It's called Go-To, and it's a decidedly uncomplicated, pared-back-and-suddenly-it's-all-you-need, all natural skin care range that has been developed after years of research - two, in fact - by Zoë. Here it is:
I interviewed Zoë about Go-To for Josie's Juice and she had much to say about her skin care baby, and the real-life baby she's gestating in her petite body right now. Both leave her incredibly excited (and one leaves her with a gloriously large belly), and have you wishing only good things for her, all over again.
There is so much going on for Zoë right now, I didn't know
where to start when we commenced our chat.
"Just pick 'anywhere', and start from there," Zoë says with a laugh.
Okay, so what was the catalyst for the Go-To range? Was it something she's always wanted to do?
"Well, I definitely didn’t say to myself, “I want to
have a skincare line!” It was instead something that took a little time. Retail,
for example, wanted me to do a capsule collection, and I nearly did it, but it
didn’t feel quite right. I had a few conversations with people; I had chats with
Megan Larsen who founded Sodashi, and she said: “Zo, you can do this!” We loved talking about it all. She’s
allowed me to use her incredible biochemist who is the genius I get to give
wish lists of products and ingredients to, and he makes it happen," reveals Zoë.
"When I got my head around it, I thought, “Yeah,
who is in a better position, really, to do this than a beauty editor? Because we’ve had
those decades of experience, and trying every product and knowing, all that ‘stuff’
aside, which ingredients actually work, why they actually work, which are the
iconic products, why are they iconic. And I also got this amazing feedback from
women on what they find confusing, which is basically all of skincare, and having this wonderful chance to always play
with them and educate time in a fun way and taking that feeling and putting it
into a product line. So, when I thought about it was like, this is going to be
hard and big, but I think it could
work.”
Indeed, Zoë's collection is big enough to
encompass a 'range', but small enough to have the right amount of products that
say to the consumer, “this stuff really works; these are your basics.” I think Go-To says 'Zoë' to a tee.
Zoë agrees: "It’s simple and there’s no ‘bullshit’ and
it’s playful, and as you say, it's the basics, it’s that ‘scaffolding’ you’re bringing to skin
care. Your peels and your masks you need, but you’re still going to need a
cleanser and a moisturiser and a lip balm, and for a lot of women... I think they’re
lucky to even wash their face, partly because they haven’t been taught or they
don’t have time. Go-To is targeted to them, in a way.
The product names and their quirky, funny descriptions are also typically Zoë and lots of fun to read, while informing you about the serious stuff you want to know: how they work and what's in them (and very importantly, what's not in them).
“The copy is a big part of it, actually
because there are words in skincare that are scientific and there are French
terms most people don’t understand; you know, men’s skincare… they’re so basic!
It’s like ‘face wash’ and ‘grime remover’, and for women, it’s so complicated and
it doesn’t have to be.”
And so, Go-To is available online only, and that was a very conscious decision by Zoë.
“Well, that’s where I live and that’s where
my girls are. I was lucky enough to come in at that right time, back in 2006, to
get that lovely audience of online girls, and they’re used to buying things
like that. And I am asking them a huge thing, which is: you’ve never smelt it,
you’ve never tried it, you can’t go into Priceline and test it, but can you buy
it anyway from a website? And that’s huge. I really trust that they’re keen to
do it and try it out."
More about the Go-To range below. And now, about the eagerly anticipated pregnancy, and Zoë and Hamish's baby, due late May. The couple is super excited.
With so much happening for Zoë right now, I ask if she is a big 'planner'?
"I feel like I’ve been unseasonally busy
but I also feel like pregnancy creates that extra dimension where there is a
finite deadline you’re working towards, whereas if I was just launching a skin
care line and a book, it’d be busy but I’d be like, “Oh well, that’s just a
timing thing and I’ll be fine in a month’s time.” But I’m like, “Oh no, no, no…
in a little while it’s gonna get a whole
lot busier, and a different kind of busy that I won’t be able to comprehend or
control… it’s all new to us!” says Zoë.
“I’ve got most things ready for the baby, and I bought all
of it online, because I find those baby shops completely terrifying and overwhelming," she adds.
"So, the Go-To product is on sale from April 1
and I can manage all of that, and then I have one month to kind of… see what’s happening
with it all.
"You can’t get a sense of what’s about to
happen [with the birth] until it happens, can you! You can intellectually grasp the idea of: ‘life
will never be the same again’. And when we bring that little human home,
nothing will be the same again. But until that happens, I just can’t grasp it.
We are thrilled and so excited and we’re just beside ourselves with excitement,
but we cannot conceive how different it will be," adds Zoë excitedly.
When you see the Go-To range, if you're a fan of Zoë (and she has literally squillions of admirers) and gotten to know what makes her tick when beauty products and ingredients she's enamoured with, you'll agree everything about the line, from the wording to the branding to the very funny messages encrypted on her website (which also include cat viral videos… I am serious), you think, yep, this is all very Zoë Foster Blake.
“Yeah, and I thought: why haven’t any other
beauty editors done this? And now after working so hard and stressing myself out on the entire thing, I can see it’s bloody hard!”
Husband and daddy-to-be Hamish Blake is "just so excited" about their baby's arrival.
"He’s wanted to be dad for a long time. He’s
very… Look, we’re children ourselves, so it’s kinda funny!”
“We’re so excited for the next change of
life; we’ve had a wonderful time, we’ve travelled so much and independently been
hard working, successful in our careers, so neither of us going, “Oh, we feel
like we are missing out on so much by having a baby. We’re so grateful to be in
the position we are in. It’s perfect and we’re so lucky, we feel very blessed
to have this happen now. We’re lucky and we’re excited.”
Hugely exciting times ahead for the gorgeous couple!
And now, the official lowdown on Go-To:
