May 09, 2011 12:00AM
Oyster #92: Into the Gloss
Our interview with Emily Weiss, the brains behind the breakthrough beauty blog.
Emily Weiss is the brains behind the breakthrough beauty blog Into The Gloss. Less than a year old, the online oracle is already revered for its prophetic reportage and original content. With a helping hand from friends like Jen Brill, Jamie Bochert and Anna Dello Russo, Weiss is changing the world of beauty blogging, one post at a time.
Before you started Into The Gloss you were focused on a career in fashion, weren't you?
Emily Weiss: I've been working in fashion since I was 15, so I suppose I've been in the industry for just over a decade. I'm originally from Connecticut, but [I am] currently living in New York assisting the very talented, inspiring stylist Elissa Santisi. We do a lot of work for American Vogue and I'm with her full-time, so styling is my day job and I work on the blog over the weekends.
How did you move from fashion into beauty?
Beauty was always a dream job for me, you know how little kids dream of becoming an astronaut? Well, I always thought it would be cool to be a beauty editor. I started interning at Teen Vogue when I was 19, then went on to work in the fashion department at W magazine, but I found whenever I was on a shoot I would gravitate toward the beauty editor or make-up artist. I loved to watch them work and was always asking, "What's the latest? What's the best?" I'm no beauty expert and I'm definitely no technology whiz, but I'd been following certain street style blogs and I could see everything becoming more and more focused on personal style, yet there was no equivalent beauty blog, there was nothing I could read about the people whom I aspired to.
Your styling work keeps you at the forefront of fashion and beauty, working alongside some of the most talented people in the business. What do you see as the emerging direction for beauty this season?
I definitely think that hot pink lipstick is the new red. Nars Schiap is a really bright fun fuchsia - when you put it on, it completely changes your whole face. I also think the focus is returning to eyebrows. I mean the whole bleached-out thing is still going on, but I'm starting to feel a shift back to a really strong brow. I think someone who is really championing this look is Arizona Muse; her face and brows are very bold and dramatic. I predict we'll be seeing more of a dark, filled, intense brow, with a masculine edge.
Speaking of Ms Muse, there's a great spot on your site dedicated to up-and-coming models. Which new faces should be on our radar?
I really love this girl Melissa Tammerijn, I think her face is amazing; she's like a new Raquel Zimmermann. I mean no one could ever replace Raquel, but she's an evolution of that style of beauty. Another one who's set to be really big is Julia Saner, she has a very classic beauty, Julia's almost so beautiful that it's hard to look at her! Also Australia's Ajak Deng; she has a great look. Ajak has been working with some big names and I think she's headed for a really good show season.
So after six months steeped in tips and tricks from beauty's top shelf, what are the products you can't live without?
I'm pretty low maintenance when it comes to make-up, but I love a good lipstick or lip gloss. One of my favourites is from RMS Beauty; their Simply Cocoa Lip Balm is all-organic and [it] actually feels like it's good for you. Also, Clinique's Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm, which is like a lipstick-meets-lip balm-meets-lip liner crayon. It's a great new product. I also think it's key to have a good beauty mist which keeps your foundation from looking too made-up or powdery. I really like Caudal
