hurdling with lucy partington: beauty editor, copywriter + brand consultant

on the importance of workplace friendships, the realities of part-time jobs at full-time companies and managing that elusive work/life balance while freelance.

Lucy Partington is a freelance beauty editor, journalist, copywriter and brand consultant from Grimsby, who lives in London.

Since starting out as a beauty intern at Cosmopolitan magazine, Lucy has written for many of the biggest publications in the UK, including British Vogue, Refinery29, Glamour UK and Good Housekeeping. She’s also worked with numerous household brands including MAC Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Beauty Pie, The Body Shop, Medik8, The Inkey List, CeraVe, Maybelline, L’Oreal Paris and Hair Gain.

I first met Lucy at a Christmas party hosted by the personal trainer (the wonderful Hannah Lewin) we both shared. We bonded over not loving exercise and our unrequited love for Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day dry shampoo. At the time, she was the Beauty Editor at Stylist Magazine and I’d been hanging off her every word in the magazine for years. I still hang off these words on her Instagram, where Lucy shares the knowledge she’s learned over her years in the beauty industry, and her personal product recommendations, too.

Here, Lucy answers my questions on the importance of workplace friendships, the realities of part-time jobs at full-time companies and managing that elusive work/life balance while being freelance.

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Q: Can you give us a quick overview of your CV?

After my A-Levels (in History, English combined and Law) I went to De Montfort University to do a journalism degree. I worked at McDonald’s from 16-22, mostly part time but I did a year full time after I finished uni, and then moved to London. I was beauty intern, then beauty assistant, at Cosmopolitan. Then beauty writer at The River Group, a content agency, where I worked on the Superdrug account, then back to Cosmo as beauty writer before going to Stylist as beauty editor. Last year I went freelance.

Q: When you were younger, what did you want to be when you ‘grew up’? 

I think I probably wanted to be a teacher or a shopkeeper. I LOVED the idea of using a till and had a very niche interest in tearing receipts off when I was little. Throughout school I wanted to work in law. I did my year 9 work experience at the local courts, which made me think I wanted to be a probation officer. Then I wanted to be a lawyer, so I did law at A-Level and realised I probably wasn’t clever enough – and didn’t have the patience! I did the odd bit of writing and some local journalism during sixth form, but I don’t fully remember thinking that was the career I definitely wanted to pursue. And yet, here we are.

Q: Tell us about your first job.

Two weeks after my 16th birthday I had my first shift at McDonald’s. It was where my sister had worked for a couple of years, but I was so adamant that I wouldn’t go down that path. (Un)luckily for me, my mum got me the application form and took it back into the store and the rest, as they say, is history. I don’t ever remember hating it, and looking back it was so good for me. Apart from learning just how good a double sausage and egg muffin is, I learnt customer service skills, I learnt about management (both time and people), I learnt – in a weird way – how to be independent, how to make friends, how to get drunk and how to survive a nine hour shift on three hours sleep and a hangover. In short, I think it really shaped my life and I probably wouldn’t be where I am now had I not taken the job.

Q: Tell us about your worst ever job. Why did you hate it? What made it so bad?

I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad job, I’ve just had bad moments within jobs. But actually, I’ve just remembered that at university I did five shifts at a nightclub in Leicester called Life. That was terrible, mostly because I wasn’t cut out for bar work or late nights. I didn’t even tell them I quit, I just stopped turning up. That whole period of my life wasn’t great for me though – 19-year-old Lucy had the weight of the world on her shoulders which, in reality, consisted of me being a little shit until my parents’ finally had enough of it.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made at work?

There was this day at Stylist that I remember vividly because everything went to shit when an interviewee pulled out of a feature a couple of hours before it went to press. I was fairly new at the time and I felt like my entire world was caving in. Luckily, somebody in the office stepped in and became a last minute part of the story, but it impacted the whole team. The key thing I learnt was that although things might be stressful for a few hours, it’ll always be OK – and nobody will ever die as a result of anything I do.

Q: You left the world of in-house journalism to work for yourself as a freelance beauty editor and brand consultant. How did you make this decision? How has it changed your life?

Going freelance was always part of my plan, I just didn’t know when, and the timing never quite felt right. Then, during the pandemic, I was on furlough for six months and eventually I went through redundancy. My full time job was cut down to two days, meaning I had three days a week to dip my toe into the freelance world. I had no plan, no savings, but luckily my part-time salary just about covered my mortgage and bills. After almost a year, I realised working part-time at a magazine was hard. I didn’t have any time to do anything, deadlines were even shorter because I had to work them around the days I was in and it was making me miserable – the enjoyment had gone. Again, with no plan, I just decided to quit one day. I didn’t wake up that morning thinking ‘today is the day I will hand my notice in!’ but I did it. The wave of relief that came over me afterwards told me it was the right thing to do.

It’s changed my life in that I’m making more money than I probably ever could in a full time magazine job. I know we don’t talk about money (I wish we did more!) and though I’m far from rich, I’ve doubled my salary in a year of being freelance. I can manage my own time, I can work when I want, it’s given me freedom and I’m learning a lot. I'm realising what I’m good at and what I’m not so good at – and that’s massively helped my confidence. I would say I’m only saying yes to work I want to do, but I haven’t perfected the art of saying no yet so that’s not strictly true. Maybe one day.

Q: A good work/life balance is something we all seem to be in pursuit of. What does this mean to you, and what can you tell me about yours at the moment?

I honestly don’t know. My time management skills are terrible and I definitely work better under pressure. Give me a deadline a month away and I’ll still do it the night before. Give me a deadline in 12 hours and I’m your girl. I do have more ‘spare’ time but I’m not very good at just getting my head down – I’m very easily distracted. If I’m not physically writing then I’m doing emails, social media (sometimes), meeting people or going to events. My job often feels truly relentless and since being freelance, I’ve been in a constant state of overwhelm. The fact it’s quite social does impact my personal life, too – going for nice dinners or drinks isn’t that exciting because I do it a lot for work (and don’t have to pay). It’s a hard life, I know…

Q: Many of your close friendships have been formed through work. How important are these friendships to you? What can you tell me about how they were formed and what they mean to you and your life now?

Those friendships are so important to me. Like most jobs, the world of beauty journalism has its ups and downs. It’s a very small industry and there’s a lot of gossip, but we’re not saving lives. It’s seen as fairly superficial, so having people I can moan to who understand what it’s like is essentially a survival tactic. I’m constantly comparing myself, seeing trips and events happen that I wasn’t invited on, seeing mailers and samples that I don’t get – and it can really do a lot of damage if you let it get to you. I find I can get in my own head a lot, and even though I know that ultimately, none of those things matter and (in my own words) talent will always prevail, it can be hard so being able to relay those feelings. So to be able to talk it out with people who don’t just say ‘why do you even care about something so ridiculous?’ is really needed.

Most of my closest friendships happened either through working together, or by going to events or on trips. It’s funny how some bonds just form and stick like glue. There’s a lot of privilege and nepotism in this industry, and as somebody who wasn’t privy to either of those things, I felt like an outsider for a long time, but finding like-minded people really changed everything for me. I’m so grateful for the colleagues who turned into forever friends. 

Q: Is there anything you wish you’d done differently over your career? If so, what?

I actually don’t know if there is. In terms of my career ladder, I truly believe that everything happened for a reason. That said, I wish I’d advocated for myself a bit more. I’ve had my fair share of not-great bosses (which actually taught me a lot) I’d wish I’d been a bit more vocal when I was made to feel inadequate for making completely reasonable (mostly salary-related) requests. That’s all hindsight though, isn’t it? I’m still very grateful for the opportunities I have had and the experience I’ve gained.

Q: Anything to get off your chest?

I wish freelancers were treated with the same respect as people in beauty teams at magazines. We are somewhat more powerful in terms of being able to get coverage across different titles, and yet we’re treated like second class citizens. I knew that was something I’d have to learn to live with when I handed my notice in, but it sometimes bothers me way more than it should – and as I write this, I’m currently going through one of those times.

QUICKFIRE

Q: One work-related object you can’t live without? 

My phone. Boring and predictable, but I use it to do emails on the go, to hotspot internet off if I need to, to film and edit videos, to record interviews, to make notes, to rewrite paragraphs when I wake up with a 3am brainwave… The list goes on!

Q: Best advice you’ve ever been given?

Write how you talk. Now, not to sound like a complete dick, but I can’t remember if this is advice I gave myself (lol) or if it’s something that I was told. Either way, it’s vital to me – so often I read and edit stories that are peppered with long, big, complicated words that don’t make sense in context, so for me I tend to only write using words that I would say out loud. That way it always feels authentic and true to me, you know?

Q: Worst advice you’ve ever been given?

This isn’t physical advice that I’ve been given, but more something I’ve learnt and that is to not always treat people in the same way you’ve been treated. I had a boss once who clearly had a chip on her shoulder from the way she was managed when she was junior and she passed that way of thinking down onto the team, resulting in a very unhappy group of people. Instead, it’s about learning from bad experiences and making sure the people you’re managing never have to go through that in the way that you did.

Q: Your dream person to interview?

Not to be predictable but I genuinely think it would be somebody like Adele, but Adele in 2011 more than Adele in 2022. And Elton John, because what a guy he is.

Q: The person you admire the most?

Again, going to be predictable but I think my first boss, Ingeborg van Lotringen, is up there. She saw something in me and gave me a chance and so I basically owe my career to her.

Q: Ever faked being sick to get off work?

Yes. Don’t tell my mum (or former bosses).

Q: Any last words?

Sorry this took me so long to send back.