Have you ever wondered how your favorite beauty editor landed her dream job? Or what are her most lust-worthy beauty products? Well I have! So I reached out to some of the editors of my favorite magazine and asked them to show me what they carried in their beauty bags and to share beauty tips and advice for my readers. One of my favorite magazine is Prevention because it focuses on health, nutrition and fitness. So it was a no-brainer that I reach out to Jennifer Goldstein, Beauty Director of Prevention Magazine. Here is what Jennifer had to say:

1. Was becoming a beauty editor a part of your dream? If so, how did you achieve it?
The power of beauty products has always fascinated me—the way something as simple as a lipstick can make a woman feel so much better about herself and how a cosmetics company can get a woman to pay $25 for something that might have cost just pennies to make. So, I was looking for a marketing job in the beauty industry but I fell into one on the editorial side instead.

2. What is the first beauty product that touches your face in the morning?
Does an electric toothbrush count?

3. What’s a day in your life like?
I spend 75% of my time in Prevention’s office, working on layouts, writing for the magazine and Prevention.com, researching articles, and responding to story pitches from writers and publicists. The other 25% of my time is spent interviewing experts and attending industry events to keep up on the latest news.

4.  Can you give Lipstick and Luxury readers advice achieving a career as a beauty editor?
Practice writing about things that have nothing to do with beauty, take a class in copyediting, and publish your writing online to build a portfolio of clips.

5. What’s the highlight of your career thus far?
I was working on a story about tattooing—a fascinating subject for me because I love the historical and anthropological aspects of the art, plus it’s the ultimate, permanent way we as humans can beautify ourselves—and I got to go to New Zealand and actually get a Maori tattoo for the article.

6. What’s the one product that you always keep in your makeup bag?
Oral-B Glide floss.

7. What’s the best beauty tip that you’ve ever received?
Multiple dermatologists have told me you only need to splash your face with water in the morning rather than washing it with cleanser (their thinking is since your face doesn’t actually get dirty at night, cleanser would just dry it out unnecessarily). Ever since I started doing that I’ve gotten fewer blemishes and my skin doesn’t get dry as easily.

8. What was your biggest beauty flop?
There are so many! The orthodontic head gear, the brown lip liner sans lipstick, the Salt N’ Pepa haircut, the time I accidentally cut off all my lashes with a lash curler … but I guess I’d have to say the day I ended up in the emergency room after a bikini wax gone wrong was a rock-bottom flop.

9. What’s in your makeup bag?
Even on my barest of barefaced days I usually have on an antioxidant serum (I love the new one from SkinCeuticals), Clarins sunscreen, Make Up For Ever HD foundation (used sparingly, as concealer), and Blinc Kiss Me Mascara. I have converted so many women to that mascara—it’s amazing! It makes little tubes around your lashes and will not smudge until you slide the tubes off with water at the end of the day. I also can’t leave home with out a brow brush because I have seriously thick brows. When I need a little color, I dab some Julie Hewett Cheekie on my cheeks and lips (one jar of that will last you at least a year!). And when I’m trying to look fancy, I like a bold, matte red lipstick; Estee Lauder’s new Red Velvet is amazing, but I think it was limited edition and it’s already sold out. My backup would be Giorgio Armani Rouge D’Armani Lipstick in #400.

Stay tuned for more behind the scenes interviews from the editors of Lucky Magazine, Essence Magazine and more!