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Editor turned Writer, Krista Bennett DeMaio Interview · Skin Anarchy

• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Look for Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of Compute Anarchy.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: This is your host, Ecta, and today I have a very, very special guest.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: I am so thrilled that she made the time to come on our show and share her experience, her background.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Without further ado, I want to introduce Krista Bennett Dameo.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: She is a well-known beauty editor, termed writer.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: She has written for some amazing publications, including Oprah Magazine, MSN, Red Book, so many, so many names in her portfolio.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't want to waste your time.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: I want to give the stage to Krista.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for coming on the show, Krista.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's such an honor to have you.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: So I've been working in the beauty industry professionally for I think 18 years.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: 20, if you want to count my internships, which were also beauty editorial.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: I grew up with a hairdresser mother who, you know, was not called a hairstylist back then.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: She was a hairdresser.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I always joke that it's like in my blood.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: But I always wanted to be a writer.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I didn't know exactly what I wanted to write, but I loved women's magazines and teen magazines at a really young age.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: I loved Sassy magazine.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: It was my favorite.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: So when I got to Fordham University, I picked it because it was close to the city and I knew that that's where the industry was.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I had a lot of people telling me it's gonna be really tough, you know, nut to crack, and you know, maybe you should do something else.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: But I was like, nope, this is what I want to do, and I'm gonna do it.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I got my first internship at YM magazine, and I was in the fashion closet steaming clothes for an entire semester.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: And um I learned pretty quickly that I didn't want to do fashion.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: There wasn't enough words, and um, it just wasn't my thing.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: But I started watching the other departments, and even though I read magazines, I really had no clue that a beauty department existed and that there was actually a job of a beauty editor.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember watching the beauty girls and thinking, wow, like it, it's it's it's it's perfect, exactly what I want to do.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: I love beauty products, I love um makeup, and at that age, I, you know, was more probably into makeup and hair than skincare.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I approached one of the editors there and asked if I could be her intern the following semester.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: And then they pretty much had to kick me out.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: I stayed for maybe three more semesters after that.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I loved it.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I took my job very seriously.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then when I graduated, one of the beauty director at the time put me in touch with a beauty director of a startup magazine called Grace Woman.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it was, it was a lot of the same editors from Mode, which had folded right after 9-11, and it was geared towards full-figured women.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it was meant to be more like a vogue for full-figured women, more high-end clothes and high-end beauty.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I started working there right after college.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: I was really lucky, especially in that you know, post-9-11 economy, to get a job.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it was it was full-time freelance.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: I made peanuts.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: I worked probably 50 hours a week for a quarterly, which I'm still not sure why I worked so hard for a magazine that came out four times a year.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: But well, it's your passion.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: But I call it when I tell people about it, I call it editorial boot camp because it was a shoestring budget.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: It was a really lean staff.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I got to do so much more than I would have been able to do at a glossy publication at Condi Nast or Hearst.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: So um, I worked with Jackie Stafford, who um be remains one of my mentors.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, okay, so let me start off where I was.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: It opened up the doors for more opportunity.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I did some free full-time freelance work at um 17 magazine, and that was sort of a dream come true to you know work at another teen magazine that I loved as a team.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: And um, then I from there I got a job at Red Book as the associate beauty editor, which was a nice step up at that point.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and that I stayed there for seven years, and that was an amazing experience.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: I worked with really wonderful women and men.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um I worked, I don't know if you know Cheryl Kramer K.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: She's also, you know, one of those famous beauty directors, but she continues to be my mentor today.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: I bounce things off of her all the time.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: She still assigns me work.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it was a phenomenal and I decided to go freelance when I had my first child almost 10 years ago.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh well, I used to I live out on Long Island, which is about an hour, Huntington, New York, which is about an hour away from the city.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: So it was a really hard call to make to go freelance, um, but I knew I wouldn't get to see my child that much.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a huge thing.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, yeah.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: I went back part-time when she was two.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I worked at OK magazine and I worked at Shape Magazine as the acting beauty director for several months.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I liked having the balance.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: I was in there a couple times a week and I was home, but I think ultimately I went on to have more kids.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think that the freelance writing that I can do from my desk at home just makes a little bit more sense for my lifestyle right now.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, there's no price you can put on authenticity, right?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's like like I I think I bring that up because I think from everything you just told me, it's like you're chasing what you really believed in, you know what I mean, and getting behind projects that you really believe in.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that is um at the heart of any professional track, you know, at this point, because being someone who comes from, you know, a South Asian background, I I see a lot of professionals going into something they might not love.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: So when I talk to someone like you and I hear your story a little bit, um, you know, that's important that you you kind of stuck to your guns.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, this is what I want to do, this is what I love to do.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, wow, that's amazing.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I when I went freelance, my thought process was now I'm gonna take the jobs I want to take and the stories that interest me.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: I will say, I think as a freelancer, you tend to take a little bit of everything because then you start to realize you don't know when your next paycheck is coming in.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I haven't always been able to do that.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: But um I think now, especially that I have three kids, my time is a little bit um, you know, more precious.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: So I do have to be a little bit more choosy.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: So when someone comes to me with a story, sometimes I do have to choose between two stories and I'll pick the one that totally interests me versus the one that I feel like I have to do.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: And that's and that's probably that's in my opinion, puts your work um, it's always going to make your work good.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's that's the like the fundamental.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like I really love hearing women say that.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like I because you know, oftentimes I have like a lot of my female colleagues will say, you know, I had to compromise this, I had to compromise a little bit to eventually get to where I want to be.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like I don't understand that because it's like you're such an educated, you know what I mean, woman.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like you have to stand your ground so loud.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so impressed.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: This is so cool.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, I want to know your opinion um about and and actually your experience more than anything about what it's been like with like your piece.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: When you write a piece, um, you know, what do you really consider um in terms of your inspiration and and when you, you know, kind of brainstorm through the idea of what you're gonna write about?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like what are things that you look at in your your whole research process?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, well, I will say that I'd say the majority of my stories that I am assigned come the idea does come down from the editor.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um I do pitch from time to time, but I have such a great working relationship with some editors that they just come to me with their story that they want to see um you know fleshed out.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so that part is easy because some like I usually have at least a good concept to work with, and it's my job to sort of turn it into something real.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I love all facets of beauty.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, when I was in my 20s, I'd say that I loved makeup more.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: I it was fun and it was something that I felt like I was good at.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_02: I loved getting new makeup tips, but as I got older and my own interests changed, I think skincare became more of my thing.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: And um I love a good research-driven, science-heavy skincare piece that I can dive into peer studies.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I can talk to top dermatologists.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I feel like I've learned so much about in science in the last 10 years that I wish I took it a little more seriously in school.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: You're honestly, this is this is exactly like the kind of conversation I I want to have with people because I you don't have to be a scientist to be a scientist.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like you really're all researchers at the heart of everything.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Someone had asked me once I was writing about melanoma, which um I've written about a fair amount in the last year.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: And someone had asked me if that's my do I have qualifications to do that.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I was explaining that I talk to dermatologists and get my information and and read through studies.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: And it's my job as the writer to then relay that to the readers in terms that they can understand.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's you know, when I look at your work, I see it as no different than me writing a peer-reviewed uh like a review paper, right?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's getting going through a peer review process and getting published in like a journal, like a medical journal.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's the same level of, you know, you you have to do that research and you know, doing it on your own is at the heart of all, not only science, but everything that has to do with journalism, you know.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's so cool that you said that.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you in my hands, and you're talking about and featuring your brand.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what do you, you know, what do you what's your process with working with the brand um and and the whole relationship there?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, well, it's it's it really depends on the story um and the and the outlet, the the publication or the website.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, sometimes they want to hear from brand people, sometimes they don't.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: They want to keep it more objective and talk to outside um dermatologists and people who are not tied to any brands.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but when I am discussing new technology, um, you know, new even research that came from a brand, I do talk to the brand people, their RD people to understand it.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um and like I like I recently did this big story for Oprah magazine in the in the October issue on Clean Beauty.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: And we had a good amount of brand people in there because I feel like something like that, the messaging is coming from the brands.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like clean beauty wouldn't exist if it wasn't from what we're hearing from these brands.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: So I feel like stories like that, you have to talk to brand people.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, a story about skin cancer, maybe a little bit less, unless it's a uh a new skin uh sunscreen innovation that I need to have explained by someone in RD.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like and that makes sense, you know.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, it's it's like you're going to the source.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like what, you know, what's so yeah, that's that's awesome.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, with with the science again, um, it's my job as a writer to sort of figure out who has good science and who doesn't, because at the brand on the brand side, it's a little bit tricky sometimes, you know.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's they're not peer-reviewed journals, they're their own clinical trials.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: So um you kind of have to read through and sort of figure out, you know, what's the real deal and what's not.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I think your what is your opinion, if you don't mind me asking about that?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like the clinical trial, not even clinical trials, but they're independent um research, you know what I mean, for brand.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: What is your opinion?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's tricky.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I feel like a lot of it, I my personal theory, I don't know if this holds up at all.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, when you see something that says 99% of people said they saw less wrinkles in four weeks, I'm kind of like, yeah, I doubt it.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: When I see something that says 68% of people saw less wrinkles, I think, you know what, maybe they're they're being honest.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I feel like if they're if it sounds too good to be true, it it might be.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um It probably is.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: It probably is to be too good to be true.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I I do take some of it with a grain of salt, but I feel like there are some brands out there that I trust and know um that have amazing science.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: I know I'm happy to go through some of them if you'd like to hear, but um, I do think that, you know, if I do trust their their science behind it.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: I would love for you to like give us an example.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, uh I feel like is an amazing brand, and I think they have really great science behind their products.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I would bathe in the CE ferulic acid if I could.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um on the drugstore level, I I love Olay.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: I've always thought that they their RD is amazing.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they're a big brand, they have a lot to lose, you know, if it like I feel like they have to um stand up to their claims.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I tell a lot of my friends when they're asking where they can when they're looking to like jump in with anti-aging for the first time and they don't want to spend a lot of money.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: I always say, you know, start with Olay because I feel like it is a real deal brand.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, it is a real deal.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's a huge brand.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: I love that you brought up Olay because the whole cold cream, and my mom used to use their cold cream, you know.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: My grandmother always called it oil of Olay, even when it was not called that anymore.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, my mom's in the same.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean it's a classic brand.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, I think we all grew up with seeing that little ole bottle on the, you know, on the vanity and being like, this is pretty cool.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that's that's I I do think that you know anti-active, anti-aging actives that um really do something, they do tend to cost more money.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I understand that they are at a higher price point.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: But when you're dealing with these giant brands owned by PG, like they they can do it for less.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: So um I don't think that there's anything wrong with getting anti-aging at the mass market level at all.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's really amazing brands on the mass market level.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well, see, I have this problem with the phrase anti-aging.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's like I think it needs to be rebranded or something, Krista, because honestly, we are all aging.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: We will not stop aging.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: We want to age well, our kilometers, you know, like I'm just like on the science.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like I my brain just like short circuits when I hear that.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like you know, and I think and then I it's not because I don't believe in this this idea.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's more of let's just be honest, you know what I mean?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's it needs a different it needs a different name.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I do think that I think there was there's been a few magazines that had said they were kind of backing away from calling it anti-aging, which is great.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's not call it anti-aging.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, um, more than anything, one thing I've observed um just by meeting some amazing um entrepreneurs and they're they're launching their lines and this this you know environment of just science done right, you know, and they're not making claims like oh well this is gonna make your grocery, you know, completely go away.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they're telling you exactly scientifically.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like yesterday, I just I interviewed the girls behind um uh you know, this amazing new brand droplet, and they are such uh phenomenal women, you know.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and I was talking to them about all the science, and it's like at no one point, no point did they bring up anti-aging or anti-the- because I I think in the science community it's understood, you know, you can't make claims like that.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, yeah, yeah.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's just in ingrained in me from years and years of it, but you're right, it needs a new, it needs a new title.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so okay, um, just to uh shift focus a little bit.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I, you know, on from my end, on the influencer side of Instagram, especially in the skincare industry, um, a lot of influencers are focusing right now on um, you know, melanated skin-friendly products, you know, something that they say that you know they want to be able to recommend to everybody.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter your your complexion or your, you know, just like very versatile products.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Is there any um, you know, does something pop in your mind when you think about that?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, just um people of color-friendly products or a line that just stands out for you?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: And also just what's your you know, what's your opinion about that whole conversation?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it's a you know, definitely an important conversation to have.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that um, you know, Instagram really has helped bring that to the forefront.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, working in women's magazines for almost 20 years, I've seen it change.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think that um years ago they didn't do a good job of representing all skin tones.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: I think that it's gotten better.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's still probably room to grow for a lot of them.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I think that Instagram, you know, I feel like Instagram is a place that you can go and see people who don't look like you.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's really important and and see that, um, see what other people are doing and hear that it's just a little bit more accessible than a magazine at this point.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I think that it's great that people are having these conversations, um, you know, as long as it seems genuine and not like they're jumping on a trend.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, the trend, yeah.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so glad you said that.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm not gonna lie, sometimes it felt like that for me.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's just kind of like a a pitch, you know what I mean?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and I don't know, but that yeah, that's interesting because I think as as a woman of color, I'm I kind of don't like it.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like it in my it's like I don't like being told, well, this is women of color friendly.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like that's more discriminatory than anything.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I disagree with that.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I um I think even on with the brands and on the PR side, I think everybody needs to be careful that they're not uh, you know, it's it's almost like too much.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like they who um uh you know, I'd like to see other things like I think brands are doing, some brands are doing some great things with um mentorships and making sure that their self their shelf space is dedicated to a certain amount of black-owned products.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think that um before this we didn't really have those conversations, like people weren't necessarily pointing it out, and now they are.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: So if brands are going to then, you know, have a call to action and do what they're supposed to do, I think that it's a good thing.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I remember that one week that every brand in the world sent out an email, and it was like, you know, well, this is great, but let's see what you're gonna do about it.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm happy to see that some brands are doing something about it.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, for movement, right?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's a progress is progress.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I agree, I agree with you, and I and I think that, you know, just an idea that comes to mind.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I sit there sometimes and I'm like, I know people think about this stuff, I just don't know why it's not being implemented.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like, why don't why don't you partner up with something like the Skin of Color Society or the American Board of Dramatology and then ask them for their, you know, their immense resource of physicians and you know, just not even the you know scientists, but just the the teams they have, you know what I mean?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, use that.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I think that, you know, whether you're uh a beauty editor, a beauty writer, an influencer, I think that we all have that responsibility that we should be going to that level.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: So okay, I I'm just you know, I'm really loving this conversation.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: This is I think the most candid conversation I've had um in a in a long time about this stuff.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: So when you like, okay, so when you look at the the beauty, I guess the beauty movement, I feel like it's going more towards like a magazine concept, yeah, you know, and I I don't know, I don't really like that because I was the girl that grew up with 17 magazine, you know what I mean?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: And and and you get the subscription and you open it and you're just obsessed for that day, you know, like reading the magazine.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so what do you think about that?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: The whole magazine thing it makes me sad because I am a magazine girl at heart too.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I mean I do see the obviously the power in in digital.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it could reach so many more people, but there's just something so nice about holding a magazine in your hand.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: And when I get one in my mailbox, I still get excited.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: I look at my list of publications that I've written for, and I can, you know, slash off more than half of them as being gone now, which is so sad.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: Even Redbook, you know, was around for over years and it's gone.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so that I do think that it's it's sad, but at the same time, um I am it's interesting how my career has evolved because of digital world.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I do I do things that I never really last week I wrote a video script for something, and it's just things that I never saw myself doing.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's amazing.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: And um I think that it's just I even even the you know we we people talk a lot of people in my field will talk tell you about the the blurred lines of of editorial and and and advertising which in a magazine had to sort of be far apart at some point but in the digital world it's a little bit more blended and I do do a fair amount of branded content which is interesting uh because you know to work then you're working on the brand side and and writing with like an editorial voice, but it's really marketing writing.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: So that's been that's been an interesting change in my work too.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um I still have a good amount of editorial, but I I have to, I you know, I will admit that branded content is a a good part of what I do now.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and I think that I'm glad that it benefited you.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really happy to hear that because you know you're one of the minds behind all of those.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: It inspires these pieces and these this this writing in the magazines, it's inspired an entire generation.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, millennials.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: We grew up with magazines, you know what I mean?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like we're very, very um, we're all a magazine people, let's be honest, you know, and it's I I just I I don't know.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like the whole everything on e.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it let me ask you, if you were, if you see a new magazine, a new publication coming up, and they would said, hey, you know what, we're paper only, we we only have, you know, we really want to stick to this idea of a magazine, you know, we don't want to bring it into the e-magazine format.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: What are what are some things that that you would look for at UDE right now?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's I got you know, it's very trend oriented, right?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's always been trend oriented, but the trends are changing in a way that now the the people who are, you know, like it's like a niche-oriented mentality now, you know what I mean?
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas before I think it was more of okay, you know, what's what's everyone doing?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: Now I don't think it's like that, from what I'm seeing, you know.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: So like what do you see as the future for beauty and the just like which direction do you think this entire industry is kind of moving in?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think you're right that it is a niche thing.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, we're seeing so much in the customized department, especially with skincare.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: Um, there's so many brands now that, you know, are whipping up these uh customized formulas based on these lengthy questionnaires that you take.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that is gonna be a big part of it because everyone's skin is a little different and everybody's needs are a little different.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: So um I think that that's kind of cool that that we have technology now to come up with um, you know, these algorithms using artificial intelligence and all this high-tech stuff to come up with a different product, you know, for me and for you, and everybody else get everyone gets their own unique product.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that uniqueness.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: I yeah, that's interesting.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like a more personalized approach to me.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think I think I mean we've seen it with even with makeup.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's been customized lines over the years, but I think skincare in the last couple of years has really gone that way.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um so what do you think about like these uh services, like you know, for example, Curoogy or like you know, some of these like customized skincare brands?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like what's your opinion?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think they're I think they're really good.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: I did a I did a story on them.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um I researched a lot of them, I talked to a ton of brand people for them.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um they all have based on you know really good science.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: Some of them I would say are based on really good science.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I know like skin physicals has one that you do with a dermatologist in office and they compound your own personal product.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think that those are pretty awesome.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I tried a few of them while I was working on that story, and I was impressed with the results.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I bounce around a lot with what I use.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: I've been trying really hard to stick to a retinoid for the last, you know, at least the last year.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: I turned 40 and I'm like, okay, I have to stop bouncing around and I have to stick to something that was.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like your favorite kind of thing.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I think that, you know, I don't know, it's it's interesting because beauty, like like, you know, with the whole customization of skincare, I think it's taking a more dermatology guided path, you know what I mean?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I I like seeing that, but I don't know.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like sometimes it turns away a lot of people.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe just you know, women that aren't really, I don't know, they're not that funny and they're not really interested.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: And they just want to go into a store and pick a jar off the shelf.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think that, you know, there's plenty of that too.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's there's so many lines out there.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's easy to do that.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I think that there's amazing technology out there.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: At the end of the day, I do still think that the best products are still guided by those tried and true ingredients.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: They might market it different, they might have a questionnaire to help figure out which of the tried and true you you should be using.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: But I still think those science-driven products that we have tons of research behind, um, I should say ingredients that we have tons of research behind are still what's the you know in these top products.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: So, what is if you were to give advice to a brand that is like that, they've got the science down, they're doing everything they can on that end, but they want that aesthetic that's gonna really go make them go viral.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: What advice would you give them from just your experience and what you've seen?
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um When I think about the brands that really get traction, um, I mean, a lot of it just has to do with their messaging and um the like what's on their what's on their website, their blogs, their the content that they're driving out.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think those are that's the stuff that people relate to.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's where you know branded content comes in, um, in that it doesn't sound forced.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds conversational and it sounds editorial.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I think consumers are pretty savvy and they can tell when they're be being fed a line of marketing BS.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's why so many brands now do use former editors and writers to um to write their beauty content because it just comes across with a little bit more authority.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um so when a brand approach like okay, so I you know, I'm curious from your just your opinion because I I feel like you're so driven and you know, you're you have the right mentality with approaching your work, in my opinion.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I really commend you on that.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: So if it I mean I'm curious if a brand approached you and they were just, you know, they were like, hey, you know, we really love your work and we'd love your opinion about how to improve.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, how would you look at that versus a big brand like Ole?
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're you know they're established.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I would have love to work with a small brand.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think you know, that's getting them, getting them page views, getting them noticed, getting them in in Google searches.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's rewarding work if it's a brand that I really thought had something um and had good products that they want to get out there.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I do a lot of work with, I don't know if you know um Molly Nover Baker, who was a former beauty director at Women's Health, and um she has a group called the Edit Collective.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm part of a group with former editors where we do we do some editorial with her, but we also do some branded content.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like that's been some of her brands have been these smaller brands, but their the technology is pretty cool and they're and it has a big point of difference um compared to what else is on the marketplace, but it's about getting that word out there and getting past all these major brands and getting noticed.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I think really that's where the content comes in.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, wow, yeah.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: I I love that.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love that it's like you know, um, a collaborative effort like that.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's really cool.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, okay, so I'm gonna ask you one last question in closing because I have to ask you what is your one skincare product that you really love about?
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, okay, I just posted about it on Instagram, but I know that's what I'm asking you.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: I posted about a few, but I'll post I will say the Musley Night Cream.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's it again, going back to my point about tried and true, it's a retinoid, it's it's tretinoin, it's been around for a long time, it's been well studied, it works.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it also has niacinamide in it, which is um it anti-has anti-inflammatory properties.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's what helps me not.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: I have tend to have sensitive skin, and this one doesn't really bother me too much.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it also has hyaluronic acid, which is another, you know, tried and true.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna hydrate your skin and plump it up.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um I it's just like a nice trio of of ingredients.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I've really during quarantine, I was I I have to admit that I sometimes get a little bit bored of beauty.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: I've been doing it for so long, and I'm sent to all these products, and I sometimes get a little jaded and think, yeah, I don't know, this is not gonna work.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of what Brian said too when we had him on.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: He was kind of like we just remember back in the 2000s when like the lip plumpers were all the rage, and every time a new lip plumper at landed on my desk, I would literally roll my eyes because it was like lip plump lip plumper overload.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: And it gets like that with a lot of things, and you see all these products.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: So, but during quarantine, I guess, you know, I was bored, I was needing a little bit more joy in my life, and I started like really getting more into beauty again and like dog earring pages and magazines of things I wanted to try and and and following more, you know, Instagram um influencers.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I picked up the Musley product and I said, you know what, I'm gonna start using it, you know, and see what it does.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I have to say, I think it worked.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I think I commented back to you that my nine-year-old, I was in her bed the other day, and she said, Well, you know, mom, your your forehead does look a little smooth up.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, wow, that was smooth forehead.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: That was totally worth money for my nine-year-old to give me a compliment like that.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's not, it's not um, I I don't want to discredit them and say it's not groundbreaking because it is it it, I mean, all of all of those ingredients work, but of course it's about the individual formulation to make them all work together and to keep the formulas stable and all that.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: So, but it is those tried and true ingredients, and I feel like at the end of the day, it's sunscreen, it's a good moisturizer, and it's and I don't want to say anti-aging.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_02: At least it's well ingredients like retinoids and peptides and hyaluronic acid and vitamin C and you know the stuff that we've been hearing about for good stuff.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: The good stuff, the really good stuff.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_02: And again, it it is about sometimes how it's marketed.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it Musley has an interesting platform in that they are offering um prescription strength retinoids without a doctor's appointment.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_02: You do like an e-nurse visit.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: Um, somebody looks over your criteria, gives you some instructions, they rec they want you to follow an app and check in and make sure you're not having any issues.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: It is it is really an interesting way to deliver a tried and true product.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's I love that.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: I really love that.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I love the um telehealth like aspect, you know what I mean?
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like the yeah, that's really cool.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, another brand that I really appreciate that does that is not skincare, but yeah, for hair.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: They do that too.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: I love seeing that.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's like literally, I think telehealth is the and this is my honest opinion about the medical field, it's the next wave, you know what I mean?
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like this is everyone, we are so used to it at this point.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I think brands taking inspiration from that is just yeah, I mean it should be done.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_02: We're all busy, busy people, and uh to to go to my dermatologist just for a prescription for a retinoid, you know, that's hard for me to do.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'll get there once a year for my skin cancer check and I'll walk out with the tube of a retinoid, but I don't necessarily go every couple months, you know, to to get a script.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that it makes sense for sure to offer that option for people who want to uh you know not have to spend time sitting in a waiting office, a waiting room.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: I completely agree.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so okay, I'm I'm just so this was so amazing.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: I was so nervous.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um I was nervous.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding?
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sitting here like just you know, yeah, this is this was so amazing, Crystal.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for coming on and and just talking.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is really why I created Skincare Anarchy.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: I want us to all just sit down and talk, you know what I mean, and share our opinions.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: So this means so much to open this conversation with you.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, anyone listening out there, you know, if you're interested in coming on the show, please DM Skincare Anarchy.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm it I'm gonna see it.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: This is Ecta.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna see it.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I'd love to have anyone on who really wants a like a strong conversation, you know.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you, Krista, for being a pioneer.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: For having I'm happy to be one of your early guests, and I hope that um it does great things.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: Hey guys, this is Ecta again.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to say thank you so much to Krista Bennett Adameo.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_01: She has been such a wonderful person to speak to about beauty, skincare, everything.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: I really admire the work um of editors who inspired an entire generation, really.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, when I look back, and I just it was such an honor speaking to you, Krista, and I really, really um hope that somebody out there, you know, really benefits from this advice because you had so many amazing calls to offer.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: So if you guys are listening and you like this episode, please go and comment on our Instagram uh, please subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, and all the other platforms that are available on this podcast is truly something that is a passion project for me.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_01: I really, really love skincare, and I've always loved makeup.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: So to have any of the guests um that agree to come on is truly a privilege, and um I feel very, very honored to host everybody.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you again, and I hope you enjoyed the episode.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'll talk to you guys next time.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: Bye-bye.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hey guys, so I hope you love that episode.
• 36:44
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• 36:49
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• 37:06
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• 37:32
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• 37:48
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