Q&A with goop's senior beauty editor

We are thrilled to introduce you to Megan O'Neill- goop's senior beauty editor. We are forever goop fans here at LSK. We are signed up for their emails, follow them on all social, check their site regularly, and always look to them for wellness lifestyle tips, healthy recipes, and clean, toxin-free beauty product recommendations.  Megan has a column called Megan Tries It, where she tries new products and then gives goop readers the 411 on them. Read the Q&A to get to know Megan as we pick her brain on all things clean beauty and healthy living!-It is no secret that we are goop super fans! Can you share a little bit about work life @ goop? The vibe here really thrills me; it’s laid back yet hyper-focused. We produce a ton of content—really informed, smart, engaging, thoughtful content—and so a tremendous amount of work goes into creating it and getting it into shape and making sure everything is meticulously researched. I love that we don’t just fling things up onto the Internet. So yes, work life at goop is definitely rigorous, but the flip side of late nights are the office Transcendental Meditation sessions or that Susan Miller—she’s a beyond-legit astrologist—will come read us our horoscopes for an hour one day. And there’s also humor. We all get stressed, but it’s definitely a team that likes to laugh and so there’s a lot of jokes and asides and silliness throughout the day.-We are loving your Megan Tries It column- you have tried a lot! To-date, what is your favorite wellness practice that you have tried for the column? Thank you so much! I really enjoy writing Megan Tries It—and trying all manner of things. God, so many things I’ve fallen in love with but there’s a sleep potion that really is just next level. It’s called Sleep Inner Beauty Powder and it’s from this Australian brand The Beauty Chef. It’s a powder made of turmeric and natural sedatives like sour cherry, passionflower and lemon balm-and it’s the most soothing, soul-warming, incredibly tasty before-bed drink!! You dump the powder into warm almond milk, add honey, and omg—it puts me into a coma. My husband is an insomniac, a bad one, and even he says it’s helped him relax and ease that racing mind of his.Something I’ve tried that I loved that was a little more out there was a chakra healing crystal treatment. I lay sprawled on a massage table, bathed in lights beamed through crystals suspended over me. The point was to balance and stimulate my chakras, which can get out of whack from things like stress or too much sitting. I am absolutely down to try anything that may help me feel more soothed throughout the day. Why on earth not? And I can attest that it is soothing and fantastical to be bathed in crystal light.-Have you always been interested in mindfulness, self care, and overall well-being? Share a little bit about your wellness journey.I have! My mom has always been someone who chose natural remedies over store-bought over-the-counter things. She’s someone who’s been juicing for something like 40 years, long before it was cool. When my older brother was little, my mom has his bottle filled with sea kelp, and there was no having refined sugar for him. She had bone broth simmering frequently. We drank castor oil when we needed a “clean out,” which is something I think she grew up doing in Jamaica, where she’s from. She relaxed a little by the time I came around and I was allowed to have Doritos and Gushers and awesome kid snacks because total deprivation is definitely not the way. But we never took aspirin or Tylenol for headaches. If I had a headache my mom would say, “Just sit quietly, and it will pass” or “Drink some water.” It made me furious that I couldn’t just take a Tylenol, for God’s sake! But now that’s my mentality, too.-What are your 3 must-have skincare items? Vintner’s Daughter is the most beautiful, healing face oil that makes my skin so insanely glowy. It’s a blend of nourishing essential oils like hazelnut, bergamot, evening primrose, sea buckthorn…it feels stupendous on your skin, too. I’ll never not use it. Then I’m also in love with the Replenishing Night Cream from goop. It’s rich and intensely hydrating, and I smooth it on before plane rides, and it really holds up against the stale air plane air. I’m always preposterously dewy when I disembark. I definitely wear it during the day, too, when it’s frigid out. And I’ve just discovered the Essential Serum from Modicum. It’s filled with antioxidants, sea buckthorn, black cumin, and helichrysum oils. (It’s called a serum but it feels like a luxurious face oil and hydrates like one, too.) Helichrysum is an ingredient I hunt for in skincare, it’s so therapeutic and it smells herbaceous and heavenly. I massage the Modicum serum into my face before Vintner’s some mornings, and it just supercharges things and makes my glow last all day.-Is your  daily beauty routine simple or complex? Give us some details! I relish it my routine. And it’s not just a routine, it’s a soothing ritual that makes me feel prepared and put together and calm and beautiful. In the morning, I wash my face—I’m into the cleansing balm from goop and the Black Mint Cleanser from Odacite—then I press in my oils (Vintner’s always; or Modicum first and then Vintner’s). I choose my outfit and during that time all the goodness in the face oils seep into my skin. Then I smooth on SPF—loving Vive Sana Serum Crema right now; it’s zinc and if your skin is dark like mine, you need just a little, not a lot, or else it doesn’t melt in as invisibly.) And then I glutinously pump Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Essence on top for the prettiest, verging-on-sweaty sheen. That is my vibe right there.-What is on your radar when it comes to wellness trends? What is looking like "the wellness practice" of 2018 from your perspective?The thing about wellness is it’s not trendy—it’s boundless, and you write your own rules, and that’s the beauty of it. Wellness is cooking your own food and being in charge of what you’re putting into your body that way. Or it’s walking aimlessly after a long day of being hunched over your computer to clear your head. Or it’s dabbing essential oils at your temples before bed or sipping a cozy sleepy powder drink. I just started using goop’s rose quartz roller in the mornings and after long plane rides to LA because it truly wakes my skin up and feels like a massage. It’s an ancient Chinese skincare tool—you roll the beautifully smooth rose quartz across your cheeks, forehead, chin, under-eye area. I swear you look better and your skin more vibrant immediately after.-Besides goop of course, where do you find toxin-free, clean living inspiration, information, plus tips and tricks? Any favorite blogs or Instagram influencers that you follow? My mom is definitely my greatest, most authentic wellness inspiration. And I love going to Integral Yoga Natural Foods and Apothecary on 13th street and seeing what tinctures and potions and coconut-sugar snacks they have. Sauntering down the aisles and peering into the nut bins there always inspires me. And there are always a lot of great looking people shopping in there, who I think might be ancient but look smooth and shiny and spry. That place makes me want to live a long, healthy life.-Are you an essential oils fan? If so, how do you incorporate them in your daily life?I go for essential oils before I go for fragrance. Most mornings I dab either frankincense or lemon essential oil on my wrists and behind my ears. Lemon is incredible, and studies show citrus scents help wake up your mind. -If you had to name your top 5 favorite clean beauty/skincare brands, what would they be at the moment?goop, Vintner’s Daughter, de Mamiel (face, body, and aromatherapy oils that are chanted over and energetically charged that make your skin look fantastic), Sangra de Fruta (their body serums and creams are to die for), Balmyard (the blackberry cheek and lip tint—gorgeous).-What does living a clean lifestyle mean to you? Can you describe the peace of mind and/or joy that using safe products brings you?I just want to feel fantastic and age gracefully. I rarely get sick—I really take pains to eat wholesomely and take care of myself, and I think that has a lot to do with it—but I did get sick maybe a year ago with a mild flu, and it freaked me out. I lay on the couch for two days and had no energy and it felt like a death sentence to not be able to move and gallivant and cook and laugh. It occurred to me that maybe that’s what being old and decrepit is like. And old and decrepit do not go hand in hand. I think maybe they used to. I want to be old and vibrant, and I think that’s attainable if I care about what I eat and what goes onto my skin. I feel beautiful knowing that what I’m eating and slathering on is pure and mindfully sourced. And it feels incredible to feel beautiful.

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