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The make-up artist shares her best Amazon purchase, secret beauty bargain and the kitchen gadget she couldn’t live without
Rose Gallagher prides herself on providing the “everyday girl’s guide to beauty.”
The make-up artist, podcaster and blogger boasts just shy of 50,000 Instagram followers, all of whom love her honest, friendly and relatable style.
Perhaps most popular of all are her posts about rosacea, which Rose herself was diagnosed with in 2018.
Sharing product recommendations, both from herself and the network of experts she has access to, she’s brought clever, genuinely helpful solutions to hundreds of people with the same condition.
But her clout in the MUA community doesn’t stop there – her feed is also full of genuinely helpful tutorials for everything from choosing the right make-up brush for every kind of eye make-up to simple eyeliner tips anyone can make use of (and we know, because we’ve tried them).
Rose is no stranger to a product recommendation or two, but we couldn’t help but wonder – when she’s not adding to her beauty kit, what are the buys she reaches for time and time again throughout her day?
As part of our Gamechangers series, we asked Rose to share everything from her favourite Amazon purchases to the book she recommends to everyone – and we’ve already got several of them in our baskets...
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Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best – transparent storage bags helped me to tidy and organise everything at the start of lockdown. Whether it’s for my make-up artist kit or even our daily requirements of masks and hand sanitiser, I have it all laid out in transparent cases so that I can grab exactly what I need in a rush. Organising in this way saves me so much time.
I absolutely love my NutriBullet, but you aren’t meant to put hot things in it. So, in the winter I got this hand blender, and it is brilliant for blending soup. I throw in a mix of vegetables and spices to boil, especially anything old that appears to be on last legs. It’s a quick, fuss-free lunch that keeps me full, and a batch sustains me for days. It’s also a great way to ensure I’m getting my five-a-day if I’m having a busy week.
Every dermatologist I speak to seems to recommend CeraVe. The sizes of their cleansers and moisturisers are enormous and affordable, and yet they out perform some of their far more expensive competitors. The SA cleanser is ideal to reduce the appearance of any bumps under the skin, a side effect that more and more people are experiencing as a result of wearing masks.
I love discovering new small businesses. A jeweller I have been shopping with for 10 years, Laura Gravestock, posted a photo in her Limpet Store jumper and I ordered a couple right away. These embroidered jumpers are beyond cosy, evoke an air of nostalgia, and come in a variety of beautiful colours and designs. My favourite is the “what a wonderful world” jumper with a line-up of embroidered animals.
At this point in time, I think good news stories can be so powerful. We’re all in need of some optimism; that’s why I completely fell in love with Melior. It’s a new household cleaning brand, offering three environmentally friendly solutions to clean your home and powered by enzymes which makes them gentler on your skin. It operates as a social enterprise, so any money they make goes back into creating more employment for their workforce, which comprises of people with disabilities.
There are few things more unsettling than broken sleep. Recently I researched a lot about weighted blankets, how they can help to reduce stress and anxiety, and help you to achieve a great night’s sleep. This Mela blanket has made a big difference in helping me to drift off, in particular on nights when I’ve worked late and go to bed overtired.
I see a trainer a few times a week on Zoom. She was the best new year’s resolution I ever made in 2020 and has kept me sane during lockdown. She got me a Uonner suspension trainer kit; you clip it to the door and use your own body weight to exercise. I love using this because it’s more of a strength workout than something that leaves you breathless, so it’s is ideal for squeezing in a quick 30 minute blitz between meetings.
I am all for positive thinking, but I’m a huge believer that it has to be backed up with action for a plan to come together. Adrienne, author of Power Hour, strikes that balance perfectly. Her book offers a realistic framework for making time for yourself. Being productive all day every day isn’t realistic, but dedicating one full hour in your day to get things done can be transformative. She practises what she preaches, and as a busy mum and business woman her suggestions are empowering and achievable.
One thing I can’t travel without is a powered toothbrush. I notice the difference right away when I haven’t used it. Recently I switched from electric to sonic, the Spotlight Oral Care brush. The brand was founded by two sisters who are dentists, and they want us to consider oral care as something to be customised to suit our own needs like we do our skincare. A study by Mintel in 2020 suggested that British women spend 11 per cent more on oral care than they do on their skin, so I imagine I’m not the only one!
If optimism could be bottled, it would smell like Attrape-Rêves. A fresh, pretty fragrance, this merges bursts of light like Turkish rose and a juicy litchi accord, but still feels sophisticated and warm with a hint of cocoa. Though this sounds more like a mortgage payment than a fragrance, it is truly unique to anything else I have tried. One spray offers such lasting power that your cost per wear will make it up to you.
Full disclosure: I’m an ambassador for this brand in the UK, but I genuinely love the products. I have lots of redness in my skin, and I want to cover that in full without looking like I’m wearing inches of foundation. The IT Cosmetics CC+ cream gives me the coverage I need but also leaves a fresh, luminous finish that I find has people complimenting me on my skin rather than my make-up.