Face Values by Navaz Batliwalla

[unpaid/sample] Full disclosure – Navaz, aka DisneyRollerGirl, is a friend of over a decade now. We met through blogging, I think via our mutual friend, Simon (TheVerySimonG) and still meet up whenever we can to marvel that we’re all still standing and holding our own through so many changes to the social media landscape. I’ve got a set of photos on my fridge that were taken at a Fashion’s Night Out event (remember those?) where my chin is frozen thanks to some experimental Botox (what was I thinking?) but we laughed (in as much as I could) a lot that night and they’re some of my favourite pics because they embody when blogging was so exciting and new – and fun! My son, when studying fashion, nearly fell over backwards when he discovered that the person in the pictures with me that he saw every day when opening the fridge was DisneyRollerGirl – words of utter reverence for fashion students!

Already the author of the successful gentlewoman styling guide, The New Garconne, fashion and beauty insider Navaz has undertaken to dig into the new heartbeat of beauty through personal stories with people who are redefining the parameters of beauty now. Things have changed – we’re not trapped by convention or stereotype in the way that we once were. The stories that run through Face Value are an easy indicator that while many things are different and uncertain, beauty is a leveller.

As well as a host of interviews around lifestyle and routines that embrace cultures and genders, Navas sits in the less-is-more aisle of beauty – the Beauty Cabinet section is a masterclass in restraint…’for products to be effective, follow a logical order, allow them time to work and address problem skin one concern at a time’. I mean, how very sensible!

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Going with the theory of the ritual effect taking the place of the lipstick effect as the new indicator of the wellbeing and beauty economy, Navaz interviews a broad spectrum of people from a Japanese massage therapist, a nutritionist from Togo and a Scottish baker (all influencers in their respective fields) about the moments of beauty that define their own rituals. All of which adds up to the fact that no matter where you are now, where you were then or where you might be in the future, the universal thread of beauty is with you forever and will always allow you to form a common bond with others. It’s an anthropological approach to something we easily trivialise and I’m thankful for such a thoughtful voice in the midst of the greedy chaos that is the beauty industry. Face Values is available for pre-order HERE for £16.99. Fridge photos are extra 😉