The Beauty Brains By Lauren Gunn
A super nerdy friend of mine introduced me to The Beauty Brains a couple of years ago and I quickly became a major fan of this podcast.
The Beauty Brains does deep dives into hair and beauty products in the form of audience questions and sciency reviews of product releases and beauty news.
Find out what makes some hair products so pricey or if CBD in shampoos is hype or legit. Is the Dyson really the Rolls Royce of hairdryers? Exactly why does our hair fall out and should you be worried about it? Who is funding the latest research and why?
Hosts Perry Romanowski and Valerie George are cosmetic chemists and formulators and together they combine to bring us the ultimate listen for busting common beauty myths and untruths. These two like to deal in facts and only facts and they bring a bunch of insight into how the beauty industry works behind the scenes in the lab and at the marketing desk.
Perry is awkwardly dorky which after a few listens becomes super endearing and Valerie strikes a nice balance between sarcasm and savvy expertise. The number of medical journal articles they must read in a week is too much for my little brain to comprehend. I’m just glad someone is doing the heavy lifting for us all and then packaging it up into a tidy 45-minute show.
Listen on Apple Podcast and Spotify.
Fat Mascara By Lauren Gunn
Fat Mascara is an interview-format show hosted by Jennifer Goldstein and Jessica Matlin. Jess published her first beauty magazine at age 9 and Jen started out behind a perfume counter in Philadelphia.
There are two episodes each week, featuring the latest hair and beauty news, product reviews and an interview with an industry expert or insider.
Some pretty big names feature in the show line up including Victoria Beckham, Charlotte Tilbury, Emily Wiess, Lauren Conrad, and Kim K. There are way too many icons on this show to list here.
Some of the most interesting eps are interviews with people you’ve likely never heard of – plastic surgeons, beauty bosses, perfumiers, hairstylists, chemists, podiatrists, an exceptionally excitable trichologist and the lead make-up artist from Euphoria.
Learn how to squeeze a pimple, how to treat hair loss, how to achieve a flawless fake tan, product hoarding, labia lightening and detoxing your armpits.
At the conclusion of each show, Jen and Jess ‘raise a wand’ to their favourite products of the moment which is perfect if you are anything like me and you like to know all the latest beauty goss or if you just like to be the beauty expert in your friend group.
Mainly I love this show because it is so educational. Fat Mascara is inspiring and uplifting too - there are many wonderful personal stories shared on this show - but what I really love and enjoy is learning about my body and my skin and my hair.
Each episode averages 40 – 50 minutes and there are currently over 300 eps so that’s approximately 250 hours available for your binging pleasure. You can thank me later :)
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Grazia Beauty Life Lessons By Lauren Gunn
When I found this podcast I was looking for something with a bit more of a British tilt to it. Specifically, I was hankering after a lovely English broadcasting accent to listen to while out on my lockdown strolls. I got that and so much more from Grazia Beauty Life Lessons.
Here’s a great example of why I love this podcast, an excerpt from episode #2:
“If your partner got kidnapped, that night when you went home absolutely devastated and terrified for them, would you still do your skincare?” Raven Smith, Vogue
The format for this show asks guests for their top makeup, wellbeing, hair, fragrance, and skincare tips, hosted by Grazia Beauty Director Joely Walker. This podcast is relatively new to the scene with just 23 episodes clocked up so far and includes guests from all walks of fashion, beauty, journalism, showbiz and well, life.
Guests are also asked to reveal their biggest beauty blunders which will make you laugh out loud in the supermarket aisle and knowingly nod to yourself in empathic appreciation.
Grazia Beauty Life Lessons is a short, sweet hit of beauty fun with episodes running to an average of 30 minutes. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Audible.
Allure's The Science of Beauty By Tara Young
Hosted by Allure’s editor in chief, Michelle Lee, and executive beauty director, Jenny Bailly. Allure's The Science of Beauty is exactly what it says it is, a cocktail of science and beauty for those who are beauty-obsessed and just need to know more.
They get into the nitty-gritty of beauty with industry professionals to discuss the hottest ingredients, products we're obsessed with and dive deep into topics we love to know about; sunscreen, hyperpigmentation, shampoo, curls, the scalp, lasers, and so on - just right amount of informative, quirky, funny and nerdy.
What I’ve recently enjoyed is their mini-series within the podcast; 10-minute episodes unpacking the most talked-about ingredients today with dermatologists and cosmetic chemists. I will say, they're not getting into anything too in-depth but it’s just enough to help you out if you're after a basic understanding of niacinamide or want the inside scoop on biotin. I like these particular episodes because they remind me of our colleen ingredient features – factual and to the point, and only 10 minutes long, so if you wanna learn something in a hurry then this is for you ;)
If you've got 40-50mins on your hands, hit up their other episodes and stay a little longer.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Audible.
Outspoken Beauty By Tara Young
I'm quietly obsessed with this podcast, discovering it was a breath of fresh air within my podcast library. Hosted by the super-likeable Nicola Bonn, who launched the Outspoken Beauty podcast in 2018 after 15 years as a beauty columnist and broadcaster based in the UK. As you can probably imagine, she just sounds like a pro who knows exactly how to articulate herself and tell us things with her smooth radio voice - I was instantly hooked.
Each week Nicola invites a guest on her show and tbh, I had no idea who many of them were but they are Doctors, Avon ladies, scientists, beauty directors, drag queens, celebs, makeup artists, brand founders and normal people who like beauty and skincare - the list goes on and on.
A highlight for me was 'My Beauty Habits' a series where people of all ages discuss the products they swear by, their relationship with beauty and confidence, life and so much more. And that's the thing, there is SO much more because this podcast covers some ground - basically any topic you want to know about, you will find here.
The episodes are captivating, funny, honest, relatable and informative - I would say there is something for everyone and with about 350 episodes under her belt, I think that is an accurate statement.
You have plenty to get on with! Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
