I am a huge podcast fan, and while I could sit down for hours and listen to My Favourite Murder and indulge in all things true crime, I'm also partial to a good beauty podcast. The problem is, the beauty podcast 'market' can feel a little over-saturated now, meaning it takes something different to really make a new podcast stand out. Enter: Beauty From The Heart podcast, created by Rose Gallagher (the nicest person in beauty, BTW).
Beauty From The Heart was created by Rose in order to talk all things beauty, but more about the things that really matter. So instead of just chatting about a new lipstick or brand, Rose is committed to discussing a lipstick/brand that is sustainably created, or gives something back to the world through its sales.
Every episode features a well-known figure in beauty who is an expert in their field. So for example, the first episode sees Sali Hughes talking about Beauty Banks: her charity (created with fellow beauty insider Jo Jones) that asks people to send in beauty basics so they can be donated to women in need.
Other notable episodes include one with MAC Senior Pro Artist Dominic Skinner, who discusses the story of Viva Glam, which has raised $500 million dollars worldwide for HIV and AIDS charities.
Discussing her motives behind starting the podcast, Rose explained it was a particular visit that first got her thinking about the project:
"The podcast was inspired really by BECO, a lovely soap company. I visited their factory before Christmas last year, and their whole business model is that over 80% of their team is blind, disabled or disadvantaged. 50% of them have a permanent job with the brand, and the other 50% are trained up so they can go on to work in other places."
She continued: "It all really resonated with me and I just admired that type of business model so much. I just thought if more people could be like this in the beauty industry, it would be amazing.
"And I realised there actually are a lot of people even in big brands that are doing things like this and who have amazing stories. And I just knew these were stories that needed sharing."
She also expressed a need to make people see what the beauty industry can really do. "I am concerned that the beauty industry can be portrayed quite negatively, but actually, the industry brings so much positivity and I think people deserve to know that."
Considering BECO was in part the reason why Rose started the project, it makes sense that she was most excited to record her episode with the brand. "I got to speak to the founder, as well as an employee who works there, Michael, which was great."
As for the future, it sounds as though a second series could be on the horizon, with Rose wanting to branch out and speak to other people about their roles in the beauty world, and to engage with more who are "doing good things and creating positive change."
Beauty from The Heart debuts on Sunday, 28 July with its first episode, featuring Sali Hughes. A new episode will then be released weekly on Sunday's.
