Location: Melbourne/Naarm, Australia
Instagram Handle: @ms.hannah.e
Profession: Pharmaceutical scientist, beauty writer and digital creator
Known best for her love of great sunscreens, beauty and skinfluencer Hannah English uses her science background to offer tailored advice and specialised reviews to her followers.
Having well and truly established herself as one of Australia's top beauty influencers, Hannah covers everything from product applications, to ingredient analysis and myth debunking via her platform to help her followers make the best of their skin.
Constantly testing out new products and formulas, Hannah helps to make the science-y components of skincare easy to understand and accessible for the masses. Because of her scientific knowledge, her upbeat personality and candid disposition, @ms.hannah.e quickly became one of the internet’s most widely loved and trusted source of beauty, skin and wellness information.
For advice on the best sunscreen for your skin, how to best layer skin care products to prevent disruptions as well as a healthy dose of aesthetically pleasing makeup tutorials, Hannah’s got just the for you.
Bonding over our mutual love for skincare and wellness, we chatted to the UV queen herself to learn more about the science behind skincare, the importance of good sunscreen and properly hydrating your skin.
Ruby: Hey Hannah! Let’s start this thing off easy. Tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do.
Hannah: Hi! I’m Hannah English, and I help people make sense of skincare. I started my career in retail beauty. After graduating from my Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science, Honours, I worked in pharmaceuticals for a bit, trials, and now I work in beauty full time!
I do a lot of things now including social media production, beauty writing, and consulting on product development and communications. It’s nice to have a lot of variety though, it keeps me engaged and motivated because I also have ADHD. I talk about that a lot on social too, really because not a day goes by that it doesn’t affect my life.
Either online or offline, who are some Better People that inspire you to become a Better you?
My mum: she just gets it done and she’s always there for me and my siblings. I wish I could be more like that.
As a science, beauty and skin specialist, how important is staying properly hydrated when it comes to the health of our skin?
It’s important for the overall health of your body and that can certainly be reflected in how your skin looks. Skin gets its hydration from the bloodstream, but we lose a lot because of all the cleansing we do, so we can also cut a corner and apply a serum or moisturiser to help it along. I wish I could do that for the rest of my body!
For this, obviously water is great, but can electrolyte and antioxidant beverages such as cactus water be just as useful in terms of skin health?
I prefer to hydrate with something a bit more fun than water, personally. Even sparkling water! My brain is always looking for something fun.
And the electrolytes help pull the water into the bloodstream. Amazing for hangover prevention, too – if I’ve had a big night (remember those?) I’ll drink electrolytes before I go to sleep and it makes the next day a lot easier on my body and my skin.
We’re even seeing electrolytes in skincare products now and in my experience, they’re wonderfully calming and hydrating for skin.
Aside from hydration, what are your top tips for skin health?
Firstly, cleanse gently but thoroughly (ditch the makeup wipes, they’re too rough and don’t clean well enough). And secondly, the number one contributor to changes in our skin as we age is the sun, so wearing sunscreen daily goes a long way. It also helps with any skin condition you can think of, and that’s because UV radiation contributes to inflammation so by preventing UV exposure, you prevent inflammation and give your skin a chance to heal.
Finally, what are some daily practices that allow you to feel like your best self?
Maintaining healthy boundaries and feeling comfortable enough within myself to speak up if something doesn’t feel right. Micromanaging my Google Calendar, if it’s not in the calendar, it’s not happening. I break down tasks into small chunks and put them in. Always looking for value outside my productivity. Creativity is valuable, too, so are listening and critical thinking.