Holly Barrow

At my agency we ended up working with a lot of beauty brands on a lot of different projects and it became one of my favourite pillars to work on. The beauty industry in Germany is quite far behind some other cities and it was rewarding to see what was happening everywhere else and bring it here. Through this I also developed a love for all things beauty, not just producing campaigns, but following makeup artists, obsessing over products and trying out the latest treatments.

For myself beauty can mean so many things, but I think it can be anything that makes you feel good about yourself. Be that the feeling you get from absorbing from other people’s beauty, the routines and rituals you create for moments to yourself, treating yourself to a new product you’ve been pining over or sitting in bed with a face mask on reading a book (or scrolling instagram).

My beauty philosophy is definitely quite introverted. It involves small rituals, morning and evening that keep me balanced, give me time everyday to myself and help me start and end the day in the best way I can.

My morning routine is a bit quicker than my evening routine. I also keep it the same so it’s almost automatic now. I shower, then once I’m done, I cleanse with the Soho Skin cleanser, apply Hyaluronic acid, eye cream, moisturiser and SPF. At the moment I’m using a lot of products from the Inkey list but sometimes I switch them up when I discover a new brand. Sometimes if my face is feeling dry, especially in the winter months I use my La Roche Posay Cicaplast spray.

In the evening I also cleanse my face with an oil cleanser using a Konjac face sponge. Then once in bed, I use a lavender pillow spray and pulse roll on from this works, apply a face oil with a Gua Sha (this I also change up, at the moment I’m using a Dr Organic Guava one, that I love), a hand cream and then drink a chamomile tea while it all soaks in. I try to find products that aren’t overly perfumed and contain minimal ingredients. A friend recently put me onto an app that checks your products for you called Yuka. I’ve become a bit obsessed and have got rid of a lot of long standing favourite products because of it, but it definitely feels important to me to be aware of what I’m putting on my skin and into my body.

A lot changed for me postpartum. My hair texture mostly, but also my skin. Both became much dryer than they had been before I had a baby. This is something I’m still figuring out but I do a castor oil treatment in my hair once a week and the La Roche Posay Cicaplast Range has saved my skin.

I use the Davines Oi range, shampoo, conditioner and hair oil. I have bleached hair so I love this range for keeping it looking shiny and healthy. I also do a castor oil mask once a week, its messy and you feel pretty gross while its on but my hair always looks and feels amazing after. It’s also great for postpartum hair loss, which I really suffered with.

I wear the same products evening and day and my favourites that I always have are Glossier mascara, Huda beauty Brightening Concealer, Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Glow, Refy Lip Liner and gloss, Byredo colour stick in Flower play, a good lash curler and the Baebrow wax gel.

I’m quite religious when it comes to my supplements. I take Vitamin D, B12 and Vitamin C daily. Along with a pre and pro biotic to keep my gut healthy. Before bed I always take magnesium. It helps me sleep, wake up, and during my period I find it essential for keeping my energy up. I recommend it to everyone, it’s one of the things I notice the most if I ever forget to take it or run out. I’m really bad at meditating, I’ve tried to get into it because I have a lot of friends who swear by it but I think my mind is far too easily distracted. I do barre twice a week and have recently just started ballet classes again. I find I have to do classes, otherwise I find reasons to not do it. I also need quite a lot of time on my own. This is one of the biggest ways I build up my energy and feel fully restored and relaxed.

I think it can be hard to find time and especially stick to making time for wellness. I have a few funny things I do throughout the day or in moments where I feel I need to calm myself. I love to light my favourite scented candle, I also have a Aveda chakra spray that my MIL bought me that I use before an exercise class or just when I feel the need to take a breath. I rarely have time to sit and take a break so these little rituals I find force me to do so. I would love to get more massages but tend to only do it a few times a year. My dad always gifts me facials when he can tell I need it and there is a spot in Berlin called MDC which I can highly recommend to anyone here or visiting.

My perfume is from the brand Apotheke, which is run by a close friend of mine, Jess. We worked together for my wedding to create a scent for the candles and she gifted me with a bottle of it as a perfume. She told me to wear it in the weeks leading up to the wedding and weeks after and now it literally takes me back to that day every time I wear it. It’s a dirty summery oud and she really did make my dream scent. For anyone looking for a personalised scent experience I wouldn’t go to anyone else.

I’m not sure if it’s a secret but a makeup artist once told me to pluck my eyebrows to the corner of your eye where the bone ends and it changed my life. I always feel like my eyes look a bit closed and this is great for opening them up.

A lipbalm, lipliner, eye drops and comb.

It used to be quite hard to find good spots in Berlin but in recent years loads of amazing places have opened up.