Goop is going global and their pop-up store arrives in London’s Westbourne Grove on September 25th. At the moment they only ship to the US and Canada, so London is an exciting move for the brand. We are huge goop fans and so to celebrate we asked their senior beauty editor, New-York based Megan O’Neil  to exclusively share her go-to-glowing beauty and wellness tips. Here Megan talks about office life at goop, what she was asked in her job interview and how vegetable juice cleared her acne. And she reveals her top 5 products that make her glow.

What are you favourite 5 wellness hacks?

Move. I really try to get myself to yoga three times a week, because it makes me feel lighter, happier and more fluid. Plenty of movement—whether it’s getting off the subway a stop early or getting a class or a jog in before or after work–is for me the difference between being happy and miserable.

Bring Your Lunch. I’m so encouraged by knowing what exactly is in what I’m eating. I LOOOOVEE going out to eat, it’s one of my favourite things on the planet, but I don’t need to do it for every meal. I also save money by bringing in  my lunch, which means I have more to fritter away on threadbare vintage t-shirts I probably don’t need.

Establish Wind-Down Rituals.

There are certain things I do every single night to soothe my ragged nerves and ease me into a calmer mind set.

Like taking a bath or shower—it sort of cleaves the day, and once I towel off, I’m in bed time, quiet mode. Also, the Beauty Chef sleep potion is the ultimate.

Get Some Nature. I love the subway and the city and the droves of people everywhere all of the time but taking the train or renting a car and going an hour outside of New York City on a hike really does revive me in a very specific way. It doesn’t even have to be an elaborate journey—a jog in Central Park does the same thing. Or going to Coney Island to the beach.

Be Barefoot. It’s weirdly, incredibly restorative.
And it makes me remember that I’m a person, not just a working stiff with a routine. My house is a no-shoe household and I grew up in a house like that, too.

What role do you do at goop and what does your week look like?

My job is awesome: I write about beauty and wellness.

“Beauty” sounds so specific, but it encompasses so much! Beauty is the obvious stuff like makeup, luxurious face oil, compelling potions and skin care elixirs that make you look and feel fabulous. But there’s also this whole other element we address at goop, which is clean, non-toxic beauty. Every single beauty and wellness item that we sell and write about on the site is vetted and sharply scrutinised to make sure it doesn’t contain anything even marginally toxic or health-disrupting. And then, of course, when we write about beauty it’s not just “try this gorgeous clean, nontoxic lipstick.” We write about the mood-shifting power of feeling vibrant and confident in your own skin.

Wellness is just as vast. Wellness is everything from a nerve-calming turmeric-spiked powder you mix into nut mylk before bed to essential oils to probiotics for a healthy gut. My week consists of lots of writing, lots of meetings with brands to hear about new technologies and products, lots of meetings with various teams at goop, and trekking around the city to beauty and wellness events. We also laugh a lot in the office.

What was the most challenging question you were asked when you interviewed for the job at Goop?

The challenging part was that I was asked to come up with mock idea pitches. That was daunting.

Goop covers absolutely everything having to do with health and women’s health and beyond. Everything!

From orgasms and depression to autoimmune diseases and postpartum depression. It was hard to come up with a topic that felt fresh.

goop
goop

What would you say to your younger self trying to get a dream job in the wellness world?

That my upbringing with my mom and her irritating raw vegetable juices, castor oil cleanses, penchant for health food stores was NOT an annoyance, but a source of inspiration

What are the parts of your job that make you glow most?

I’m quite literally smoothed down in oils head to toe all the time because I have so many beautiful potions at my disposal! Our beauty director, my boss Jean Godfrey June, sits next to me and we press in face oil all day long. It’s a nice momentary reprieve from whatever assignment we’re working on. It also is just awesome to look gleamy and dewy all day. I like to think I glow because I feel at home here, too.

Who have you met that glows with wellness and why did they inspire you?

So many women! Naomi Whittel, she’s an entrepreneur and author who’s leading the charge in reforming and purifying the supplement industry. She used to be the CEO of Twinlab, a supplement and vitamin manufacturing company, just radiates I’m-the-healthiest-person-on-the-planet vibes. Her skin glows, her body looks strong and lithe, and she seems mentally at ease. Also, Monica Behan, the founder of this beautiful skin care line Modicum, is impossibly glowy. She’s devoted to yoga, and boy does she look it.

So many women who work here at goop are inspiring. Most of us are pretty committed to eating fresh, getting in some kind of workout during the week, and limiting all the not clean, nontoxic stuff.

GP is always looking gleamy.

Where did you grow up and how important was healthy eating to you?

I grew up in Manhattan on the Upper West Side. I rolled my eyes at everything food-related my mom did as a little girl and teenager.

We’d have weird seed-studded crisps from the health food store instead of, like, delicious buttery Ritz crackers.

It was salmon and brown rice and broccoli for dinner, not pasta and meat sauce like at a lot of my friend’s houses. My mom would tell me and my brother that we couldn’t have dessert until we completely glugged down our celery, beet, apple juice that she concocted in the kitchen with her ancient, giant, shuddering juicer. We had honey around, not sugar. Eventually she caved and would buy us Pop-Tarts and Doritos and things like that, because she realised we would be complete freaks if we were never allowed to indulge.

goop
goop

When was your lightbulb moment when you realised eating plant-based unprocessed food made a difference?

I got horrific acne in my junior year of college. I went to a dermatologist and got prescribed antibiotics and had a horrible reaction to them- intense burping spells that were uncomfortable and embarrassing. I know it sounds nuts, but it’s true, the antibiotics maybe shifted some digestive mechanism, and the shift and the burps lasted for years. I went off the antibiotics, and the acne persisted.

My mom convinced me to drink a specific combination of raw vegetable juices every single morning. I drank it for 4 months, never skipping a day. And in 4 months, I kid you not, my skin completely cleared up.

That was really when I began to understand the healing power of food. I stopped drinking the juices—because I was 20 something and it was wildly inconvenient and time consuming to make raw vegetable juice every morning, and if you don’t do it in the morning you’re not going to do it at night—and the acne slowly returned.

What 5 beauty products make you glow and why?

Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum 

I’ll use this beautifully nourishing oil until I’m a little old lady. It’s this smoothing, skin-energizing blend of so many incredible oils—carrot seed, bergamot, rose, evening primrose. It makes me so summertime gleamy. One of my coworkers always comments on how glowy I look whenever I’ve massaged in Vintner’s Daughter that morning.

goop Rose Quartz Soothing Face-Massage Roller

I roll it up over my cheeks, lids, and neck in the back of Ubers and at the tail end of flights to LA when I’m dashing straight from the airport to a meeting. It feels incredible—like a cooling, soothing massage—and really wakes up my face and gets rid of puffiness. The best part is how meditative it is—especially in the back of a cab.

goop

Goop Body Phys.Ed. Recovery Bath Soak

I have no time for baths, and that’s exactly why I need them. Nothing slows you down, forces you to space out and breath deep, like steeping in a bath. This one has turmeric and ginger and lavender and is especially excellent for soothing sore muscles from working out or hunching at a computer all day. I light a candle, open the bathroom window so a breeze swirls in to temper all the steam, and I really do drift away.

Balmyard Beauty Romantic Call Body Oil

It smells like total heaven—hibiscus, coconut, and sweet almond oil—and it sinks into skin like a dream, supremely moisturising. I smooth this on every morning and leave the house gleamy and happy.

The Beauty Chef Sleep Inner Beauty Powder

I don’t get enough sleep, but when I actually do—I look (and feel) like a different person. My eyes are hazel and bright instead of murky, my head is clear, and my skin is luminous. This stuff contains lemon balm and passionflower and turmeric—it’s basically a supercharged golden milk—and is designed to help you wind down before bed and sleep excellently. It is the best, most restorative night time ritual, and tastes so good. I mix the powder into warm nut milk an hour before bed…and before I know it, it’s morning, and I’ve been in a sleep coma for seven hours.

goop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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