Originally posted on Polka Dot Bride on December 4, 2008 
Today’s expert is the talented Jackie of the one stop beauty website Beauty Heaven. Beauty Heaven is not only packed with articles and handy hints to keep you look great, but it also has salon listings, expert advice, a forum and product reviews. it’s a great place to head when you need honest advice on your latest beauty issue! Jackie’s an expert in not only beauty but business too!
Tell me about yourself?
My name is Jackie Maxted. I’m 47 years old, married with four children and I run a digital publishing business – which means that we run websites! I’m an ex-PR girl who fancied her chances starting her own business. I started off with a couple of clients and the agency grew really quickly with some great clients – mostly in the beauty industry. After about seven years I was looking for a new challenge and found myself in the HTML world launching a beauty media and industry website called beautydirectory.com.au. After several years of hard work and a fair amount of banging heads against wall (mostly mine!) it became really successful. In 2005 we discovered that our industry site was also attracting attention from women who loved to read about beauty – and beautyheaven was born as a result.
How did you get into the beauty industry?
Well because I was looking after a number of beauty clients (my first was Clairol) I started to learn a great deal about products – especially all the exciting new products, the technologies and their benefits. I’d never spent a lot of time at make-up counters in department stores so I didn’t realize what a huge world of fun it was! Now I’m a huge lipgloss and mascara fan (though I’m still not too sure of myself when it comes to primers!) So while I am in the beauty industry I still see myself as having lots to learn – there are almost 10,000 products on beautyheaven’s database – I’ve hardly even scratched the surface but I do go to our member reviews to read all about them!
What was the catalyst for setting up the Beauty Heaven website?
I was wondering what we could give the 20,000 women who were coming to beautydirectory – apart from an enormous beauty product database. We got together with some great beauty writers and developed the idea of a consumer version of the site. We wanted to include our members in the site – so rather than just telling them about beauty, invite them to contribute to its content. There is so much knowledge out there in the online community and beautyheaven provides the meeting place for beauty-lovers to get together and have beauty fun! We launched it last year and already more than 80,000 people a month come to visit.
The Return Of Cherry Chapstick
What are your aims for your business?
In the digital world everything changes so quickly so one of aims is to offer today’s best beauty information combined with use of the latest technology. We LOVE interactivity between us, our members and the beauty brands so we always aim to deliver high quality content and a great environment for having beauty conversations. Beautyheaven was the first website of its kind in Australia and is certainly the biggest – no other beauty website has such a vast and expansive directory of products with real womens’ reviews.
How do you keep your website fresh and different?
Spending time on other websites around the world is great research (and you can do your Christmas shopping at the same time!) so we are always on the look out for new ideas. We also speak to many people from the industry to hear about the latest and greatest new technology. At the end of the day though, we never change our site for the sake of it. Our regular visitors seem to love it just the way it is so we keep it fresh with daily updates and lots of things that our members can get involved with – having live chats in the forum, using video and having our own members profiled.
What sets you apart from others?
We like to think its because we do what we do really well! Because we’ve been around the digital world longer than most (we started online in 1999) we have gained a lot of valuable experience and insights so we generally know what we’re dealing with and what we are working towards. Having said that, there was one horrific day when I woke to discover that both our sites were gone – they had been affected by an explosion in the US and we lost them both for 24 hours! That has gone down in beautyheaven folklore as The Houston Crisis of 2008!
How do you keep on learning?
Talking to people who know more than I do is really useful – when I first heard about Second Life (www.secondlife.com) in 2007 I couldn’t quite get my head around why millions were spending so much time on this site. But this is simply an expression of changing behaviours of people around the world. If you can grasp this and take advantage of it (doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do it too!) then you’ll be able to deliver the appropriate experience to your own audience. I also read, research and read some more – everything helps!
What inspires you?
Depends on the day! Today it would be sitting on a deserted beach looking out at a wild ocean – but that’s because I’m stuck in the office pounding away on my laptop to get through my ‘to do’ list! Beautiful outdoor places inspire me – they help to keep all my ‘issues’ into perspective and allow me the space I need to keep growing.
What inspires you about Australian women?
I’m not sure about this – shall we name names?
What is your number one tip for brides?
Stick to what suits you – today is not the day to be experimenting.
What are your favourite wedding ideas?
I think it’s a highly personal thing but I’m in the less showy, more close friends and family and everyone letting their hair down, having one too many champagnes, dancing round handbags and enjoying themselves camp.
What bridal beauty trends do you see in the future?
As with everything else, trends are pretty much dictated by the catwalks – in terms of bridal designers you can’t beat classics like Vera Wang and Colette Dinnigan.
What should brides start with when they’re planning their skin care routine and make-up for their big day?
As I said before, while it’s your special day, it really is best to stick with a similar or well-rehearsed skincare and make-up routine, you don’t want to go trying any creams or masks that you haven’t used before in case they aggravate the skin. So avoid any new treatments at least two weeks before the big day – and stick to the products you know and love the best.
What are the biggest mistakes you see brides making?
Selecting dresses or make-up looks that don’t flatter – that usually means following trends rather than going with your own sense of what feels right.
Cleverest ideas you’ve seen?
My favourite bride of all time was Caroline Bessette when she married John Kennedy Jnr – such beauty in simplicity.
Could you give us 5 tips and tricks for the bride?
1. Do your research – find out when stores are having their sales and be prepared to camp out front to get that perfect dress heavily discounted.
2. Plan – don’t go leaving things to the last minute, this will only stress you and your skin out.
3. Practice – you’ll feel prepared and calmer that you know what you’re going to look like on the big day.
4. Experiment beforehand – if you’re unsure of what make-up and hair looks to go for, be sure to trial them out (long before the big day), you don’t want to be thinking, what if?
5. Do not spray tan/get a chemical peel or anything else the week before your wedding: live by the mantra that it would be just your look that this is the time it goes wrong.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and tips on Polka Dot Bride Jackie! See more of Jackie at Australian’ beauty website Beauty Heaven
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