Kathleen Baird-Murray, beauty editor at NET-A-PORTER's Porter magazine, shares her favourite haunts online.
Kathleen Baird-Murray is the beauty director at PORTER magazine, a new global glossy bi-monthly print magazine which is fully shoppable and at weekly digital magazine, THE EDIT, which are both powered by NET-A-PORTER.COM. She also writes a regular monthly beauty column for the Life&Arts section of the Financial Times. A journalist and author for over twenty years, Kathleen has enjoyed stints with Vogue, Elle and Australian Marie Claire, and written three books, most recently Vogue On: Ralph Lauren, published by Quadrille. Her first book, How to Be Beautiful (Vermilion) The Thinking Woman's Guide, was dubbed "the world's first intelligent beauty book" by the Observer magazine, while her novel, Face Value (Berkeley) published in the US, was praised by both Marian Keyes and Joan Rivers. Kathleen also recently won a prestigious Jasmine Award for the best short feature about perfume.
Kathleen lives in London with her husband and two children and travels regularly for beauty shoots, fashion shows and brand launches.
My Favourite Website... NET-A-PORTER.COM. I've worked on the editorial side for five months, so I'm very new, but I'm constantly in awe at just how much of a phenomenon the site is. As a company, they are very open and inclusive, sharing tech information with outside brands where appropriate, and always looking for ways to improve. The beauty side is only a year old, but adapting rapidly to the challenges that beauty presents in contrast to fashion, with lots of engaging video tutorials. It's very fulfilling to get such an insider view of how the commercial side works.
The NET-A-PORTER Group’s publishing division has launched a print magazine, PORTER, which is the ultimate dream ticket – it feels very modern and at a time when print is generally perceived to be in decline. It’s tremendously exciting and possibly even reinventing the wheel in a small way.
My Favourite Apps... Beauty apps are evolving rapidly to the stage where we can upload pictures of ourselves and try out hair styles, make-up, even get our picture retouched. Mostly though, they're entertaining – the hair stylist Neil Moodie had me in stitches with a hairstyle app the other day (check out his blog), and the make-up artist, Fredrik Stambro kept a whole team of us amused on a recent trip with the app, Perfect 365. Still within the world of fashion and beauty, one of the first apps I ever uploaded to my phone is Zoolander. Fans of the movie will appreciate the Zoolander sound bites - guaranteed to make you laugh. When I'm in the countryside, I love GoSkyWatch for informing me on constellations – you get beautiful night skies in the countryside but I am sadly ignorant on all matters of astronomy.
My Favourite Blog... NotTheKidsMenu. My 14 year old son started this blog a couple of years ago in which he reviews restaurants from a child's perspective. It's aimed at children who are interested in food beyond the chicken nuggets and chips option – it’s funny and frank in a way that adult restaurant reviews often aren't. Being half-French, he has an amazing palette and is quite adventurous in what he tries (although trust me, we still have issues with mushrooms and onions). You have to wait months for an entry, and the punctuation isn't always the way I'd like it, but that's what makes me love it all the more.
My Most Recent Buy Online... As I write I'm waiting delivery on a pair of white Birkenstocks, some Mimi Holliday underwear and an Isabel Marant dress – all from NET-A-PORTER.COM. It's hard to resist! But it's also extremely convenient and the offer is so wide I'm never short of things to buy.
My Favourite Tweeters... Sam McKnight for his flower pics, insights on his shoots, my fabulous team, @daniellef0x and @amywilsonthomas. And on Instagram, I love my daughter's images, manuthemagnificent, she is always taking pictures of flowers in the garden and little videos and is very imaginative in the way she presents them.
My Pet Hate About Life Online... how all-consuming it can be. Instagram is my first port of call when I wake up, and hard to resist at night. I'm making a conscientious effort to switch off phones when I get home from work, but often the rest of my family is on a screen of some sort, which makes my self-imposed rationing a little isolating. I'm reverting to reading novels, because while Instagram is a quick fix, it's not very satisfying for the soul.
Social Media Allowed Me to Meet...Coco Rocha. I once interviewed her via Twitter for a feature I wrote about social media, all of which felt very apt, although we haven't met in person. I also love it when I get reader feedback on my own Instagram/Twitter feeds, I feel like I'm meeting them then.
Most Worthwhile Newsletter... NET-A-PORTER.COM’s weekly digital magazine, THE EDIT, drops into my mailbox once a week and is always a good read. Now that I’m on the editorial team, I appreciate the labour of love it really is – the level of celebrity interviews they pull off is always extraordinary, and their travel and the fashion is also inspiring. It's read by over six million people in 170 countries, so I'm not alone in liking it!
16 April 2014
Kathleen lives in London with her husband and two children and travels regularly for beauty shoots, fashion shows and brand launches.
My Favourite Website... NET-A-PORTER.COM. I've worked on the editorial side for five months, so I'm very new, but I'm constantly in awe at just how much of a phenomenon the site is. As a company, they are very open and inclusive, sharing tech information with outside brands where appropriate, and always looking for ways to improve. The beauty side is only a year old, but adapting rapidly to the challenges that beauty presents in contrast to fashion, with lots of engaging video tutorials. It's very fulfilling to get such an insider view of how the commercial side works.
The NET-A-PORTER Group’s publishing division has launched a print magazine, PORTER, which is the ultimate dream ticket – it feels very modern and at a time when print is generally perceived to be in decline. It’s tremendously exciting and possibly even reinventing the wheel in a small way.
My Favourite Apps... Beauty apps are evolving rapidly to the stage where we can upload pictures of ourselves and try out hair styles, make-up, even get our picture retouched. Mostly though, they're entertaining – the hair stylist Neil Moodie had me in stitches with a hairstyle app the other day (check out his blog), and the make-up artist, Fredrik Stambro kept a whole team of us amused on a recent trip with the app, Perfect 365. Still within the world of fashion and beauty, one of the first apps I ever uploaded to my phone is Zoolander. Fans of the movie will appreciate the Zoolander sound bites - guaranteed to make you laugh. When I'm in the countryside, I love GoSkyWatch for informing me on constellations – you get beautiful night skies in the countryside but I am sadly ignorant on all matters of astronomy.
My Favourite Blog... NotTheKidsMenu. My 14 year old son started this blog a couple of years ago in which he reviews restaurants from a child's perspective. It's aimed at children who are interested in food beyond the chicken nuggets and chips option – it’s funny and frank in a way that adult restaurant reviews often aren't. Being half-French, he has an amazing palette and is quite adventurous in what he tries (although trust me, we still have issues with mushrooms and onions). You have to wait months for an entry, and the punctuation isn't always the way I'd like it, but that's what makes me love it all the more.
My Most Recent Buy Online... As I write I'm waiting delivery on a pair of white Birkenstocks, some Mimi Holliday underwear and an Isabel Marant dress – all from NET-A-PORTER.COM. It's hard to resist! But it's also extremely convenient and the offer is so wide I'm never short of things to buy.
My Favourite Tweeters... Sam McKnight for his flower pics, insights on his shoots, my fabulous team, @daniellef0x and @amywilsonthomas. And on Instagram, I love my daughter's images, manuthemagnificent, she is always taking pictures of flowers in the garden and little videos and is very imaginative in the way she presents them.
My Pet Hate About Life Online... how all-consuming it can be. Instagram is my first port of call when I wake up, and hard to resist at night. I'm making a conscientious effort to switch off phones when I get home from work, but often the rest of my family is on a screen of some sort, which makes my self-imposed rationing a little isolating. I'm reverting to reading novels, because while Instagram is a quick fix, it's not very satisfying for the soul.
Social Media Allowed Me to Meet...Coco Rocha. I once interviewed her via Twitter for a feature I wrote about social media, all of which felt very apt, although we haven't met in person. I also love it when I get reader feedback on my own Instagram/Twitter feeds, I feel like I'm meeting them then.
Most Worthwhile Newsletter... NET-A-PORTER.COM’s weekly digital magazine, THE EDIT, drops into my mailbox once a week and is always a good read. Now that I’m on the editorial team, I appreciate the labour of love it really is – the level of celebrity interviews they pull off is always extraordinary, and their travel and the fashion is also inspiring. It's read by over six million people in 170 countries, so I'm not alone in liking it!
16 April 2014