Telum Media recently talked to Erin Berryman, editor of BEAUTYDIRECTORY and newly launched platform beautyheaven NZ. Learn all about Bauer Media's latest offering and Erin's beauty journey to date.
Can you tell us what beautyheaven is, and what you and the team hope to see it grow into?
beautyheaven is Australia’s biggest beauty review website, comprising all the latest news and trends, expert advice, how-to videos, genuine consumer reviews and more. New Zealanders have been actively engaged with the Australian site since its launch a decade ago, so we thought it was about time we got our own localised version. Kiwis can now share their love for all things beauty with other like-minded beauty obsessives.
For beautyheaven members, the site is one of the first destinations they go to for pre-shop research and is mobile-optimised to ensure consumers can easily access reviews when in store.
The New Zealand beautyheaven site has an editorial team individually specialising in key beauty categories, so members can rest assured they are getting the very best advice from industry experts.
Key perks of being a beautyheaven member (it’s free to join), include participation in Trial Teams where you can trial and review the latest beauty products, and redeem your review points on products in our hotly-anticipated Rewards Room, which opens twice a year.
You are also Editor of BEAUTYDIRECTORY. How do you manage your time between the two roles?
BEAUTYDIRECTORY and beautyheaven are sister sites and each have a different positioning in the market, with the former serving industry only. I love working across both of them, but sharing that love evenly across both can be a juggle at the best of times. Dedicating set days to the sites is great in theory but doesn’t really work so I’ve had to be really mindful that I only engage in activities that will directly address current priorities.
I used to get really anxious when I wasn’t totally up-to-date but I’ve come to terms with the fact (especially of recent!) that my to-do-list will never be ”done” and that’s fine. I’m not going to lie, the past month has been a whirlwind. A lot of late nights and weekends but it’s all worth it now and really excited the site is now live!
What has the experience of building and launching a new editorial offering like beautyheaven been like? What were some of the key challenges you faced and how did you overcome them?
It’s been hard work, so much fun, lots of challenges and more, all wrapped up into a crazy few months! Launching a new website is never going to be smooth sailing and will always come with its fair share of obstacles. It’s been a real learning curve and definitely discovered a lot about myself through the process. The main challenge was of course the technical difficulties at the backend (a given with any digital launch) and then training a large editorial team on how to use the site when I’m still learning the ropes myself! I couldn’t have overcome all the challenges without the support of the amazing and super enthusiastic Bauer digital and beauty team.
Why did you decide to cover beauty?
I’ve been obsessed with beauty since as long as I can remember, and I started working in the industry as soon as I was legal to work! To me, beauty is so much more than just physical. Anyone who says it’s superficial doesn’t understand how empowering it can be.
No matter where you are in the world, beauty has the universal power to unite us all. It has the ability to instill confidence and encourages self-expression, and I love that I can be a part of that.
Read the full Q&A
beautyheaven.co.nz is now live - join now and start reviewing all your favourite products!
