What is your job and what inspired you to become a journalist and editor?

I joke that my job is to online shop for a living, but it really is! I’m a commerce editor with a focus on beauty, for women’s lifestyle website, PureWow, meaning I vet all the best makeup, skincare, and hair products to help people make smart buying decisions. I never knew I could turn my shopping addiction into a career but here I am! I actually went to college for advertising, because I had a sincere obsession with magazines as a teen. I loved flipping through every glossy page, but never thought I could become an actual writer. I graduated during the tail-end of the recession, so I ended up taking an unpaid internship that summer at a local magazine where I was able to write and I fell in love with it. I’ve always been creative and writing was the perfect outlet.

As an editor, how do you see beauty content also including aspects of health and wellness?

Beauty is so much more than skincare and makeup—it’s also about our inner well being. It’s so true that what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it and if we’re neglecting either, it shows. The beauty industry in particular is trending toward clean, non-toxic products without the use of potentially harmful chemicals and preservatives like parabens, sulfates, phthalates and artificial fragrance. I’m a huge supporter of clean skincare and love that it’s becoming more mainstream. Europe has banned more than 1,300 chemicals from beauty and personal care products, while the U.S. has only banned 11! You really have to be discerning about the products you’re choosing and educate yourself on how they not only affect your surface level beauty, but also your inner beauty and well being.

When did you first become aware of sun safety as an important part of beauty and health?

It pains me to say, but in high school I used to hit the tanning beds nearly every. single. day. And come summer, I was an SPF 4 tanning oil kind of girl. I just love the sun and love that warm and toasty feeling. I’m nearly 100 percent Italian, so I never really got bad sunburns to scare me into rethinking that mindset. It wasn’t until I became more aware about the clean beauty movement that I actually started to think about incorporating sun protection into my everyday routine and I’m so glad I finally came to my senses. Now working in beauty, I see just how important it is to protect our skin from harmful rays, which can lead to scary things like skin cancer and accelerate the aging process. Who doesn’t want to have youthful-looking skin for the long haul? In addition to regular skin checks from my dermatologist (who enforces a twice yearly visit for my ex-tanning-bed self), I also make sure to wear SPF with blue light protection every day, even when indoors. The skin is the body’s largest organ and defense system, so we have to do everything we can to protect it!

How can editors and journalists help readers be mindful of their skin’s heath?

One of my favorite things about my job is the element of education I get to bring to readers. I’m not just trying random products for the fun of it (although it is fun). I love to help people understand why they need a certain ingredient in their routine or what a product can do for their health and overall well being, either through my own research or via my connections to dermatologists, estheticians, and industry experts. I think I (and many editors) feel a certain sense of responsibility for the products people spend their money on and giving them the confidence to purchase something new and potentially life-changing is really special.

How is sun safety part of your beauty routine?

Although I still love the sun, I’ve thankfully grown out of my how-tan-can-I-get phase and make sure to never leave the house without SPF, sunglasses and a hat—even if it’s just to walk the dog quickly. I like to look for everyday products that include SPF in them, so I don’t even have to think twice—like a moisturizer, BB cream, face primer or setting spray with some amount of sunscreen in it. I think it’s important to make UV protection fun and easy to apply so people actually want to wear it outside of the beach. Lately I’ve been loving Supergoop! Glow Screen, because it leaves a natural, pretty glow on my skin whether under makeup or on its own. And if you have any extra product left on your fingers after applying it, rub the rest into the back of your hands! We often forget about our hands, but they’re one body part that’s nearly always exposed to the sun, therefore more susceptible to premature aging.

For more about Brianna, go here.