The #ITGTopShelfie interview series focuses on the beauty routines of Into The Gloss' lovely, accomplished, and loyal community of readers. Submit your own on Instagram—post your Top Shelfie (tag us @intothegloss!) and include the hashtag #ITGTopShelfie for a chance to be featured on ITG.
"I’m Jade Masterson Hally (@ladyjadey) and I live in East London. I'm the Lead UI Developer at Harrods, which means I head up the front-end engineering team for Harrods.com. Day to day I'm writing code for new site features and functions, and I also spend a lot of time doing code reviews and setting coding standards for our team. I started coding back in 1999—my first website was called, ahem, 'Glittery Jade's Glittery World of Glitter,' and was basically a fan site devoted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer-era Seth Green and The Powerpuff Girls. Since then I've worked at Urban Outfitters in their European office, then ASOS, and now Harrods, the best department store in the world!
In my work I've learned that code should be elegant—there are often lots of ways to solve a problem, but usually the simplest one is the best way to go. In my experience, the same is true with beauty. I like using a lot of products, but I don't like them to be fussy. My hair routine is a good example of that simplicity—when I wash my hair, I alternate between Philip B Peppermint and Avocado Clarifying Shampoo and Herbal Essences. The Philip B makes my scalp tingle and has a cooling effect that I love. Once a week I’ll do an Olaplex or Philip Kingsley Elasticizer hair mask, sometimes mixing in a bit of pink or orange Adore dye to tone my blond slightly strawberry. Then Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray before leaving the house because it is basically magic. But the best thing I've learned is to put dry shampoo in my hair while it's still clean rather than spraying it when it's already dirty. I put on Klorane's one with oat milk before I go to bed to get the most out of my wash.
Hannah Phillips at The Drawing Room has been doing my color for years—she does color for Niall [Horan] from One Direction, too. She gives the most perfect natural color. In my twenties I changed color constantly and cut my own hair a lot, to the point where people wouldn’t recognize me week to week. Now I'm trying to look more grown up. I’m not sure how well I’m pulling this off, because I’ll wake up and think, 'Today, I want to look like Miss Frizzle from The Magic School Bus.' I don’t think I’ll ever be a girl that has a signature look because it’s too fun changing it up depending on how I feel.
My foundation usually depends on my mood. If I want a matte look I’ll wear Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation in Pearl, and if I want a dewy look I’ll wear Hourglass Hyaluronic Skin Tint in Ivory or Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint in Light, which my sister brings back from New York. Or sometimes, I'll wear nothing at all. I like using Nars' lip crayons in Dolce Vita or Het Loo on my eyelids. Julie Hewett made an amazing cat-eye pen that's been discontinued, so I'm using that for now, but I always make a mess of my eyeliner. For mistakes, I use these individually wrapped cotton swabs from DHC that are soaked in olive oil. They fix any smudges and are so gentle on your eyes.
I wear fiber mascaras because they don’t run or transfer to your lids but are so easy to remove at the end of the day. I was using a Japanese mascara called Fiberwig by d.j.v. Beautenizer, primarily because I liked the idea of it being a wig for your lashes. Now I'm using Troy Surratt Relevée which is basically a fiber mascara in chicer packaging. I’ve been using the Chanel eyebrow palette for about 10 years but I also use the Tom Ford Brow Sculptor in Taupe, with Glossier Boy Brow on top for its waxy texture.
At night I take my makeup off with Bioderma and then use Eve Lom's balm cleanser. I went through a big oil cleanser phase, but I use balms now because they're still somewhat oily and won't drip down your face at the sink. I rotate my cleansers year-round, but I always go back to Eve Lom—and whatever I’m using, I use a muslin cloth to clean it off. In the mornings I moisturise with Eve Lom TLC Radiance Cream, which I don't love the smell of, but it makes your whole face tighten and wake up. Then Alpha H Essential Hydration Cream or Embryolisse, and in the winter or at night, I'll use Chantecaille Retinol Intense. I don’t like the smell, but I love what retinol does to my skin.
I love descriptions of beauty and people’s various rituals and routines in books and films, like the detailed description of Zooey’s 'ablutions' in Franny and Zooey, the insides of the Lisbon sisters' bathroom in The Virgin Suicides, Natasha Lyonne’s giant Bonne Bell Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker in Detroit Rock City, or Patrick Bateman talking through his skincare regimen in American Psycho. My friend recently mocked me for being Bateman-esque because she was looking for food, and my fridge only had SK-II face masks, sparkling water and champagne. We ordered in."
—as told to ITG
