Friday Feature: Beautiful Women in Beauty..Meet Antonia Mariconda

Meet the first in my series of beautiful women in beauty...Antonia Mariconda the Cosmedic Coach.

Antonia is a Health and Beauty published author and a leading expert in the field of Health, Beauty, Anti-Ageing, Cosmetic Medicine and Cosmetic Surgery.

Antonia’s health and beauty expertise has seen her contribute to a number of well-known publications, such as Cosmopolitan, Hello!, The Independent, “Take 10 Years Off Your Looks” with Channel 4 presenter Nicky Hambleton Jones, At Home Magazine, Top Santé, Style, Brand New You, and Aesthetic Medicine Magazine.

Hi Antonia, thank you so much for taking your time out to let me interview you. What is your full  job title?
Writer, Author, Industry Expert & ‘The Cosmedic Coach’



How long have you been in this role?
12 Years


What were you doing before that?
Working in CNN as an intern, then a few odd freelance journalism jobs.


Does your job require specific qualifications/training/experience?
This job requires a passion and a love of all things beauty, however on the cosmetic surgery side of things you need to be fairly well educated and researched in that particular field, I have read and researched and educated myself for years and years, to the point that I feel I could quite compactly hold my own with any plastic surgeon in terms of actual knowledge,


Why did you decide to go into this particular job role industry?
I was fascinated with the metamorphosis that people experience with beauty and cosmetic surgery, often changing one aspect about yourself with cosmetic surgery is a life changing experience, beauty has the power to do so much, as human beings we are all drawn to beautiful things, if we believe that we look good in turn we automatically feel good, and that is a wonderful feeling, Power is Beauty.


What do you do on a daily basis?
 I do anything from write a variety of columns on –line, consult with private individuals through my consultancy The Cosmedic Coach on where to go for cosmetic surgery, I edit a new beauty magazine, and co-produce a beauty show, I can dip in and out of a variety of projects that are intricately connected and of which I am passionate about them each equally.


Wow, I would LOVE your job. What advice would you give to someone wishing to get in your industry?
Read, learn, listen and observe, in this business information is power, the more you know the better placed you are at calling yourself an expert, however my advice is find something unique within beauty to focus and build your career on, when you are a specialist of a subject it makes you even more interesting, and marketable, my speciality in cosmetic surgery has served me well, as there are very few (non-medical) cosmetic surgery experts in the world.


Now some beauty questions, how long does it take you to put your make up on in the morning? And for the evening/night out/party?
Morning routine is fast fresh and simple, and takes 20 minutes, foundation eyes are quite neutral and natural lip gloss always bronzer, evening times I go glam, so about 40 minutes, if I am going to something really wow! Or red-carpet I will hire a make-up artists and stylist: Maria Comparetto.


What is your most favourite must-have product/make up item? (only one…I know it’s hard, I would struggle to answer this, could be a makeup item or a particular product from a brand)
Benefit Hoola


Lipstick or lip gloss? 
Airkiss Clinique (great choice, I used to be in LOVE with airkiss)

Cream blush or powder blush?
Powder Blush, Yves Saint Laurent or Benefit Hoola

High St Make Up or Beauty Hall brands?
Beauty Hall Brands have to be Mac, Chanel, Dior, Clinique, and Nars


Finally, what or who is your definition of beauty?
My definition of beauty is a woman that is ageless, who takes good care of herself, from the inside out, who is not aware that she is beautiful and is comfortable in her skin, who is not afraid of saying that she has made changes to her appearance and is not afraid to say perhaps she will have more, beauty is a woman who has lived and experienced yet does not show the signs of this except in her soul, Demi Moore, is amazing,

" ..as human beings we are all drawn to beautiful things, if we believe that we look good in turn we automatically feel good, and that is a wonderful feeling, Power is Beauty." Antonia Mariconda

Beautiful Women in Beauty

I have had so many emails from my readers and facebook fans asking how they can get into the beauty industry, from a make-up artist to beauty writer. These emails inspired me to put together a feature on beautiful inspirational women who work in beauty. It saddens me to read about young girls who refer to themselves as the 'Cheryl Cole of Reading on benefits' and teenagers who want to be wags or glamour models.

The purpose of this feature is to inspire everyone with profiles on successful, beautiful women and to show them that you can have beauty and brains.

So, last week on Twitter I put out a tweet-call looking for beautiful women in beauty...the response took me by surpise. I am so grateful, thank you! So, instead of a one off feature, I will be doing regular interviews with beautiful women in beauty. This will be my Friday feature going forward.

I have some really exciting ladies to interview, the first is Antonia Mariconda, a Health and Beauty published author and a leading expert in the field of Health, Beauty, Anti-Ageing, Cosmetic Medicine and Cosmetic Surgery....MY DREAM JOB!! Read all about Antonia on Friday.

If you are/know a beautiful woman in beauty, please email me at farrahkg@gmail.com so I can interview you.

Mystic Spots..what your face is telling you about your body!

Last week, I came out with the biggest spot ever on my left cheek! (FYI, it is STILL there and has no intention of leaving anytime soon AND now I have two more). I announced it on Twitter, I had to share my pain and fellow tweeters were curious about why I said this spot was linked to my lungs.

I remembered some training I had when I used to work for Space.NK about different areas of the face corresponding to the different organs in the body…this is known as Chinese Face Reading/Face Mapping.

There are energy channels that run throughout the body, which lie very close to the surface of the skin’s surface, particularly in areas of the face and soles of the feet. The way reflexology can access organs via feet.

Anyway, I am no expert and this is the information I have from memory .I’ll list the different areas of the face and which organs they correspond to..hope it helps. If you are/know an expert in this field, I would love to do an interview on them.

Forehead

Upper forhead is associated with the bladder.

Lower forhead, between the eyes and cheek is associated with the liver. If this area is puffy, it may be linked to an imbalance of those organs, indicating poor eating habits/digestion.

(*Eyes and Liver are sister organs)

Under the eyes

Under the eyes is related to the kidneys, gritty under-eyes is linked to high sodium levels.

Nose

Nostrils are linked to lungs and tip of the nose is related to the heart.

Cheeks

Cheeks are related to lungs and sinus allergies.

Lower Cheek

Lower Cheek is linked to gums and back teeth.

Mouth

The top lip is related to the stomach and the bottom lip relates to the colon.

Chin

Sides of the chin relates to the ovaries and the centre of the chin is linked to the small intestine.

Jaw & Neck linked to adrenal stress.

If you have any of the above, I highly recommend an Eve Lom facial or buy Emma Hardie’s Cleansing Balm and follow the step by step instructions.

HE loves...

I'm not sure about the rest of you lovely ladies other halves (apart from Sarah at www.iheartcosmetics.com) but my husband is THE definition of a metrosexual male.

I would like to say I have influenced his need for a beauty regime, but even when we first met, he was using the Dermalogica system and he was having monthly facials.

However, I have influenced his brand buying behaviour...he now loves KORRES, Liz Earle, Eve Lom, ORLY Rich Renewal Cream in Peace and [COMFORT ZONE].

L-R: KORRES Quercetin anti-ageing lotion, KORRES hair & scalp scrub, KORRES body butter in Fig and Liz Earle C&P

All of these products used to be mine, however, they can now be found in his wash bag. The KORRES hair and scalp scrub is a truly amazing innovative product, it has treated his dry scalp which he couldn't believe. It's worked a treat on my mane of hair too, eliminating impurities and build up of hair products. We scrub our skin, so why not our scalp?

I LOVE the smell of the KORRES Fig Body Butter on him too, beautiful scent for men. We both get through these tubes of body butter so quickly, I wish KORRES had bigger bottles.

After years of using Eve Lom, the mister recently switched to Liz Earle's C&P, he loves both cleansers but he prefers the convenient travel-friendly packing of cleanse and polish.

What do your other halves like to use?

Have you discovered they secretly/openly use your products?

TRUST, the NEW hot red lipstick!

TRUST is a brand new, and the ultimate hot red lipstick created by renowned celebrity make up artist Karen Alder.

100% of proceeds from sales will go directly to youth charity, The Prince's Trust, the limited edition lipstick is expected to raise over £60,000 for the charity and sell out in record time on leading television and online retailer, QVC.

Karen is a long-term supporter of The Prince's Trust with first-hand experience of the charity work, Karen got her start in the beauty industry from the Trust.

The lipstick is priced at £8.00 and is available exclusively through QVC from 2nd April.

I will certainly be buying one and I'm 100% sure my little sister Sarah will, as she has a red lipstick obsession, owning one from every brand!

Mother's Day Treats

I'm not one to get sucked into "notable dates" in my diary, such as Valentines Day. However, I do like an excuse to treat my parents on Mothers Day and Fathers Day.

So, for my ma I have got her a lovely range of beauty products (of course) from some of her favourite brands.

* KORRES

TheThyme Honey 24-hour moisturising cream and the Thyme Honey Cleansing Scrub with real honey. This skincare range is ideal for my ma's mature dehydrated skin and the naturally derived exfoliating grains in the scrub are super gentle for her sensitive skin.

I think I may have mentioned this before, my ma LOVES the scent of  Jasmine (which is maybe why I love it too), I have got her into the KORRES body butters so I will also be including the Jasmine Shower Gel and divine Jasmine Body Butter in her bag of treats.

*LIZ EARLE

My ma told me about Liz Earle years ago but she had never tried it herself, until recently. So, I thought I'd treat her to my bottle of the debut Liz Earle Fragrance, Botanical Essence. I am positive she will love the fresh flowery smell.

[ COMFORT ZONE]

I LOVE Italian Skincare brand [COMFORT ZONE], only available in high-end spa's. I use the tranquility range everyday, I have around 3 bottles of the Tranquility Oil in different places, it is designed to make you feel tranquil and is used in spa treatments (I wear it as a perfume because it's made of essential oils and lasts ages). So, I have bought my ma a bottle of Tranquility Oil too.

I'm a good daughter aren't I?

What have you got your mothers for Mothering Sunday?

Big trip to the BIg Apple!

Last week I was in NYC to celebrate my mates birthdays (the Lee sisters). We spent most of our time eating delicious food and partying.

Me being a make up fiend, I had to get my beauty fix, so while the Lee's caught up with beauty sleep, I spent my spare hours in Sephora, Bloomingdales, Duane Reed and everywhere in between that sells beauty products.

I wish our pharmacies were more beauty focused like the USA and the rest of Europe, there are the odd few (a cool pharmacy on Great Portland Street) which sell NUXE and ART DECO but the majority are just so boring!

I also prefer the sales assistants on make up counters/pharmacies abroad, they are so friendly, full of knowledge and passionate about the industry they are working in (they remind me of me when I used to work in make up). I find that a lot of counter staff over here can be rude, judgmental and they definitely lack overall beauty and product knowledge (have found this on MAC counters and this kills me to say, but also a lot of Space.NK's, whereas the girls in Space.NK in NY were superb!!). The staff in Space.NK where I live are clueless, they are so clueless that I have even enquired about part time in-store work with them because I feel like the store will eventually close down because they don't appear to be making any money.

Do you guys prefer to buy your make up online or in-store? While you think about it, check out the highlights of my NYC trip in pictures.








My view everyday



My breakfast and hourly snacks



Pretty pigment glitters at FACE Stockholm store!

Pretty blushers at FACE Stockholm

The cream blush and eyeshadow I bought (which I'm using as a blusher)

Glorious tinted moisturisers

The KORRES stand in Sephora

Corrector palettes at FACE Stockholm

Highly pigmented eyeshadow range by FACE Stockholm

OMG, amazing! We need these in the UK

Me and Lee dying over our Pinberry order

I wish mascaras all showed their brush like this

Erm, hello! I need this supersize in guava!

Josie Maran Argan Oil Lipglosses! I WISH I bought them!!

Tarte Cosmetics stand! The Amazonian blushers are stunning!

The adorable French Bulldog who resides in the same building as Lizzie Lee