: Go ahead.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, no, go on.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, I just I I was just gonna say, even something like glass skin, you remember when the glass skin trend was big?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it was like most of us are not going to look like that.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of Asian women naturally have this complexion that you know it's very smooth, their pores are not as defined, you know.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: So to see that glass finish on their face is more, it's gonna be more prominent, and that's a cultural thing, that's a genetic thing.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: And to be able, and when you're marketing something like that, you know, to use to use an Asian model and then pretend like you can do the same thing on like a brown person, like my skin, it's just that I hate that.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, completely, totally.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean it's even with derm going back to dermatology, it's like different people's skin needs very different things.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like there are certain lasers that a ton of white people will endorse, but a black woman could never go to the derm and get a chemical peel that intense because it might reverse and give them hyperpigmentation.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's it's it's important to look at everyone's needs very specifically.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: So um I want to ask you what are some initiatives that you're really um loving these days in the beauty world?
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: What are some things that you're really getting behind that people are doing?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: I know some people have mentioned the 15% pledge being, you know, a favorite.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I just want to know some of the things that you've seen or, you know, initiatives that you've seen that you really are believing in right now.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, so at Hearst we have a 15% pledge, but we're also working on raising that.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I also think it's especially important um for my sources to include derms of color, to include hairstylists of color, makeup artists of color.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the Hearst, uh, all the Hearst beauty editors recently had a masterclass with Denessa Merricks um specifically about, you know, recommending uh foundation and complexion makeup for women of color.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I think as beauty editors, it's our responsibility.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: To be able to report on everyone's skin and everyone's hair.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I'm not a very good editor if I can't tell you what braid that is, you know?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like I like I don't think it should be put on the shoulders of black writers to write all of the content about black hair or black skin.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think that as a beauty editor, it's my job to know what their hair and what their skin also needs, you know.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I think all my editor friends, we all kind of have seen our blind spots and we've where we've acknowledged, you know, like this is the work we need to put in.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's one thing for a publication to put in the work, but it's another thing for each individual editor to look at themselves and their shortcomings and to kind of assess, like, yeah, I've been neglecting this area of my education.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: So now I should fix that.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I had this exact conversation with Faith um a few, you know, months ago where we were talking about hair like stylists, and I was, we were both talking about how, you know, um, obviously like Indian hair and you know, uh black hair is very different, and you can't go to a white stylist and just expect them to know how to do it.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: And I personally think that's completely um unacceptable.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: I think if you're going to go to school for something, a profession, you need to learn how to handle all different types, right?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's that's part of the job.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I think if like as a uh in the medical field, I can't go to somebody like who's, for example, um, you know, a white doctor and say, you know, well, you need to treat this patient.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: And they're like, well, no, they're black.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what to do.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, you know what I mean?
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: Even backstage, I mean, I used to when fashion week was still a thing, um, you know, I'd be backstage at like eight shows a day, and you'd see hairstylists clearly not knowing what to do with textured hair.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then you know, sometimes backstage uh hairstylists would be like, oh, we're doing ponytails on these models and braids on these models or something.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I think I'm seeing a pattern with the people that you pick to put in ponytails because you didn't know how to treat their hair otherwise.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's it's and like it it was just it was very apparent, even more so now.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm hoping that when, you know, Fashion Week comes back, I don't think Fashion Week will ever truly return to what it was just with the amount of fanfare and with the amount of people backstage, just because you know, I think we're gonna be wearing masks for a very long time.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um that it will be more inclusive backstage.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I hope so.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: Because, you know, one thing about inclusivity, and this is kind of a tangent, but I want to ask you, and for everybody out there, this is very blunt, but I'm you know, I don't care.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: As I want to ask for all the white women out there in the editorial world, how can we like how how can there be a change to where the baton is passed to women of color to comment on certain things about inclusivity?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I'm trying to say?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how can like I feel like it needs to be like a shift needs to happen?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_02: Because yesterday I was talking to Kayla Greaves and we were having a discussion about how there needs to be more, um, you you not only need to include people of color in the conversation, but you need to listen to them.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I, you know, when I was thinking about that last night and I and I was like kind of ruminating on it, I was like, what if we had a situation, you know, not just in editorial, but in a lot of different industries, right?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: Where it's like if somebody says it's like a white person that's like, you know, the chief, you know, whatever executive, but then they say, I'm going to defer this decision to this person because I I trust their advice and I trust their judgment and they know more about this.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how do you feel about that?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think that would be like something that we could do plausibly?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, on one hand, I like obviously I think that people of color need to be involved at higher levels at these discussions.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: And also, I think it's as a white person, it's my job to educate myself so that we're not putting the burden of all of this work being put on black people.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like people of color should not be doing the work for white people at this point.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: I completely agree.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: I completely agree.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: But what about the things that they only only they know about?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like only a black woman knows what it feels like to be a black woman in America.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: So that's where I get stuck is like, you know, why don't we put that decision into their hands directly rather than saying, okay, well, I want your opinion, but then at the end of the day, the person who signs the freaking paper is still gonna be white.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think that there absolutely needs to be a better standard for hiring for the amount of you know writers of color that we hire.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think for models and talent that we hire.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: I I think that we need to take a big step up and honestly at this point just try to overcompensate because there has been such so long that visibility is especially important right now.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that, you know, as a white person in beauty, it's like this is the time to just step back.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like this is not Yeah, and I I love that I can talk to you about this, by the way, Taylor, because you're honestly like I obviously I can't talk to every white person about things like this.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_02: People get very offended.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I really appreciate that you're very open-minded and you know, entertaining my questions because it's like there's no there's no other way to say it.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I hope I'm being well spoken about it, but you know, but it's just now is not our time.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: We've you know, it's it's unfortunately it is it has been our time for a long time.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's like especially in beauty, again, we borrow so many things from people of color that it's you know, it's time to be like, yes, these people have the authority to speak, you know, to speak about this.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like we need to pass the platform over rather than just being like, Yeah, welcome to the platform when we feel like it.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, you you yeah, you really hit it on the head.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: And also, like, I feel like, you know, when we're demanding for things that are like, you know, improving diversity and inclusivity, I think it needs to be a very concerted effort.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like every skin color needs to be, you know what I mean, like represented in that in that ask and that petition or whatever it is.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, you've got women from every background saying we need more of this.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, I feel like that is should be the ultimate goal, you know.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think like a lot of times I can tell you just as a woman of color in in my profession, it's it's not the beauty industry, but um, you know, I sometimes feel like I don't get to directly say what I want to say, you know what I mean, to the person who's gonna make the change.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's where I get stuck because it's like if I'm having this problem in the medical field, I'm sure it's there in every other industry as well, you know?
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: So not being able to relay your own message and not being able to really show exactly how something can be changed um is a huge hurdle.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I wonder if that's happening.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm I know I'm putting work and you know, we're at Marie Claire, like because we are so used to looking at things from a global perspective, like it is always top of mind.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I, you know, I'm I'm hoping that other publications are also trying to put in the work at that level.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Marie Claire has always been one of those like amazing publications.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: I've always heard amazing things about, you know, just the people that work there and the way that things are run and stuff.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: So uh yeah.
• 29:07
  unknown: Thank you.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've been there for about four and a half years now, and a lot of people, some people are surprised when they hear that I haven't moved around as much.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, I'm I'm very proud of the publication.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: I like what it represents.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's intelligent content, it's well reported, it's um, you know, culturally responsible.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I really do love working there.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's not a stretch for me to make my voice sound like Marie Claire's voice because you know it's kind of similar.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: You should always love where you work.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's the goal.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: And some people some people aren't lucky enough to be able to do that, but I'm you know, I feel very fortunate that I can love where I work.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: So, Taylor, I want to ask you, I have to ask every editor I talk to about your favorite products right now in skincare, because I always get ideas from you guys and you always know the good stuff.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, totally.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: So skincare, I love strivectin's uh TL Advanced Tightening Neck Cream.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I have it's genetic submental fat, you know.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: So for listeners, if you have that little extra fat pouch under your chin in your neck, um, that's genetic and it's called submental fat.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: And mine is particularly prominent, especially when you can, you know, see me from the side, and that's never gonna go away unless you do like a liposituation.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm terrified of needles, so I cannot.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but strive's neck cream does this really amazing tightening thing that it makes your neck look not sucked in, but just like a little more firm.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I find I've been using it for months, and I've tried a lot of neck creams, and some really don't make a difference.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: This really does.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have really bad tech neck and it's like lessened the lines that look a little like ligature marks on my neck sometimes.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like if my skin is dry and I look in the mirror, I'm like, wow, that is noticeable.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's really deep.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um but this really helps lessen the look of that.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I use a lot of Solwa Sue products.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I went to, I pronounced that wrong, I'm assuming.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I went to Korea um with a Mori Pacific uh about a year and a half ago.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it's the skincare capital of the world for a reason.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: They're way ahead of us, technology-wise and ingredient-wise.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there's this first care activating serum that almost makes my skin look stronger, if that makes sense.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like it looks a little, it's a little bit more bright.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I really love that.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also I went to Ireland.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure if I'm people my friends have listened to me talk about this product a thousand times.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I went to Ireland a few years ago um for like a seaweed bath situation.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: And this brand Voya uses seaweed in their products.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I use um seaweed-infused uh serum every day, and it's really hydrating, it's firming, and it's been one of my favorites for years.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: I I love like sea like derived products, like anything with algae and like you know, like those kind of like plants are really, really like rich in ingredients and and nutrients.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: So that's really cool.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: For the body, too.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, seaweed, there's this one strain called fucus serratus that is sorry, fucus serratus is great for oil production.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: Angelic serratus actually can help tone your skin.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a body oil from the same brand that I'm kind of addicted to because it makes my skin look a little bit more luminous.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, everyone has cellulite, it kind of makes it look a little tighter.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, I I I'm firmly in the the algae fan club with you.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, it's really, really I'm actually waiting for a lot more papers to come out about um the benefits of algae for skin because there is, you know, there I just always wonder there's so many nutrients in those plants, and and we need to really understand what they're doing.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: So um, I actually take an algae supplement every day.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: So hoping my skin looks good seems to be going okay.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: I you which one are you taking?
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_02: I might check it out.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: It is, oh god.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's so it's the same parent company as Voya.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: It is looking it up right now.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's called See Something.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh goodness.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um how do you feel about supplements though?
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like in general, do you think they're like good, like for beauty and stuff?
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that brand, it's called the C or S E A Space O R.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um is the brand.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I've I've tried a lot of supplements.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm skeptical to try a ton at a time.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_01: So the process of testing them is really slow because I like to isolate them so I know what they're doing to my body.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um I know a lot of people who have hair loss problems right now, and I know that neutrophil is very popular, and I know some people who have had great results with that.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's kind of hard to tell unless you use it for at least three months, is kind of my rule.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you stopped a month and a half in, you really have no way of knowing whether that's not gonna work or not.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of the time I like to look at brands' clinicals um to see, you know, because they've had to do the testing in order to put it out.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I like to look at their clinicals to see how effective it is.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, also, if just my body, if I notice that my body feels better while I'm taking something, I'm more inclined to keep taking it.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: Makes sense.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: I know that not very scientific, but um, you know, I take magnesium before I go to sleep, but you know, melatonin doesn't make me feel so hot.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of all about testing things, but make sure you're testing it one at a time.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: I love that you're you try it out and you see what works for you.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we all can do.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's all we can do.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know, there's no one product that works for everybody.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: So that's awesome.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Taylor, thank you so much.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: This has been awesome.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would love to chat with you again soon, if possible.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: This was fun.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and everybody listening, uh, leave us some comments and feedback.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: If you have any questions for Taylor about any of her um traveling adventures, leave them in the comments, and I will definitely pass them along to her.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, any questions at all or any feedback at all is always welcome.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you, and I'll be back next time.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.
• 35:11
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• 35:14
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• 35:19
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• 36:19
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