We’re back with another themed week on the site: Beauty Week. This semester, Her Campus FSU has created themed weeks dedicated to exclusive content we believe all of our readers should have access to. Keep up on the site for the next few days as we tackle everything from the best beauty brands to follow to the much-debated brazilian. Trust us, you don’t want to miss this.
Name: Anjelica MacGregor
Age: 21
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Major: English (Editing, Writing and Media) & Media Communication
Relationship Status: Single
Courtesy: Anjelica MacGregor
Its Thursday, National Wine Day, so naturally one of my best friends Jel is over. We begin discussing scary post-grad thoughts and plans. The topic of her internship with Fresh Cosmetics in New York this past summer comes up.
Her Campus (HC): When did your love for beauty begin?
Anjelica MacGregor (AM): It all started when I was 12. My mom is really big on beauty and skincare, so I would always look at what she would do. She is really the one who got me into it.
HC: What were the products you started out with?
AM: I started learning which products were better for my skin. I tend to have oily skin and my mom has always used Skinn by Dimitri James, so I started with that.
HC: So as you got older, how did you know that beauty was what you wanted as a career?
AM: Once I came to FSU, I went into the English Major and started realizing a bit more about myself and what I was good at. I knew that I was really good at writing but then came what I wanted to write about. I started thinking: “what do I have a passion for, where do I spend my money, what do I gravitate towards?” So that’s where beauty came up, like most other girls would probably say. My passion for beauty was more than just applying products to my face to make me look prettier though, it was more of what am I putting on my face. What are the ingredients in this product in contrast to this product? How will this product benefit my skin?
HC: So you knew beauty was the industry for you, then what?
AM: By junior year I started my search for internships. I began researching what I needed to do to land a beauty internship.
HC: Where did you want to do your internship?
AM: I began searching for internships in New York because I knew that that was where the industry thrives the most.
HC: What companies did you become interested in?
AM: I fell in love with three magazines: Harpers Bazaar, Self and Allure. I began researching among all of these magazines which were their top picks for beauty products and what brands they were recommending,
HC: How did Fresh come about?
AM: Well it just so happened that a member of Her Campus has a sister who works in HR at Fresh and she put me in contact with her. I researched everything about the product and began the application process for their Social Digital Internship position.
Courtesy: Anjelica MacGregor
HC: What were you up against as far as other people seeking this position?
AM: I was picked out of a thousand applicants for this position. They narrowed it down to 10 people to begin the interview process.
HC: You’re in! What was the interview process like?
AM: First it was a phone interview with Human Resources, then a phone interview with the Social Media Director and finally a Skype interview with both of them together. I was able to win them over and out of the ten people I would become their intern for the summer of 2015.
HC: Next step moving to NY, how was that?
AM: Luckily I have family that lives in the city, so I lived in Downtown Manhattan next to the Brooklyn Bridge. I love New York. There’s so much to do and see, so many connections and networking that can be done, it’s a great place for a young person with ambition.
HC: What was it like working at Fresh?
AM: Working at Fresh was unlike any other experience I’ve had as far as internships and experience. It really was the deal breaker that made me truly want to be in the beauty industry.
HC: What were your responsibilities?
AM: I had analytical reports I was responsible of keeping track of for our social media. Aside for that, I had to reach out to the beauty editors for every single magazine, top YouTube bloggers, known beauty figures in the social media world. Who had the most followers? Did these people use our product? Once I researched and found that they did, I personally sent them products so they could use within their platforms. I would go through all of their handles as far as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and find that they would use the product and screenshot it. I would make my social media reports this way and all of my findings would be sent to the Public Relations Director.
HC: Where do you see yourself in the future?
AM: I see myself in the next few years as an established female in the beauty industry. My goals are to be in the digital/social marketing aspect of the industry. I’m very much a people person. I like knowing the likes and dislikes of people, and if I can be the one behind the brand awareness of a company, it would give me the greatest satisfaction.
Courtesy: Anjelica MacGregor
HC: What is your daily beauty regime?
AM: When I wake up I use a product called AM Wash by Skin. Basically it’s a refreshing and herbal scented; it’s meant to bring that cold rush to your face and waken your skin. Then I’ll use a Fresh Clay Serum, it’s meant to get rid of the oils on your skin. In the afternoon I’ll use a product also from Fresh, it’s a rose scented mist to get rid of the excess oil on my face and I’ll use these rice sheets to dab. At night, I’ll use the PM Wash by Skin and then I’ll use a Rose Toner and a cream that’s meant for young people to preserve the skin.
HC: You use a lot of rose products. Why is that?
AM: The rose is beneficial for your skin because of the antioxidants in it and it feels very light and refreshing to the skin.
HC: Any figures in the industry you admire?
AM: Yes, I love Kristie Dash. She’s the Digital Beauty Director for Allure Magazine. She’s incredibly relatable for our generation because she’s so young and killing it in the industry and doing amazing things.
HC: Would that be your ideal position?
AM: 100 percent. She basically has my dream job in New York.
HC: Let’s say you are stuck in a desert, what is one product you absolutely could not live without?
AM: I would have say, because no one in a desert would care about my wing, eye shadow or mascara, it would have to be a BB cream or my Matte Clinque Foundation. As for skincare, one thousand percent face wash.