Tanja Gacic
On her morning routine:
“I am actually quite low maintenance and very quick with my beauty routine on a regular day. In the shower, I apply coconut oil on my body because it really soaks in under the hot water and makes me feel amazing, like a great smelling cocoon. I do all my routine in the shower – including tooth brushing. After I shower, I will apply a Obagi C serum and an oil on my face – I love Sukin rosehip oil or similar blends – I swear by their anti-ageing effects! If my skin is feeling dry, I will apply Nude Advanced Repair day cream too and some Grown Alchemist thick organic body cream.”
On her five minute make-up tip:
“I am so time poor! I do my routine so quickly… The trick is to have a great foundation – I really love Armani’s Designer Lift. Then a bit of YSL’s Touche Éclat, some Natio bronzer lightly as a contour, a Benefit thickening and lengthening mascara and a really good eyebrow pencil and a great lip balm like Carla Oates – done!”
On her hair maintenance:
“My hair is quite processed as I balayage it. I ask my colourist to use Olaplex when bleaching my hair, and I always get a treatment at the end. During my normal routine I only use hair masks, never conditioner. When blow drying it, I always use heat protectors too – I love hair products by Aveda and Kerastase.”
On her signature beauty look:
“It’s either pretty natural and bronzed or pared back with a red lip.”
On her product obsessions:
“All my natural, great smelling things: Jurlique, Nude Skincare, Carla Oates (The Beauty Chef), Grown Alchemist, Kora, People for Plants, Aesop – whenever these companies do a product that works and is amazing, I do a fist pump!”
Products pictured:
The Aromatherapy Co Therapy Range Nourishing Body Balm (shop similar here)
On her can’t-live-without product:
“My Armani Designer Lift foundation. The shade I use is the most perfect match for my skin I’ve ever found.”
On her beauty treatment regimen:
“I am terrible with treatments! I just do not have the time. I have never had a conventional facial in my life. Saying that I visited the Clean Clear Correct Clinic and got my teeth oxygen whitened and a light treatment for my face – that was great! I love doing Omnilux sometimes – it is relaxing and great for keeping line free.”
On her skin-clearing secrets:
“If my skin is really breaking out I do a niacin flush. It’s vitamin b3 and it makes your whole body flush like you are having an allergic reaction! It feels like pins and needles and you look like a burns victim for half an hour, but then it dissipates and my skin is better the next day. It’s especially good during the party season. The premise is that it flushes out toxins from every single cell.”
On her signature scents:
“I am really into Byredo’s Rose Noir at the moment and I have always loved Helmut Lang’s men’s colognes and fragrances. They were discontinued for a long time and started getting really expensive on eBay, but now they’re getting produced again.”
On beauty as part of her style:
“Of course, beauty is so important because it makes you feel better. Even on days when I don’t wear any make up, I have my little rituals that make me feel pampered and soft which in turn makes me feel amazing.”
On her diet:
“Diet was a game changer for me – or should I say a skin changer? It took me years to realize that gluten makes my skin break out. Since I quit gluten, all kinds of inflammatory issues I had cleared up. I drink a cold pressed green juice every day, eat organic food and try to incorporate probiotics into every meal. Cultured vegetables, kefir, kombucha – so good for skin. I spend a fortune at About Life!”
Tanja’s designer flats line-up: Proenza Schouler and Simone Rocha are on high rotation (shop similar here).
On how she relaxes:
“I love foot massages and will get one whenever I can – so blissful! I really do not like any other massage except Thai – I dislike lying still for an hour with my face in the donut thing – it makes me anxious.”
Her make-up products on high rotation:
Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette Color Coded Eye Shadow in Fallen Angel
NARS Velvet Matte Lip pencil in Red Square
Products pictured:
Acqua Di Parma
Blu Mediterraneo Bergamotto Di Calabria EDT
Gucci Eau de Parfum (shop similar here)
On her penchant for natural products:
“I love organic because I believe in reducing the toxins in my life. I feel better knowing that these choices are contributing to a better world, supporting far flung communities and the Earth’s ecology. It can be done in an amazing way – look at Aesop or Grown Alchemist – they smell delicious and look amazing!”
On her personal style:
“It’s all encompassing and non-discriminatory so I guess, a little bipolar… Clothes are so important because they convey your personality. I suppose my Gemini moon gives me lots of personalities!”
On what’s important to her in life:
“Love, happiness, joy, health… and travel – always!”
Valentino Leopard Rockstar heels, studded Balenciaga’s, Celine leather loafers (shop similar here), Ferragamo navy ballets = major shoe envy.
“I’ve been going to Prema hair salon for years. I also adore Christine from Valonz for balayage. There is no way I could colour my hair – I am sure it would turn orange! My hair is naturally chesnut coloured and throwing a lot of red– they say if you have to lighten hair, you should leave it to the professionals.”
On her travel kit essentials:
“I love soft things, a silk eye mask for sleeping to keep the wrinkles away, facial oils, a super thick hand cream and really nice lip balm.. I have this weird thing about dry hands or lips – its torturous! I also to have some foundation and blush on hand for the other end, and flights are always a good time to apply an SKII in-flight mask for extra hydration.”
On her favourite designers:
“Where do I start? Saint Laurent, Balmain, Chloe, Louis Vuitton, Zimmermann, Ellery, Josh Goot, Toni Maticevski… so many great designers and they change seasonally.”
On her most treasured item of clothing:
“Probably my vintage fur collection because it took me ages to collect it around the world and it is so old – one of the shrugs is from the 1920s – nearly a 100 years old!”
Pictured: Acne leather jacket.
On her earliest beauty memory:
“My mother applying dark red lipstick. I thought she was so beautiful and I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.”
Products pictured:
Giorgio Armani Designer Lift Foundation
On how she exercises:
“I go through stages. Sometimes it’s 4 times per week but more often it is 2-3 times. I love yoga at Mind Body Life – it is infrared heated so it really gets rid of toxins. I also love doing the Power Plate and pilates at Pilates Physique. I go in and out of being into running… I do laps at Bondi Beach while catching up on my emails and listening to ’80s hits. People must think I am weird though because sometimes I catch myself dancing and people laughing!”
On her ideal Sunday morning:
“Sleep in till 9am (a luxury!), then wake up and watch cartoons with my daughter, make a big cook up breakfast and go for a walk or surf on Bondi Beach.”
On her evening routine:
“At night, I have another shower, wash my face with a natural foaming wash, brush my teeth and put more coconut oil on followed by more facial oil and a night cream.”
On her never fail hangover cures:
“Green juice, baking soda, lots of alkaline water, a huge fry up breakfast, coffee then my usual beauty routine and a Bloody Mary!”
Product pictured:
Eyelure Naturals Fake Eyelashes
She’s got a social life that’s as hectic as her multiple day jobs, but Croatian-born former model, Tanja Gacic, perpetually looks fresher than a cucumber slice in Hendricks on ice. Explain this sorcery, human!?
“I am actually quite low maintenance and very quick with my beauty routine on a regular day,” Tanja insists. “I love natural and organic products because I believe in reducing the toxins in my life. I feel better knowing that these choices are contributing to a better world, supporting far-flung communities and the Earth’s ecology.”
“It can be done in an amazing way – look at Aesop or Grown Alchemist,” she says. “They smell delicious and look amazing! Some things are a little harder to find than others – I am still to find amazing hair products that are completely organic or certain make-up/foundation that really works for me.”
If those sound like the words of a woman well versed in beauty, it’s because she’s earned her credentials.
Tanja currently lists Blogger, Writer, Stylist, Photographer and Creative Director among her professional posts – all titles that sit pretty comfortably under umbrella title ‘Businesswoman-Brand’. But before taking the reins on her personal career she successfully shimmied her way through a decade being professionally gorgeous for other people.
Working as a model between New York and her beloved adopted home Sydney (“The lifestyle just cannot be beaten… it has the best mix of natural beauty and cosmopolitan perks”), Tanja scored primo make-up and beauty tricks from the pros (e.g. her step-by-step guide to indelible lipstick application is one you need to bookmark immediately).
Beauty, she says, is so important because it makes you feel good.
“Even on days when I don’t wear any make-up, I have my little rituals that make me feel pampered and soft, which in turn makes me feel amazing.”
So what are these rituals and how, with a plate stacked like hers, does Tanja find time for them?
“I am so time poor!” she says. “I do my routine so quickly – most times it is in the car, while waiting at the lights!”
“The trick is to have a great foundation – I really love Armani’s Designer Lift. Then a bit of YSL’s Touche Éclat, some Natio bronzer lightly as a contour, a thickening and lengthening mascara and a really good eyebrow pencil plus a great lip balm like Carla Oates – done!”
Tanja’s got the kind of confident, unpredictable sense of style that’s not at odds with the chameleonic aesthetic demands of any model.
“It’s all encompassing and non discriminatory,” she says of her impossible-to-pigeonhole look.
“I love playing with trends, colours, decades, characters, vintage, high-end, low-end, glitzy, basic, et cetera. Clothes are so important because they convey your personality. I suppose my Gemini moon gives me lots of personalities!”
A woman with lots of personality? Darned if it isn’t one of our favourite things.
Words, Susannah Tucker. Photography, Rudy Zverina.
