Editor of Glamour, Jo Elvin, speaks at University of Westminster

Hi ladies!

(image taken from Google images)

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend a lecture by Jo Elvin, the editor of Glamour. She was generous enough to come to Westminster University and speak to us about what it takes to become a magazine editor.

Now, recently I've decided I'd like to write for a beauty magazine about...well, beauty! So while I suppose the topic of this lecture wasn't exactly related to what I want to do, I still felt it was essential to attend, because some of her tips can be applied to just about any job. Plus who turns down a lecture by the editor of Glamour!?

Besides giving helpful tips on how to become a magazine editor, she also shared some funny stories from her career, including when she turned down the Spice Girls for a cover of Sugar magazine (which she recalls as one of her biggest mistakes!) and when her and Samantha from Sex and the City went over to meet Usher at an event and he very suavely asked "Well ladies, what are we doing after this?" and they left blushing and feeling very uncool.

Overall, I'm glad I went. And now I leave you with some of Jo's top tips:

-Be a good listener

-Be accountable

-Have a bit of an ego

-Have thick skin (your employees may not invite you out to the pub, but you'll have to deal with it)

-Have a life outside of the job

And finally:

-Love the job, even the dirty ones!

Basically, you're not going to get your dream job straight out of university. So Jo suggests you must enjoy all the jobs to get to the top. If you roll your eyes when you're asked to answer a phone, chances are you won't go far in that company.

She even said the most recent hire she did was a woman who had worked for a year at an off roading magazine and had done so much research into it, even though it wasn't her dream job. Jo said that it impressed her so much that it's largely why she hired her, because it showed just how tenacious she was!

Click HERE for a clip from the lecture, where she speaks about work experience (not my own footage).

Hope that was helpful to any of you aspiring magazine editors!

Tips for Quick and Natural Makeup

Hi ladies! Just thought I'd do a post on a makeup look I did the other day. I was trying to be quick, so I thought I'd give you my tips on doing a quick makeup look that looks rather natural (as in not completely flawless) and makes you look slightly more presentable to the world! (oh and, excuse my brows! They were in need of some grooming)

Tips:

1. Only apply concealer and a mineral foundation for your face makeup so that you don't need to bother with the hassle of liquid makeup and blending. Use concealer to cover any blemishes and dark circles and mineral foundation for evening out your skin color and getting rid of any oil.

2. Go for neutral yet bright eyes! Apply a bright eyeshadow to the inner lid, and then a slightly darker, but still neutral color to the outer lid.

3. To really define your eyes, apply mascara and some eyeliner to your waterline. If you don't like black on your waterline, then go for a champagne color to open up your eyes, or a brown if you want something dark but not as dark as black. Don't bother with lining the upper lash line when it comes to a quick look, not unless you're super quick with it! (which I'm certainly not)

4. Sticking with the neutral theme, go for a lip color that's essentially your lip color, but slightly darker or lighter, up to you!

5. Apply a little blob (YES, BLOB) of lipgloss to the middle of your lips and SMUSH.

Close Up Of The Eye:

(I used Sleek's Storm palette and Maybelline's One By One mascara)

Close Up Of The Lips:

(I used NYX's Thalia and Philosophy's Cinnamon Buns lipgloss)

Well that's it! Hope that was helpful to some of you. I know most of it is pretty common knowledge but I just thought I'd share the tips I find most useful when applying quick and natural makeup!

What are some of your tips/hints when it comes to quick makeup application?