Influencer Scott McGlynn Shares His Top Selfcare, Wellness, and Beauty Tips

An Interview With Ming Zhao

Re-energise yourself. This is so important. Sunday is the day I take time to re energize. Maybe I will try something new. I will reflect on the week I have had and I even make notes. I recognize what has made it either a good or bad week. What has worked and what hasn’t. What I can do differently next week.

At times it feels like wellness or elevating one’s well being, is diametrically opposed to high achievement and high performance in one’s career. The stress, mental energy, long hours, lack of restful sleep and preoccupation that result from a high-achievement life seem to directly inhibit wellness. And yet, in order to sustain the creativity, flexibility, mental acuity and resilience that are necessary for high performance, wellness and wellbeing of the mind, body and soul are also mandatory. So how do we achieve both? This is the question I’m hoping to answer through conversations with high-achieving leaders and influencers who are practicing their own philosophies about how to maintain their wellbeing.

As a part of our series about “Social Media Influencers Share Their Top Self Care, Wellness, and Beauty Tips, I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott McGlynn.

Scott McGlynn is an influencer, LGBTQ+ activist, campaigner and actor. He lives in Wales, UK. Skincare influencer Scott, has around 260K followers on instagram and hosts the insta show Celebrity Skin Talk.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory of how you came upon this career path and to where you are today?

I started off by sharing my story in the local press. I suffered badly from acne as a teenager and felt very marginalised because of my sexuality. I was bullied at school and left with no qualifications. However, I then started working in a hairdressing salon and worked my way up. Once I started to feel more confident and successful, I realised I should share my story to help others. The local press picked up my story and then it went national. Off the back of that my social media went crazy and I got thousands of followers overnight. I then collaborated with a skincare company and the rest is history! Since then I have worked hard to bring all my passions together to build a community online. I love the world of skincare and celebrity and am now breaking into acting.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I started a podcast and had a friend who worked for a national radio station called Capital in London. She taught me how to record and edit audio. That was invaluable because through her expertise I was able to produce a slick and professional podcast and tell a story. I then watched and educated myself via youtube tutorials and other forums plus I put my own spin on it. With acting, the coaches I work with are brilliant. They give me tips and help me to develop my skills.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

I’ve made loads of mistakes but learnt from that all. I recorded a podcast back at the start and I had a celebrity on and we invited one of her fans on too. I thought that would be a nice thing as did the celebrity. However, the fan totally lost it through excitement and talked all over the celebrity. I still posted it and wouldn’t ever do that again! Some of my video editing over the years has been a bit suspect, a bit amateur but you live and learn by mistakes and I’m better for it and so is my content.

As an influencer, you have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. In fact, perhaps most people who tried to follow a career path like yours did not succeed. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

whatever creative industry you start in, be it influencing, singing, acting , presenting — know that you will have to put in the work. In terms of influencing and content creation I treat it like a business and have done from the start. Get creating. You probably will need to outlay some money to begin with. Ensure you are using decent technology because influencing is such a visual format that the best tech does make a difference to what you create. I have managed to make all the money back that I spent on lighting and cameras at the beginning and I make sure I am up to date with the latest tech trends. I am a skincare influencer so I made sure I got in with the beauty PR’s at the beginning. They started to send me stuff and that helped with my content. Now those beauty PR’s are some of my friends and my cupboards are full. It is about building relationships and I tend to treat building those relationships in a similar way to the relationships I build in real life. You must believe in what you do. I am a skincare junkie. I have a back story about how I got here and it is truthful. People trust me and my content. I haven’t really tried to diversify when it comes to content creation. My followers want and expect certain content from me and that is what I give them. Success will not come overnight. It took me a year and a half to get my first paid post and it wasn’t much — probably around $350. It will take time and work to earn the big bucks. Keep going. You won’t earn for a while so be prepared.

Can you share with our readers some of the strategies you’ve used to build an engaged, loyal, and large online community?

Talking about skincare, I was lucky that I got into an underrepresented area. Mens skincare 5 or 6 years ago still wasn’t much of a thing in the UK. As soon as I started to get followers I engaged with them. Often they wanted advice so I made sure I answered all their questions. I started to build relationships with them. Through that I found out what they were interested in and I could base some of my content towards that. Despite being primarily about men’s skincare I found that mums and wives were following me and asking on behalf of their partners or sons. So that helped me with other content creation. Your audience very often leads your content. Grow your community and also get out there in real life if you can. You have to be SOCIABLE!

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. In my work, I focus on how one can thrive and care for oneself in three areas: body, mind, and heart. You are a busy person with a demanding schedule, can you share with our readers two self-care routines, practices or treatments that help your body thrive? (Kindly share a story or an example for each.)

Re-energise yourself. This is so important. Sunday is the day I take time to re energize. Maybe I will try something new. I will reflect on the week I have had and I even make notes. I recognize what has made it either a good or bad week. What has worked and what hasn’t. What I can do differently next week.

I also take that time to do a skin detox treatment. With this I will find a really good detox mask and run a bubble bath with candles. I find this so relaxing and it is something we can all do and doesn’t cost a fortune. It means I am ready for Monday. Social media never sleeps so sometimes you have to remove yourself for some time to get back to it freshly. You never know what will drop into your inbox that week. Self love is so important.

Can you share with us two routines that you use to help your mind or heart to thrive? (Kindly share a story or example for each.)

Candles are a big thing for me with calming music. I turn my phone off. I’m always on my phone as it is my job so I need time away from it. Sometimes as a content creator you can get numbed by constantly being on your phone. I find my brain freezes and I need time out. Once I found myself crying when watching videos on social media and I realised that my brain was so tired and it was affecting my ability to control my emotions. That is when I realised I had to ensure I had a period where my phone was off for a period of time each week.

Exfoliating your body is another thing which I highly recommend. The feeling of that is amazing and I think it helps with your mind. It’s almost like removing all the dead skin is a metaphor for the week! You feel cleansed.

Can you share five ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

Feeling beautiful really does come from the inside out. If you nourish your soul then you will feel brighter and look brighter. Here’s some of the things I do. Anyone can do them and they don’t cost lots of money and are pretty much accessible to everyone.

Take time for yourself — do yoga, go for a walk, run, swim or whatever gives you those endorphin rushes. I have 5 dogs and I love going for a long walk with them and my partner in the countryside near where I live. Getting back to nature with the people and things you love is so rewarding.

Love yourself. Take a break from social media and do something real away from a screen. If you like cooking, maybe try a new recipe?

Turn your phone off and watch your favourite TV programme. Engaging with other characters and stories takes your mind in a different direction.

Get a facemask and have a relaxing bath with bubbles and candles. If you like to enjoy a glass of wine, take it in the bath with you! I love to relax in this way and it sets me up for the week.

I like to learn new things so sometimes I’ll check out tutorials on youtube. I find this empowers me and makes me feel happy.

Is there a particular resource, a practitioner, expert, book, or podcast that made a significant impact on you and helped you to thrive? Can you share a story about that with us?

I love listening to Anna Faris’ podcast, I find it relaxing and interesting. I love real life stories on youtube. I like to find out about peoples’ histories and how they have got to where they’ve got to.

Do you have a story about the strangest, most bizarre or funniest wellness treatment that you’ve ever experienced?

I had a vampire facial once when Kim Kardashian was all over them. It was the craziest experience. They numbed my face. I had absolutely no idea at the amount of blood that comes out when they pierce your skin and then it gets smeared back over it. They took a picture and my stomach churned and I felt bruised. I will never do it again. It was the summer and you aren’t allowed to go out in the sun so I had to wait until nightfall before I could venture out. I actually felt like a vampire.

As an influencer, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I want men to continue to talk about skin care. We are making great steps in being able to express our emotions but we can still do more. Mental health figures in men are still very high so ensuring we keep encouraging men to open up and talk about their feelings is so incredibly important to me. I have lived that and I’m overcoming it. I also want to see all skin care products moved away from makeup aisles as it just isn’t conducive to gender inclusion.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you’d like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this. :-)

Courtney Cox because she has been really open about her skincare over the years, plus she is meant to be an amazing cook and she can teach me some cool dishes!

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

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https://twitter.com/ScottyMcGlynn

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Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!