The Karry London Meets: Madeleine Spencer

Madeleine Spencer @madeleinelovesthis is the beauty journalist, podcaster and influencer behind Madeleine Loves. Madeleine joined The Karry London Founder Ginny Roberts to talk about her love for The Karry, her current skincare favourites and her beauty travel routine.

Sit back and enjoy the highlights:

GR: You’ve got my Karry set!

MS: I’m excited to actually be able to take it somewhere! It’s on my shelf of very precious things that I want to use properly. It’s just such a blooming good idea, the idea that you can clean it out properly, everything comes in the pouch, it’s just so clever, I applaud you. That’s why I wanted to do this Live: What a great idea, what an entrepreneurial spirit!

GR: It came out of a want and a need and a frustration. You have your skincare products, you’ve been doing your skincare routine, getting your skin to a certain condition and you want to take them away with you but at the same time you’re being eco-conscious and mindful of what you’re taking.

MS: That’s exactly right, it’s such a good idea to have enough minis because sometimes you buy just one enormous pot for a tiny bit of serum but these are the right size. I’m very excited, I’m very impressed.

GR: Thank you so much, do use it and reuse it, getting away from plastics. Skincare these days is so lovely, the packaging and the actual ingredients and for me, just decanting it into plastic seems like a horrible thing to do. This keeps the efficacy of the products too. It looks luxurious, looks lovely, you want to use it.

MS: It’s really clever of you to do 3 different colours and 2 jars. It also comes with a little decanting thing and a cleaning thing. It’s so clever, it’s like someone who actually uses skincare has thought of it and not some marketing guy. You’ve even got a proper pipe cleaner to keep it clean.

“It’s like someone who actually uses skincare has thought of it
and not some marketing guy.”

GR: That leads me to the kind of products you use, because your skin looks amazing. We love products that work and whatever you’re doing, it’s absolutely working! So talk me through your skincare.

MS: I have acneic skin by nature. I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) so my skin naturally wants to have spots, it frequently does have spots, I’m wearing make-up now. I found this woman called Pam at Mortar & Milk and she became my skin fairy godmother. She said, ‘I’m going to give you some advice that’s really bespoke to your skin and really works’ and she kind of demystified skincare for me. There is a lot of noise so I think one of the things good journalism does is cut through that noise and help people to get the solutions that work. That’s how I see my job, I test everything so that other people don’t have to.

My core battle is, and always will be, keeping my skin uninflamed and keeping my acne under control. I use a cream cleanser, I use a serum that’s got loads of polyhydroxy acids to overhaul my skin and hydrate it. At the moment I really like Exuviance serum and an Exuviance moisturiser called Hydrafirm.
I use acid toners in the way that I would use a face mask so not every day: I like REN and Pixi. It’s a like an exfoliation treatment, that’s how I use them.
And SPF every single day, every single day! At the moment I’m using Carbon Theory before that I was using Templespa.
Pam, Genius Pam, recommended Clinisept to me. It’s a spray, it’s antimicrobial, antibacterial and antispore, you can use it on any kind of redness. It’s really, really good.

GR: It’s a case of trying to understand your skin and what works for you. I am a firm believer in finding something that works. Why try and get something else and something else and something else…

MS: I have a theory about this. I think people are chasing a completely unobtainable dream with skin. It’s the idea of constantly looking for something new, some kind of silver bullet: It is so compelling but it doesn’t exist. Same as you can’t eat McDonalds all day, every day and then take vitamin D and suddenly be really healthy. The skin is an organ and you’ve got to respect it.

“People are chasing a completely unobtainable dream with skin. It’s the idea of constantly looking for something new, some kind of silver bullet: It is so compelling but it doesn’t exist.”

GR: Does your routine change when you go abroad?

MS: On a beach holiday I’m woeful and I look hideous. I’m really not about beach glam at all, I’m like: Let everything breathe. I’ve never had a manicure or pedicure before a beach holiday because to me that makes no sense. I would like the ocean and the sun to get to my naked nails. For me it’s about a return to nature rather than posing by the beach. And I let the salt water get into my hair. For someone who loves products, I’m not actually very high maintenance at all.

“I’m really not about beach glam at all, I’m like: Let everything breathe.”

GR: What about skincare on holiday?

MS: A lot more SPF and I’m probably more inclined to bring a mask with me but otherwise it pretty much stays the same. I go to Portugal quite a lot and when you’re walking and the wind whips your skin and the sun gets to you, it’s dehydrating so I tend to bring an eye mask with me and then I’ll put that on in the evening. But then I’m very holistic and I’m just about enjoying the holiday. I’m never going to spend 3 hours sitting in masks so that I can look impressive. I do believe in putting moisture back in so I will bring moisture products because when you’re really in the elements, trans-epidermal water loss is more of a factor.

Click here to watch our conversation in full. Want to know the brands, products and clinics Madeleine talked about, the ones she Karrys? We've listed them for you below for you:

• Mortar & Milk
• Exuviance
• Carbon Theory
• Templespa
• Vivamayr
• REN
• Pixi
• Clinisept