oh dear—pimple bindi—probably not the look you were going for for the first day of school. first of all, sorry for the delayed response. I get about 100 questions a week on tumblr (wish I were exaggerating) so it’s a bit of an Q&A avalanche. the fastest way to reach me is always twitter @evachen212. I answer within 36 hours on that platform! anyway—you touched on (a little pimple humor there) the most important factor: do not touch or pick at your spots. ever. no matter how inviting (in a weird way) they are. that makes them last infinitely longer. I don’t care if you have to sit on your hands or tape a reminder to your mirror, don’t mess with your face! what’s probably making your spot harder to conceal is the fact that it’s raised as well as dark. if you’re ultra-lucky enough to have a dermatologist, give her a shout—she can inject (yes, inject) a touch of cortisone into the area and the pimple will be gone overnight or at least by 80%. but, my darling, patience… patience is key with pimples. they’re a waiting game! wait for the swelling to go down (ice can help with this) and then conceal.

oh, wow, I admire your gumption. here’s my advice: a) do it. why not? you’re young, you’re ambitious! but b) do it with as much knowledge and preparation as possible. use the fashion design world as a case study—the designers that make it certainly have talent… but they also have a canny business acumen and knowledge of how exactly the business world works. they’re not just going into things with an airy, lofty idea. they have a plan. so, to that end, yes, launch your magazine… but do as many informationals and as much online research as you can to learn about what makes a magazine profitable and successful. good luck—and believe in yourself!

it’s lovely to hear that people actually see all the things I do on different platforms. sometimes I feel like I’m bellowing into an empty library—unwanted (and rather excessive) noise! anyway! the best way to get into beauty writing is to simply… start. I know, I know, that’s the worst advice ever. but it’s important that you begin to hone your writing voice and style, even if it’s on your own tumblr/blog/twitter/anywhere. I really feel like I came into my own as a writer simply by practicing—and I’m still learning. now, in regards to the difference between beauty and fashion writing… beauty writing is certainly about inspiration, but it’s equal parts service—helping girls/women figure out what works for them and how to work it (I refuse to write “werq” or “werk” but you know what I mean!). fashion, writing and otherwise, tends to be more emotional, more abstract, and a little more aspirational. I’ll put it this way: I feel like if you asked a beauty editor and a fashion editor for directions on the street, a fashion editor would point you in the right direction and that’d be it. a beauty editor, however, would walk you to the street, point out her three favorite restaurants, tell you what to order, and where to go next. of course, now that I’ve said that I’m sure all my fashion friends will give me the stinkeye when I see them next

hmm, sounds like your classmates have a bad case of the Mean Girls flu. that’s so silly. even though I’m a beauty editor and love everything about the beauty industry, there’s no reason for them to bully you (that’s sort of what this is, really) because you don’t wear makeup! I actually didn’t start wearing makeup until I was in college and fumbled through the process of learning how to apply it (this was before Youtube tutorials). even now, I barely wear any makeup despite swimming in the stuff. anyway! when your beauty bully classmates ask you why you don’t wear makeup, I’d simply smile sweetly and say, “oh! some people might need makeup to look good but, well… I don’t really think I need it.” then, smile sweetly again and walk away. you win!