Zoë Foster Blake
On her dirty little beauty secret:
“I will sleep in professional eye makeup if I need it for something the next day. What a friggen pig, I know. But I will never sleep in the ‘face’ makeup: foundation, blush etc. Not even if I’m really drunk.”
On her essential daily make-up products:
“I use Tarte BB cream, Tarte Creaseless concealer (that tube is PURE SORCERY), Poni cosmetics mane stain in my brows, crème blush, Go-To Pinky Nudey Lips, and maybe some Tarte Tartlette shadow on my eyes. I have lash extensions right now, so no mascara”.
Zoe uses Tom Ford Ultra Shine Gloss in Cherry.
On her foundation of choice:
“It’s either the Bobbi Brown Serum Foundation or Nars Sheer Glow because they give me solid coverage (for my pigmentation) and a lusciously glowy-dewy finish.”
On her hair essentials:
“When it’s still damp, I spray heaps of Oribe Maximista thickening lotion all over, then blow dry off with a Denman styler and my Parlux for volume and movement. Then, sleep. The next day, it’s soft with body, and I spray in Batiste or R+Co dry shampoo then I tong in big, loose waves with my Babyliss, finishing with a mix of Oribe Texturizing Spray and (any brand of) hair powder to make it gritty and textured and UNCLEAN. It will be best on day three. Always.”
“I’m low on time, but high on quality. I’m lazy but demand big pay off. I only use stuff that works and I love: I have no patience for average products. No surprises it’s all Go-To: I made these products cos I wanted to use them, after all.
“I have my hair cut and coloured by Lauren MacKellar at Edwards and Co, and my tail and mane braided by Jenny at House of Horses before any big races.”
On why she created her skincare line, Go-To:
“I knew that women found skin care confusing and frustrating, and I wanted to challenge and change that. And make it fun. After all, skin care is something we do every day, an act of self-love; let’s enjoy it, ay!”
On her most treasured item of clothing:
“My Gucci ace sneakers. Pineapples! Stars! Colours! Shapes! Comfort!”
On the one product she can’t live without:
“Go-To Face Hero. It’s spectacular. It is! It really is. It’s deeply restorative in winter, and hugely soothing and hydrating in summer. I am hugely and CAPS LOCKILY addicted to it. And very proud.”
On her lash extensions:
“I get short ones, 9s or 10s max. Mostly for volume, not length. I get them for holidays or when i have a succession of events or shoots to makeup is easy/half done. Cos let’s be honest: lashes do a LOT of the heavy lifting.”
On her exercise routine:
“Got a lingering hip injury so I’m pretty lo-fi right now. I do reformer pilates at Studio PP twice a week, and walk a lot with my son in the pram. That’s it.”
On her earliest beauty memory:
“When I was five my eldest sister dressed me up as, uh, ‘a lady of the night’, with too much blush and blue eye shadow and red lips, and made me pose in one of mum’s dresses and the cat between my legs (I am not joking) in the paddock over the road. Twenty years later and I think the photos are incredible, but can see why mum and dad went nuts at the time”.
The products she uses for PM:
“I use Go-To Properly Clean, Go-To Exfoliating Swipeys 3x a week, Go-To Face Hero, Go-To Very Useful Face Cream … or Aspect Hydrating Mask as my night cream 2x a week.”
On her signature scent:
“I have at least five on the go at any time, but Tom Ford Black Orchard is probably my go-to. It’s sexy and mysterious and sophisticated: things I really, really am not.”
On her Sunday morning routine:
“Well it’s pancake day, obviously. After that we head out for a little family walk or bike ride or something else naff and adorable.”
On why Go-To Swipeys actually work:
“Most pads are either targeted to acne, and so chockers with BHAs and really drying, or they’re really, really strong and anti-ageing, packed with glycolic acid and BHAs and even vitamin A, and they can be really stingy and spicy and irritating. I wanted to make some that would have enough AHAs to be a really effective chemical exfoliant, but I chose lactic acid as it’s least likely to irritate and annoy skin, meaning even sensitive skins can use them. Plus, super hydrating.”
On her personal style:
“Playful, preppy, comfortable, colourful. The more colour and novelty I can incorporate into my outfit, the better. The fact that I can currently get away with wearing trainers and jumpers and it’s deemed ‘fashionable’ blows my teeny mind.”
On how she achieves perfect brows:
“I use Poni Main Stain, it’s a little pot of sheer brow stain-creme-something that has trumped my pencils and powders cos it’s fast, stays put and looks like I haven’t spent ages filling and shaping. I apply with a stiff, angled brush through the brows in strokes and reckon it gives the most natural, ‘non-filled’ fill and shape I’ve tried. You can layer for intensity, too.”
On her words to live by:
“What you focus on grows. Good or bad”.
“I have my brows done by Lien of Brow Confidence every six weeks or so, and nails at whichever nail bar is closest as needed.”
“I have a facial at least monthly, either a nourishing ‘old-school’ one (like a Sodashi Thermal Infusion, or a visit to my beloved Natasha in Double Bay for some of her magic), or I go to Me Skin and Body in South Yarra for peels and microdermabrasion and, yknow, RESULTS… like before events, or after a holiday when my hyperpigmentation is flaring. Brooke is a skin savant and I always learn something/leave with an incredible new product tailored to what my skin needs at that time.”
On her 4 product morning routine:
“Go-To Properly Clean, Societe Triple C or Aspect Pigment Punch, Go-To Face Hero, Coola physical sunscreen“.
On why Tarte creaseless concealer is the best:
“It’s the first concealer I have found – and that’s saying something bro – that genuinely covers the pigmentation (on my upper cheeks and forehead) without being cakey or too thick or obvious. I apply in upside down triangle from under the eye to middle of cheek and blend in – dark circles and pigmentation vanishes and I am FRASH and WIDE AWAKE and DEWY. That’s why so good”.
On her favourite eyeshadow:
“I use the soft pink or almond (from the Tartlette Palette) all over, with some definition care of the light plum or taupe. I love that they’re matte and neutral. I’m old enough to know now that shimmer isn’t always the best shadow choice.”
On how she fakes good skin when she’s hungover:
“A mask. I leave it on while I brush my teeth and get dressed; it’s always worth it. I love Elemis Fruit Enzyme Mask or a sheet mask (I have millions.) Then some glowy BB or foundation, under-eye corrector (I use Napoleon Perdis The One), concealer and really fucking bright lipstick to distract from my pathetic, wretched red eyes.”
On her eyelash extensions:
“I get short ones 9s or 10s max, and mostly for volume, not length. I get them for holidays or when I have a succession of events or shoots so makeup is easy/half done. Cos let’s be honest: lashes do a LOT of the heavy lifting”.
Remember a time when fashion bloggers, beauty vloggers and street style everything didn’t exist? Yeah, us too. When low cut skinny jeans and YSL tributes were all the rage, and Gwen Stefani was teaching everyone how to spell ‘bananas’. Instagram didn’t exist (terrifying we know), if you had the latest BlackBerry you were a total boss, and we were still buying magazines (remember them?). The first digital influencers were breaking on to the scene; we looked to Elin Kling for style inspiration, Garance Dore for French girl everything and in the beauty department, it was always Zoë Foster Blake.
She was the girl with the killer outfits and a wicked sense of humor that had us all jumping out of bed to read the latest post on her then blog, Fruity Beauty. She was the girl who injected real-ness into a world crammed with gloss and glamour and perfection.
And she was a bonafide expert in the matter; years of being the Beauty Editor at Cosmopolitan and Harper’s BAZAAR made for an encyclopedic knowledge of the creams, lipsticks and tanning lotions we all needed now.
In a nutshell, Zoë Foster Blake (nee Foster) is still our hero. Fast-forward almost a decade and Zoë Foster Blake remains as relevant, awesome and bloody hilarious as when she first started. Except now she’s gone and created her own skin-care line, Go-To, written four women’s fiction books and a dating guide (with her now husband, Hamish Blake).
Is there anything this girl can’t do? When success for most of us is getting out the door without spilling cornflakes on our blouse, ZBF is seriously impressive. So naturally (because this is what we’re all about, duh) we needed to ransack her beauty gear (and her wardrobe).
When we arrived at Foster-Blake’s house, down a secret alley (Melbourne. Of course) that opened up into what can only be described as the sweetest pad we’ve ever seen, she greeted us in an Acne ‘doughnut’ sweater, red mini skirt and silver Miu Miu brogues – would you have expected anything else? And once we were inside we knew we were in for one hell of a treat.
Sure enough, we uncovered an entire collection of Gucci heels, printed Dolce dresses and drawers filled with the most impressive collection of lotions, potions, haircare, make-up and fragrance we’ve ever laid eyes on. Seriously guys, it’s like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but for skin care.
But the truth is, actually spending time with Zoë is even more fun than rifling through her stuff and she has quickly screeched to the top of our dream girl list (sorry, Phoebe Tonkin). And it’s easy to understand exactly why she has such a cult following; her style is as cheeky as it is unique, and her brand is honest, refreshing and totally kick ass. Much like the woman herself.
Photography, Rudy Zverina. Words, Carlie Fowler.
