Australia’s very own L’Oréal Paris ambassador, Megan Gale, has been announced as the face of the new L’Oréal Paris Hair Expertise range, a selection of sulphate free products enriched with botanical oils.
As the face of the new range, Megan, embodies the spirit of the range that celebrates the Beauty of Pure with her natural beauty and approach to life. Couturing sat down with Megan to talk about the new Hair Expertise range, top hair tips for Winter and what it’s like to be a L’Oréal Paris ambassador.
 Megan Gale
We love that the new L’Oréal Paris Expertise range celebrates the Beauty of Pure by focusing on products that are better for you. How important is it to you that the L’Oréal Paris Expertise range of products are sulphate free and contain natural ingredients such as Botanical oils? 

I think there are lot of benefits from sulphate free products. The Hair Expertise range of products are fantastic because they don’t strip the hair of natural oils. Sulphates, detergents and other added ingredients can quite often damage hair, making it dull and lacklustre.  Products that are sulphate free won’t cause that damage and when you when you in natural botanical oils like Camelina oil, Rosemary Oil and Juniper oil to the mix, you get products that protect and nourish hair.

You have amazing hair, which of the L’Oréal Paris Expertise products are you using in your hair?

I’m absolutely loving the Ultrarich Precious Oil Mist. My hair responds really well with Argan Oil and even though I have a healthy head of hair, it’s not perfect so this treatment really helps. My hair does also get frizzy and especially with my job, my hair goes through a lot so the Ultrarich Precious Oil Mist is a great one to use when your hair is still wet or before you dry it. It’s great for hydrating hair and I’ve used that a lot.

The other product that is getting a lot of use is the Everstrong Texturising Mineral Salt spray which is a great texture spray. Sometimes I don’t have time to go through and blow dry my hair perfectly so having a texture spray to get a textured look is a great way to help style it.

The L’Oréal Paris Expertise campaign is beautiful and really embodies the spirit of the new range. What was it like to shoot it at Bush Rangers Bay in Victoria?

I can’t even explain how beautiful it was to shoot there. Bush Rangers Bay looks beautiful on film and photos but it doesn’t really capture how beautiful it is. We shot the campaign over two days and the whole crew were in awe of the location. Even when we weren’t shooting, we were all trying to take photos to show friends and family. It’s such a breathtakingly beautiful part of the world and it was one of the best shoots I’ve been on.

What are the top tips you have for maintaining healthy hair especially in Winter?

In winter, I focus more on how I style my hair because of the rain, wind and heating which can knock your hair about. I put on a lot of masques in winter  to strengthen and repair hair. The Everstrong Deep Replenishing masque is great to nourish and strengthen hair.

For me another tip is focusing on maintaining the health of hair. For my hair, when I’m not working, I limit the products I use and limit heating tools. I think sometimes you can get a bit addicted to the good old hair straightener, and they’re great, but I think it’s good to give your hair a bit of a break from it and if you want to use the Hair Expertise range so you can build the health of your hair. Just being mindful of what you’re doing to your hair and how to look after it properly are key to maintaining healthy hair.

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As Australia’s first ambassador for L’Oréal Paris, what does it mean to be a L’Oréal ambassador, particularly as you work alongside some fantastic and inspiring women?

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some incredible women who are L’Oréal Ambassadors including Eva Longoria, Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren and it’s been an incredible experience.

It was a real surprise to be offered this gig because having a global beauty brand approach you is something you aspire to achieve when you first start modelling.  For me, I was in my mid 30’s, and I didn’t really expect it to happen.  You think, if it hasn’t happened by now, it won’t happen. But when it did, it was a moment of, “hang on, I’m 36 and this isn’t really normal in this industry!”. It really resonated with me that the L’Oréal Paris brand is not one of those brands that says “oh you’re in your mid-30s and a bit long in the tooth and so therefore we won’t sign you”.

I’m mid range in terms of age for the brand as it has younger models like Barbara Palvin and Karlie Kloss, but they also have older ambassadors like Jane Fonda, Andie MacDowell, Naomi Watts and Helen Mirren. It’s such a vast array of women who are different ages, different ethnicities and represent different careers. So to be part of that and be considered relevant in that whole family and world, it’s been really quite wonderful for me.

I’ve had been lucky to be counted amongst an amazing mix of women and the brand celebrates the different cultures and countries of the world – it’s a melting pot of great women.

 
What have been some of the highlights in working with L’Oréal Paris?

Definitely going to the Cannes Film Festival has been a highlight. I’ve been there three times now and that has been more and more fun each time!

The first time I went, I was a bit shell-shocked, not just because of how crazy it is and how many people there are and everything that goes on, but it’s such a whirlwind. So by the time you go for the third time you know what to expect, you’ve met the other ambassadors before and it’s a lot of fun!

Working with L’Oréal Paris has also allowed me to travel different countries such as Thailand and the USA where I’ve had some great experiences.

Working with L’Oréal and OCRF has been a humbling and eye opening experience. I didn’t know much about ovarian cancer before working with L’Oréal Paris and the scary statistic that an Australian woman dies from Ovarian cancer every 10 hours is very shocking. I like to think of myself as pretty well informed and I think that if I didn’t know that fact, then it might be that a lot of Australians aren’t aware of how scary that statistic is.

We just shot the new campaign where I got to meet some of the women who have survived this terrible disease, or are fighting it and beating it and I also met those with family members that are fighting the disease. It’s incredibly humbling and makes you appreciate your health and what you’ve got. If I can do something as simple as putting my face and name to a cause to create awareness that might make a difference, I’m definitely happy to be a part of it. So to be part of that campaign to raise awareness is definitely one of highlights.

Check out some of our favourite Megan Gale red carpet moments at Cannes Film Festival

What are your go-to beauty products?
I’m really lucky as an ambassador as I get to try all sorts of different L’Oréal Paris products. I can’t think of one that I don’t have and I feel very spoilt for choice. I have every shade of Color Riche lipstick and I have my True Match foundation which I love. I also have about 10 different mascaras! I’m a huge mascara fan as I was not born with long big eyelashes so I love using mascara as it makes the eyes pop and so I use mascara a lot.
I have a lot of hair and it’s heavy so I use Elnett a lot to style and for hold. For day to day hydration and maintenance and care for skin I use Revitalift.
How has your beauty regime changed since becoming a mother?
When I was pregnant and breastfeeding, I didn’t really have many changes that many other women might experience like hair thinning, hormonal skin breakouts. I was really lucky to be honest. My skin has never been so good during this time – I had the classic glow! It looked like I had foundation on and blush but I didn’t!
You don’t have much time for beauty when bub is young. There are less hours in the day to get more done, whether it’s preparing meals, doing that extra load of washing or just cleaning, you’re doing more with less time and with less sleep!!
Dry shampoo became my best friend and a red lipstick was my go-to to brighten the face. It is about keeping it simple and straightforward when you become a parent.
You get your mojo back as they grow older so I can now spend a bit more time on your beauty regime.
What’s your secret to balancing it all given you are a mother, a successful business entrepreneur (Isola and the new Target Homewares line) and actor? 
I went on Maternity leave after River was born for a while because I really wanted to be a hands-on mum and be there during his formative months to create that bond. I’m so happy that I did that. When I came off maternity leave, I eased back into it and the more time that went past and the more he settled into a routine,  I felt comfortable about pulling away a little bit and getting into work a bit more.
You do find your balance and you find a way to make it work. I look at other women with three or four kids who have full time jobs and a career and they juggle it. I think it’s doable. You have to be super organised, have a great partner in crime, you have to have a good support network around you if you can and great communication. It’s a constant juggling act but you just make it work.
What’s coming up next for you?

I have the homewares launch with Target coming up in September which I started working on just after I fell pregnant. I spent almost two years working on that but things take time when you want to do them well.

Now that bub is a bit more settled and adaptable for me to do different things I’m going to put myself out there more with acting, especially after Mad Max: Fury Road. That film received such great feedback and has encouraged me to focus on acting.

So between creating my own business opportunities and using my creative forces in acting it’s going to be a lot of fun.

 

 

About The Author

Katherine Ng

Katherine is not your typical Beauty Editor. Finance consultant by day and beauty and fashion addict at all other times, Katherine spends her hard-earned money helping the Australian and international economy with her never ending pursuit of everything pretty. A keen traveller, Katherine still holds dear her Melbourne roots with an overflowing wardrobe filled with black clothes, shoes and handbags. Katherine also has a deep love of food and wine, and you can find those adventures on instagram at @thegreedykat Email: kath@couturing.com Twitter: @kath_couturing Instagram: @kath_ng

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