Summary: Hello and welcome back to Beauty Island, the beauty podcast that celebrates life and lipstick. I'm your host, beauty journalist, Brittany Stewart. It's been a while. A few months to be exact. As I alluded to in the last episode of season two, I was taking a little break. In fact, i quit my job, packed my bags and went travelling for three and a half months around Europe. To be cliched, it was one of those trips of a lifetime. Spent in the company of old friends, new friends, family but largely myself. I ate and drank my way through France, Italy and Spain. I wandered for days around the galleries of Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris and London, soaking up art, fashion and beauty history from Mary Quant, Yves Saint Laurent, Helena Rubenstein, Gustav Klimt, Rodin and Van Gogh. I even may have done a few Beauty Island interviews along the way. But after a summer of self-indulgence, self-discovery and cultural exploration, on the one year anniversary of launch this passion project podcast, I am back and so excited to kick off season three. A reminder of exactly what we do here. Each episode, I sit down with a guest and ask them about the 8 beauty products that have a special memory or meaning for them. The ones they'd take to a desert island, or Beauty Island, that I am sending them off too. Maybe it's the product that reminds them of their mum, the beauty product that defined their teens or the perfume that instantly sparks a memory of a special place or person. Along the way we find out more about their life, career and the people and events that have shaped them into who they are today. Today my guest is Ava Matthews. Now, this is an interview I did before I left. But as we firmly leap into Spring with Summer more than a glimmer of warm hope in the distance, in Australia at least, it's the perfect time to releawse it. Where to begin with Ava? She's had such an interesting career - from working in beauty PR to developing product at Mecca Cosmetica to co-founding skinscreen (that's sunscreen and skincare FYI) brand Ultra Violette. If you follow any Aussie beauty bloggers on Instagram, you'll probably have seen it on your feed as everyone is raving about this sunscreen disrupter. I actually used their Supreme Screen sunscreen every day while I was in Europe, and can say hand on heart its one of the best facial sunscreens I've ever tried. It also works brilliantly as a primer under makeup too. Anyway, enough about me. In this episode, Ava talks about her slightly different childhood growing up with a beauty editor mum and fashion photographer dad - after all it's not everyone who wakes up to see Naomi Campbell in their garden! - working in PR in New York and finding out it's nothing likes Samantha Jones made it out to be, why buying perfume on holiday is always a good idea and the story behind co-founding latest venture, Ultra Violette. Plus, much more. If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe to the podcast if you're not already, rate five stars and write a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps other people find us and means I can keep on creating Beauty Island for you! Now, over to Ava. Enjoy. Follow Ava: Instagram: @avamatthews @ultravioletteau Shop Ultra Violette Follow host Brittany Stewart: Instagram: @brittanybeautybts...
