From being a long-time beauty editor to creating a community-first beauty platform, Nicole Morales has come into her own, one beauty edit at a time
This is an excerpt from MEGA March 2024 Beauty Blog story.
Embarking on a fresh start, Nicole Morales built a new home that’s brimming with curated art installations, with each key corner being occupied by natural sunlight. But if there is a room that reflects a side of her personality, it is her office. “When I first stepped into this room, I knew right away it was going to be my home office space,” she tells MEGA. “It was light-filled with a neutral color; it had outlets everywhere; and it was roomy enough for everything I needed space for. I also have a lot of places to photograph products, which is important.”
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Decorated with backstage-collection pages, bountiful floral arrangements, and top shelf favorites — a vast library of fragrance bottles, beauty palettes, and skin care products, to name a few — it is the very space dedicated to her life in the industry. “While I have loved beauty products since my childhood, I never thought I’d end up in beauty,” she confesses, “Perhaps because it wasn’t a common career path, and most people who work in glossies delved into fashion more than beauty, at least during the golden years of magazines in the country.”
Morales, who began her career as a fashion assistant, considers her early years at publishing as one thing that contributed plenty to her growth as a writer. “It was a dream job,” she reminisces. “My boss was a brilliant editor and I learned a lot from him, especially when it came to finding and telling the story. I think my best feature stories were written during the time I was working for these publications.”
Meanwhile, she credits a lifestyle magazine title that proved a catalyst that transformed her career in beauty journalism. “I was promoted seven times—all thanks to my editor, who believed in my potential and allowed me to grow,“ she says, revealing that she took different roles as features editor, managing editor, and beauty editor, from print to a digital platform. She continues, “Armed with deep interest in makeup, skincare, treatments, and technologies, I was able to transition to beauty seamlessly and easily, thanks to my training in lifestyle journalism and great mentors who truly immersed me in the beauty world.”
Morales still looks back at her time as a beauty editor with gratitude, calling it the best part of her years of employment before she made her exit to focus on the early days of motherhood. “I left the media, but I will always be a beauty journalist,” she says, referring to how she made her own platform.
“The idea of The Beauty Edit happened a month after I gave birth, and I officially launched it in March 2020,” Morales shares. “The name came to me while I was in the shower. I’ve always wanted something that would reflect what I love and at the same time bear my background as an editor.”
Heralded as the first beauty industry subscription website, made by a beauty lover for all beauty lovers, The Beauty Edit brought every beauty enthusiast together — from editors, influencers, writers, consumers, business owners, and even brand representatives. “I envisioned The Beauty Edit to be something beyond me and outside of me,” she describes. “I really did not want to be the star of the platform; it’s not about me. Rather, it’s about the people, the stories, the subjects, the products, the brands. It’s about what we want to share to our audience and how we can inspire, inform, empower, and engage. It’s about beauty and being part of its universe and capturing snippets of this ever-evolving world.”
Read more about how expertise, groundedness, and intention helped Nicole Morales create The Beauty Edit in MEGA’s February 2024 issue, now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Photographed by SELA GONZALES. Gutter Credits: Sittings Editor AGOO AZCUNA-BENGZON. Art Direction BRIE VENTURA. Makeup PATRICK ALCOBER. Hair MARCO LOPEZ. Fashion VANIA ROMOFF.
