Beauty Editor Leigh Campbell Wants A Word

She was the beauty editor at Cosmopolitan for close to a decade – is now the head of Lifestyle at the Huffington Post and Leigh Campbell knows a thing or two. Luckily for us she’s a close friend so when we need advice on, heck, anything, we can hit her up. Which is exactly what we did.

Here, the Questions we wanted answers to – and the very savvy answers Leigh C provided.

You became a beauty editor by …
By accident, really. I studied interiors and always planned on doing that but landed a gig in magazines as lifestyle editor at SHOP Til You Drop. Then Zoe Foster (Blake) left her gig as beauty editor at Cosmopolitan and I attempted to fill her very big shoes. I was in the beauty role at Cosmo for eight magical years.

Today you’re the …
I’m currently the head of lifestyle at HuffPost Australia. My team and I write about fashion, beauty, home, food, travel and wellness.

You look back at your days at Cosmo and think …
That I had the best job in the world. It was at a time that magazines were thriving and Cosmo was the biggest masthead there was. I got to travel, trail and interview. I got to work with smart young women. Wearing  a different waterproof mascara everyday and having a bucket of water thrown at my face, by way of a road-test, was actually part of my job.

The best thing about being a beauty editor is/was …
Writing about beauty is really fun. At times it can be frivolous and at others, scientific. The industry itself is also very close-knit and supportive. There’s no rivalry between beauty editors, surprisingly – for the most part they all respect each other and are genuine friends.

The simplest way to feel beautiful is …
A lot of people say a swipe of bright lippie is the fastest way to feel pulled-together but I am not a lipstick girl. The simplest way to feel beautiful is also the hardest – to eat well and look after yourself. Boring, but true.

The most important things you learned as a beauty ed were …
Wear SPF50+ every single day, even if inside or behind a computer screen (that blue light will get you!). I really really wish I employed this rule earlier.

You love it when women …
Do what they want. I don’t really care what they do, as long as they are nice to other women and do what makes them happy.

Your happiest memory from childhood?
Oh boy, what a question. I have many. My folks are my best mates so most of my memories are pretty golden. I’d probably have to say endless summer days playing on our property with my siblings and my parents. Or when the opened a skating rink when I was 11 – that was literally the coolest thing anyone’s parents could do when you’re that age.

If you could tell your 14 year old self anything it would be?
To not wish your period would hurry up and come so you feel grown up. Because it’s literally a few weeks away and it’s the beginning of a world of pain, sore breasts two out of four weeks, being physically sick every 28 days and all that other delightful stuff that comes along with becoming a woman.

Your absolute best advice for women out there?
Funny timing of this question because my best girlfriends and I were just discussing this at lunch the other day. Their advice all pooled together, I’d have to say:
Have a stash of your own cash somewhere for a ‘rainy day’. Be it literally under the mattress or a bank account, have 5-10 grand there incase you need it. Hopefully you won’t, but you never know what can happen.

Consider this: if friends are saying things about other friends, what are they saying about you?

Never cut your own hair or shape your own brows.

Your personal role model is …
I don’t have one. Is that bad? I admire various attributes in many many people, but I don’t have one role model.

Your celebrity muse?
Again, don’t really have one. If we’re playing virtual photoshop celeb’s best bits, I’d like the head of Megan Fox, the body of Kate Upton and the brains of Amal Clooney (not that I don’t think she’s stunning). I am unashamedly obsessed with Kimmy K, and all of the Kardashians.

Your number one de-stressing trick is?
A very very hot bath when I get home with work with lots of body oil in the water to hydrate. I never apply body cream and it’s the only way to apply body oil – any other way is too messy.

The beauty tip you wish we’d all embrace?
The sunscreen thing, obviously. Take it from me, late teens and 20-somethings — your skin will not be smooth and sun damage-free forever. Just you wait and see.

Your favourite hair-style is?
These days, washed and air-dried. I’ve become very lazy with my hair. I always used to ghd curl for loose waves, every single day, but now I just can’t be bothered. That’s one  of the joys of reaching your mid 30s, you start to stop caring about looking perfect all the time and it’s such a relief.

When you look in the mirror you see?
My mum! It’s so crazy. And honestly, I am very happy with that. She was and still is very beautiful. I also see brows that need a lot of upkeep and a few wrinkles that need a botox top up, depending on how long it’s been.

You never leave the house without …
My phone and Lanolips Fruities in Apple.

In your bathroom cabinet we’ll always find …
Heaps and heaps of sheet masks — I do one three times a week. I’ve tried them all but my faves are the cheapies from Sephora’s house brand. You’ll also find a stack of Sodashi and Ultraceuticals (I like to mix organics with cosmeceuticals) and approximately 397 other products.

By your bedside …
A stack of books — I’m halfway through three right now. I can’t find anything I like. Any good recommendations? Also more Lanolips (the little tubes are sprinkled around my life like confetti) and a pill box with sleeping tablets in it. I am a bad sleeper and just having them there almost works like a placebo — I feel less anxious knowing I can call on them if I need.

In your handbag …
Well today there’s Lanolips (surprise!), phone, wallet, earphones, a boiled egg (as is most days) 7 hair elastics and blotting paper as I am the oiliest person alive, and gum.