Annabel Meggeson

Beautista Columnist

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Annabel Meggeson is the former beauty director of RedMagazine and Healthista’s Beautista columnist. Annabel’s columns appear every Friday and feature honest, refreshing coverage of the best anti-ageing treatments, products worth their pricetag, beauty bargains that deliver results and seasonal trend updates. Don’t miss it.

Q&A's

• What does being healthy mean to you - really?

  Who was it that said your body’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own? Being healthy means enjoying and taking care of that instrument in equal measure.

• One bit of advice you want to give to all Healthista readers?

  Don’t listen to advice! In your heart you know what you need. Health fads are to be firmly ignored while you focus on what makes you happy.

  Sometimes, of course, that includes embracing a supplement or making a smoothie or following a vegan recipe that’s absolutely right for you. But it also means just sticking with the things that have always seen you through (assuming they’re healthy).

  I’m not about to swap baked potatoes for quinoa or become vegetarian for the sake of it. I’m confident about the choices I make. I guess it’s that whole ‘you do you’ thing.

  That said, everybody needs a great pair of trainers. Having a great pair of trainers is like having fitness at your fingertips (or toes in this case). Just lace them up and walk, run, stretch, go.

• One thing you do daily that you wouldn't be healthy without?

  I don’t snack. At least not very much. I spent several years overeating and it made me miserable. Being honest with myself about when I’m eating for hunger and when I’m eating for any other reason (that includes eating for sheer pleasure, as well as out of boredom, stress, etc), has changed my life.

• What will you be bringing to the Healthista Collective?

  Many, many years of experience in the beauty industry. I was a beauty director for glossy magazines and have seen and heard it all. I know how to build a skincare routine, buy perfume, nice up your hair, get the best out of your make-up.

  I know what products work and which ones are a waste of time. I’m also up to date with the latest tweakments (ie injectables, lasers and other doctor-led treatments performed in-clinic with the aim of anti-ageing). They’re a hot topic of debate right now – me and my beauty colleagues discuss them endlessly, in awe of their power; mindful of their limitations.

  I’m also a Londoner who loves all the cultural stuff the city has to offer and a mum of four teenagers, so I’ll be bringing a bit of that in, too. You might find something on the best-loved backstage cleansers or how to give a 13 year old a facial.

• 30 second beauty secret?

  If you can spend 30 seconds a day massaging in some face oil, your skin will be bouncier for longer.