Welcome to the next instalment of the #beautyinsider Q&As, where you can find out who is behind some of your favourite beauty brands, what they are working on and how they got there. This month’s guest is Carolyn Bointon, Media Manager at Nature’s Dream, a distributor of natural health and beauty brands. The brands they bring to the UK market include Naturtint, a leading chemically-light hair colour brand, Natura Siberica offering certified natural botanical beauty products, and e’lifexir, an Ecocert-certified natural body care range. I was first in touch with Carolyn to discuss the newly launched e’lifexir range which I reviewed in my blog post E’lifexir: Athleisure Beauty. Carolyn agreed to be this month’s beauty insider, so here you can discover what natural beauty trends are coming our way and what it’s like to be a journalist in South America. 

1. Hi Carolyn, thank you for being my Insider Q&A guest this month. Let’s get started with your role at Nature’s Dream – what are you responsible for?

Well, can I start by saying it really is my dream job. I deal with all the company’s digital marketing as well as its PR needs.

2. You’ve had a varied career in media. How did you get into journalism?

I actually started my career in PR and then made the move in journalism when I went travelling in South America in my late 20s. I needed a way to fund my back-packing lifestyle so wrote freelance stories for mainstream newspapers and magazines – back in the day when online portals were just a vague vision of the future. It was a blast, I would work for travel guides, researching and updating information, and at the same time get commissions for travel stories. I’ve written about kayak schools in the jungle, trekking the Inca Trail, family holidays in the Galapagos and silver mines in Bolivia. When I eventually returned to the UK after 10 years in South America, I took up a journalist role with my local newspaper, before being promoted to news editor.

3. What does a typical day look like for you?

Hectic and full of coffee and chocolate. I need to be fairly organised, which is not my natural way of working, but there is always so much going on that it’s vital if I am not to suffer a complete meltdown! But, to give you an idea, I could be organising a national blogger and influencer campaign for one of our natural and organic brands, writing a story on the latest trends in beauty for a national newspaper, creating fun and funky visual assets for social media or designing an engaging customer newsletter to be mailed out. And then I’ll have breakfast… you get the idea!

4. What do you find the most exciting or rewarding part of being Media Manager at Nature’s Dream?

I’m still a journalist at heart and I get a huge buzz from seeing one of my stories in print. I love our team meetings when we talk about new concepts for products to introduce to the UK and then watching the brand managers take the idea to final production stage.

5. Insider tips! What are the key trends to look out for in the world of natural and organic beauty?

Well, for sure the trend for vegan and cruelty-free products will continue to grow and you can expect to see Japanese beauty trends take over from the current obsession with all things Korean. There is a growing awareness of “you are what you eat”, which is driving trends such as collagen drinks.

Nature-hacking will be the buzz-word, a development on wild-harvesting, especially apoptogenic herbs and plants, which will continue to grow in popularity, but with an added emphasis on sustainability and fair-trade. Expect to see more brands certified as FairWild in the future. (Established in 2008, the FairWild Foundation promotes the sustainable use of wild-collected ingredients, with a fair deal for all those involved throughout the supply chain.)

Other key trends? Body Respect – tuning in to the natural harmony of our individual bodies with targeted treatments for our own personal needs.

And get ready for more translucent, pearlescent, metallic greens and blues in your make-up bag!

6. Let’s get personal: what would be your 3 desert-island beauty products?

Sun cream to protect me when I spend all day lazing on the beach, Natura Siberica’s Caviar face cream to keep my skin looking and feeling gorgeous and dry shampoo to freshen up when Bear Grylls picks me up in his helicopter!

7. And finally – what do you get up to when you’re not surrounded by natural health and beauty products?

You’ll find me outdoors, either walking my dog, Winnie, in the gorgeous Peak District which is where I live, or on the touchline of a rugby game (I played rugby for years before my body finally told me it had had enough) or indulging my passion for macro photography surrounded by creepy crawlies!

If you have any burning questions you’d like to ask Carolyn why not leave a comment below? Or you can get in touch with her directly on Instagram or LinkedIn.