Gill meets Sarah Vine and Susannah Taylor from Get the Gloss.

Get the Gloss launched in October 2012; how was the idea conceived and what was the inspiration behind the site?

ST: I had a blog called Get the Gloss – I had started it as I had a wealth of experts at my fingertips from my time as Beauty and Health Editor at Vogue and Glamour and I wanted to share these experts online. I then met with Sarah who had a bigger idea for a website that brought inter-active expert advice to the public and she asked me to help build it and be its editor. As I started working on the bigger site it became clear I wouldn’t have time for my blog, so the big site became Get the Gloss.

How long have you known each other and where did you first meet?

ST and SV: Sarah and I were introduced to each other two years ago by our mutual friend, PR and all-round fabulous person Krishna Montgomery. We are very different people in many ways, but get on very well and have different skill sets which seem to fit together very well. The one problem we have is too many ideas!!!

Your backgrounds?

Sarah is an award-winning national newspaper journalist for the Daily Mail and author. Sarah has worked on titles as diverse as the Daily Mirror and Tatler. She is also co-author of Backwards in High Heels and the Great Big Glorious Book for Girls.

Susannah was previously the Beauty and Health Editor at Vogue and previous to that the Beauty editor of Glamour in the UK.

What is the philosophy behind GTG?

ST and SV: Get the Gloss is an inter-active platform showcasing the very best in beauty and health from daily news, to videos and shoots with the industry’s leading professionals such as hair stylist Sam McKnight , to make-up artist Mary Greenwell, dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting and nutritionist Amelia Freer. It’s a place where you can get leading advice on anything from beautiful skin to bunions, psoriasis to self tan, you can read amusing articles from award-winning journalists and you can even interact with top experts – we have a ‘Live Lunch’ forum with a top expert where anyone can post a question.

There is also a section called GlossWorld where we showcase the very best experts within our industry – each expert has a microsite within our site and can add daily news, images or video in order to showcase their brand.

Your passions?

ST: In no particular order, building Get the Gloss, my family, art, beautiful objects, fashion, being fit and healthy, Oxfordshire where I live

SV: In no particular order, Politics , gossip, shoes, children, dogs, food and Gin

Your three top tips for beauty?

ST: 

• Sleep. It’s a boring one, but sleep for me is everything. I don’t get enough and when I do I feel like a new woman. I think I probably look like one too. My mission for 2014 is to get more sleep.
• Do not overload your skin – to many products and too much fiddling can cause breakouts. Your skin is designed to keep things out.
• Do not abuse your skin – you only get one in life so don’t torture it.

SV:

• Sunscreen or better still, stay out of the sun
• Don’t pluck our own eyebrows, you will never do it as well as the experts
• Don’t get too thin – it can make you look old. A bit of fat is good for the face.

Your three top tips for health?

ST:

• Exercise – When you exercise you automatically start to eat better. Just start, there is no trick or skill. As Nike say, Just Do It.
• Sleep – it’s when our body, our cells and our skin renews itself. More sleep = better everything.
• Worry less – it never solved anything, it can make you ill. Notice you are doing it a do more instead. Worrying is a great time-waster.

SV:

• Eat well for a healthy body and skin.
• Try to exercise even when you don’t feel like it – you will never ever regret it.
• Have a minimum of two nights a week off alcohol.

How do you see the future of health and beauty?

SV: Customised products and skincare that are individually tailored to each person. Better information for customers and more tailored information to customers. Less hype, more results based information.

ST: I feel there are some big changes needed in health. People are not eating enough fat and it’s wrong to eat low fat. This needs to be changed in government guidelines. Also, according to a new survey by Nike our children are not going to live as long as my generation because they have become so inactive. I think there is going to be a huge drive on children and fitness in general.

As for beauty – I’m hoping there will be a big backlash against fillers used in cosmetic surgery. People are beginning to look too weird. I also think people are becoming very savvy to the quality of ‘natural’ products so the quality of natural products is going up and up. Dermatology-based products will continue to rise in popularity.

Your hopes and aspirations for GTG going forward?

We are going to put together a ‘blue sky’ thinking list for GTG. We want to create something that’s totally unique and different and always innovative. We would also like to create an app.

Your favourite VH brands and why?

SV:

• Food Science of Vermont – their supplements are easy to take, innovative and very digestible
• Weleda – it’s amazing value for money and great quality
• Anne de Mamiel – because she is a brilliant, wonderful and talented woman and her products are beautiful. If she told me to eat coals I would

ST:

• Aurelia Probiotic Skincare – a beautiful, natural range of skincare that balances the skin and brings it back to optimum condition.
• Aromatherapy Associates – a real classic…my favourite is their Inner Strength bath and shower oil which is an essential for every bathroom
• Better You. A very clever company that modernizes vitamins and minerals. I love the Magnesium Oil Original Soak – amazing for soothing away aches and replacing lost minerals post exercise. Helps you sleep better too.

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