Antipodes firm favourite for YouTube sensation Em Ford

In celebration of the launch of Antipodes new Moisture-Boost Natural Lipsticks, the HealthPost team got a chance to meet the talented YouTuber Em Ford. Em is a creative YouTuber based in London who is an avid fan of Antipodes, as their natural products helped to hugely improve her skin.
Em posts regular beauty tips and product reviews on YouTube to her worldwide audience. She has given Healthpost an insight to her skin care routine, travel essentials and her favourite Antipodes products.

Em, you’ve got a really inspiring story and are helping to inspire millions of women around the world. What are your top 3 tips for being a more confident, happier you?
It’s about having the right environment and people around you. Looking after yourself and having bit of self-belief. If you are missing one of those things you will be in trouble, as you need all three to be balanced.

What would be 5 words you’d use to describe yourself?
Passionate, curious, quietly observant and unlucky.

Why unlucky?!
It’s a running joke between my friends and I, if anything bad or unfortunate happens, it always happens to me. I’m more likely to get booted off a flight than I am to get upgraded. [laughs]

Give us a small insight into your daily routine.
In the evening: I will double cleanse. First I will use a cleansing balm and cotton cloth to remove my makeup, followed by a gel cleanser as a second cleanse, usually something that smells and feels good and is going to work on the skin.

My skin is really dehydrated at the moment because it is so cold in London right now. I am skipping serum and going for a double dose of moisturiser. I am also using a nourishing sleep mask to really boost hyaluronic acid.

Morning: I am pretty simple, I will just use the same cleanser that I used for the second cleanse and a nice hydrating day cream.

Pretty simple right now, in fact I have toned it back a lot.

Is it different in summer?
It usually depends on how my skin is, my skin can flare from allergies or products I have tried. I will add in products as and when I need them, I like to mix things up. In winter I will be focused on hydrating and in summer, I use a lot more serums. So I might use Vitamin C serum or the Antipodes Worship Superfruit Antioxidant Serum and I always wear SPF.

What philosophy do you live by?
Don’t do it quickly, do it right. I’d rather take a bit longer to do certain things and do it the right way. Quality over quantity.

You do what works best for you. There could be a million trends out there but you don’t have to follow it because it’s the trendiest thing.

Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’. Do what makes you happy and if you have a gut feeling not to do something, don’t do it!

How are you enjoying your time in New Zealand?
I’m having so much fun, everyone is so nice here. Yesterday was an amazing day, I got to see the local manufacturer for Antipodes, so I got to go to the factory and see how it’s all made.

It’s a bit of a hike from London to Auckland. What essentials would we find in your carry-on luggage?
For flights I make sure I have a really good moisture spray, a moisture mask and a really good lip balm. I ensure my skin is hydrated, mind occupied and that I have lots of snacks.

Antipodes is a firm favourite of HealthPost customers and we love their use of NZ botanical ingredients. Do you have any tried and tested favourites?
There are quite a few products from Antipodes that I love which include:

• The Aura Manuka Honey Mask – I love it. It’s one of my favourite things to use.
• The Juliet Skin Brightening Gel Cleanser is one of the cleansers I use. I’ll use it as a morning cleanse and as a second cleanse in the evening. That is another firm favourite.
• My mother in law is obsessed with Worship Skin Defence Antioxidant Serum.
• Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream.
• Vanilla Pod Hydrating Day Cream.

There are quite a few more that I love, things that work for me and work for my audience.

What are you loving about Antipodes new Moisture-Boost Natural Lipsticks?
They are so creamy; they just go on so easily.

There’s quite a selection, but have you narrowed down a favourite colour?
I haven’t, I can’t choose just yet, but I’m usually a pinky kind of girl.

Before we leave you, here at HealthPost we believe in creating a Better You and a Better World. What does a better you and a better world mean to you?
I think it’s about working on yourself.

I’m a firm believer in working on yourself, everybody has things that they are happy with and things they are not happy with. Everybody is a work in progress, so work on yourself and know what you can fix and what you can’t change.

In terms of a better world, it’s about making the right decisions. For example, I drive an electric car and I’m hoping to never own a petrol run car. You can do things that make a difference to you but can also make a difference to the environment.