This week HC met with Ella Ryder, a 3rd year English student who’s definitely in the know when it comes to the latest on style and beauty! Writing for Impact magazine as well as on her own blog, Ella has been driven by her interest in the style industry which she uses as a creative outlet – (a lot more exciting than essay writing!). We found out what makes Ella drawn to writing about fashion and beauty, and why it is so important for students to be confident in expressing themselves through their interests.
Tell us a bit about your work for Impact magazine.
I help out with the Style section of the magazine which includes fashion and beauty. It was over the summer when I had some free time that I thought it would be fun to write a review for one of the shows at New York fashion week. I helped out with Impact’s first beauty photo shoot, and it was really interesting to see the kind of process and hard work that goes into the magazines and images we often glance at for five seconds then move on. Now that term has started properly again I need to organise my time wisely to help out more as I enjoy it a lot. I’m going to Paris with the Fashion and Style society at the end of February which is during Paris Fashion Week so I’m incredibly excited!
We’ve heard increasingly about the dangers of the media focus on beauty and self-image for young women. What does ‘beauty’ mean to you as a student?
This is a pretty deep question. Beauty to me is not just about physical appearance. There have been so many times where I’ve met girls who I think are really pretty but their personality is ugly, which in my view, completely overpowers however nice their hair is. There seems to have been a shift in the media over what beauty means and I think in a few years’ time the outlook will be more positive. For example, ‘strong is the new skinny’ is something that is emphasised a lot on the internet. People are beginning to realise that it’s more important to go the gym and eat healthily than starve yourself to look a certain way and celebrities often promote healthy lifestyles. Not all of them, but more than there used to be. I think the biggest problem with women is comparing yourself to others instead of being happy with who you are. I am guilty of this myself so should practice what I preach!
You have also just started writing your own beauty blog as well, what has drawn you to writing about this industry?
Yep, I started my blog Truthfully, Ella last summer because I had become addicted to reading blogs for quite a while and thought it would be fun to give it a go myself. I study English so it’s not as if I have a problem with waffling on about things that people probably don’t want to know, but I thought someone out there might stumble on it and actually enjoy it. It’s actually quite a daunting thing exposing a part of your life on the internet but I’m glad I did it. I chose to write about beauty mainly because it’s my favourite thing. I’m not sure if you can count shopping as a hobby? I spend the majority of my money on make-up, skincare and clothes so I may as well get some extra use out of it! I also love how close the beauty blogging community is. Everyone is very supportive of each other which is nice. I think blogs have helped promote a more positive image of beauty as girls are able take advice from real women and not celebrities who have a disposable income.
What do you try to communicate through your writings in your blog?
Leading on from the last question, I want to communicate affordable make-up, skincare and general lifestyle tips that a lot of women can relate to. I’ve written a lot of reviews of products I enjoy using as before I invest money in a product I always read reviews to make sure it’s worth it. I hope that people will have enough of an idea of who I am through my blog, to be able to trust the advice I share. While I don’t claim to be an expert, I probably know a lot more than I should about the beauty industry so I find blogging a fun way to write about something I’m actually interested in – no offence if any of my tutors are reading this. I am hoping to expand my blog this year and dedicate a lot more time on it with a variety of topics. To begin this process, I am currently having it redesigned which I am hoping will give it a more professional look. My technologically challenged skills meant it wasn’t looking quite how I wanted it to, so once this is finished I’ll be able to get stuck into it again.
Finally, do you have any handy nifty tips for us?
I think people are probably aware of this already but if you want to save money on a lot of products, coconut oil does pretty much everything you can think of. You can use it as: a hair mask, make up remover, body oil, cooking oil and lip balm etc. The proper stuff is cheapest online for under £10, from health food stores or somewhere like Amazon. It smells amazing too.
You can check out all of Ella’s beauty inspiration, tips and features on her blog here – http://truthfullyella.blogspot.co.uk/