An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Season 2, Episode 1: Liz Dwyer and Nikki Dwyer

Aesthetic obsessives and founders of Future Beauty

Sisters Liz and Nikki are renowned in the industry for their absolute hold-no-hostages approach to aesthetics. I’m not sure if they try EVERTHING themselves, but nothing goes without scrutiny. This episode is a hoot, and a bit of a head-spinner (sisters, you know), but you’ll definitely end up entertained, wiser, and with some really good first-hand advice on how to spend your hard-earned cash, if you choose to spend it on aesthetics!

There’s also plenty of gossip. Liz worked with me as beauty editor in IMAGE for years and has loads of industry tea to spill… like the infamous press trip to Barbados to meet Rhianna…

Liz and Nikki also have their own podcast, Fess Up! On all channels

Follow on Instagram @lizdwyerbeauty, @nikkidwyer32, @futurebeautyshow

This season we’re delighted to call Dylan hotel our home. Thank you so much to all the team for treating us, and our guests with your warmth, welcome and five star luxury while we record in your beautiful surroundings. Check out @dylandublin and https://www.dylan.ie/

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis, The Portable Producer @fearghc

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 12: Triona McCarthy

Beauty guru, influencer, style and social butterfly, mother

You know that phrase ‘Be yourself, because everyone else is taken’? That’s Triona!

She’s bright, creative, kind, and incredibly resourceful. And it’s all of these things that have gotten her to the top of the Irish beauty scene – originally as beauty writer with the Sunday Independent, and now as one of our most in-demand social media influencers where she shares pretty much everything in her life; warts, hangovers and all.

I’ve known Triona for about 20 years. Our friendship began as we went on so many press trips together, and has evolved through so many highs and lows of life… literally births, deaths and marriages. But even then, there’s so much I don’t know about Triona (a fencing competitor, anyone?), so it was a joy to have this podcast as an occasion to sit down and fill in some gaps.

Enjoy the following conversation which may not have a huge amount of ‘beauty’ in it, but if you want to hear a woman’s unconventional story about side hussles, parties and press launches, ADHD diagnosis, bad boyfriends, style inspiration, a life before – and after – social media, and how meeting the right man suddenly made everything feel right, then this is for you.

Follow Triona everywhere @triona.ie

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 11: Aisling Keenan

Beauty journo, DJ, calligrapher, unofficial sex therapist, sinesthete.

This week, it’s a festive special full of plenty of user-friendly suggestions. I have to say, “party” season can be quite daunting, so here we strip things back to the helpful things to get a look together, and keep it on your face for longer than the session you’re about to embark upon.

Then… we cover winter skin, gift ideas and how to recover from the whole process and start again.

There’s also anecdotes shared from our combined lives and experiences in beauty journalism, Aisling’s other talents and interests, and her unique form of sienesthia. If you don’t know what that, you will soon.

Follow Aisling on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter @aislingmkeenan

Aisling’s podcast, Private Education is on all platforms

Subscribe to Aisling’s Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/aislingmkeenan

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 10: Dr Mary Ryan

Consultant Endocrinologist, Female empowerment advocate, mother

This week, we’re straying slightly from the world of aesthetics, makeup and hair, but it’s very much in a similar space as I managed to lure the highly esteemed consultant endocrinologist, Dr Mary Ryan, to Dublin for a chat.

Mary Ryan is the holy trinity of wellness.. part medic, part detective and part cheerleader. Her skill is finding the underlying health issues we may not be aware of, but are suffering as consequences of.

Dr Ryan goes through the various issues that come from hormone imbalance, including burnout, obesity, infertility, anxiety, depression, female health complications, and how what you thought was peri-menopause could actually be something completely different.

Mary Ryan is a strong advocate for female empowerment and believes we won’t solve the problems of today without treating the adults of tomorrow equally.

Follow Dr Mary Ryan on Instagram @drmaryryan

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 9: Christine Lucignano

Face painter, beauty product wiki, dogmom Christine is Ireland’s grande fromage of make-up. She’s devoted a lifetime to it and is possibly one of the most clued-in, brand-savvy creatives I know. That’s because before she ever picked up a brush, she was immersed in the business side of beauty, working her way up with the Nordstrum retail group in the USA.

This is a chat about products… and people… and prep, the three most important things in a top-notch MUA’s life.

From San Francisco to Dublin, via New York in the 9-11 days, Christine tells her story, and reveals which celebrities she looks after, and what she does for them – the micro-miracles that make all the difference to a finished face.

I’m so sorry, I had great intentions of listing the key products Christine mentioned in the notes here, but of course we ran away with ourselves. There are too many to mention, so if you need any further help or assistance, my DMs are always open so feel free to ask.

Follow Christine on Instagram @cloochy

For more on Christine, and some lovely pics go to http://christinelucignano.com

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 8: Jennifer Rock

Skin nerd, mum, brand founder and entrepreneur 

In short, Jennifer knows everything there is to know about skin – how to fix it, how to perfect it, and how to mind it. Even better, she can communicate all this information in a very easy to understand way.

Jennifer’s story is a tale of success absolutely not being linear, but hard work and a few lucky breaks help. (She tells the story of 10,000 Cleanse Off Mitts sitting in her parents’ attic before finding a path to sell-out glory). She also shares about finding her ‘er’, and personal happiness.

As with all she does, this chat with Jennifer is quality!

For everything nerd-ish, go to

https://www.theskinnerd.com

For Skingredients, go to https://skingredients.com

Follow Jennifer on Instagram @theskinnerd @skingredients @jenniferrock

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 7: Andrew Fitzsimons

Hairstylist, session stylist, celebrity stylist, founder of Andrew Fitzsimons haircare The Irish hairdresser who went to LA (via Paris and New York) has quite a story to tell… about coming out and (not) fitting in in Ireland, about spreading his wings and learning his profession from the ground roots (sorry about the pun) up… about living a very fabulous life, working with global single-name celebs from Edel to J-Lo, and of course his close-bonded Kardashian credentials.

There’s also loads here about his style, his self-monikered haircare brand and a few hair trend and style tips.

For everything on Andrew Fitzsimons hair, go to https://www.andrewfitzsimons.com/

Follow Andrew on Instagram @andrewfitzsimons

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 6: Kim O’Sullivan, The Dublin Makeup Academy 

Makeup artist, Brow specialist, Phibrow Grand Master, Businesswoman, Mum.

Today, it’s a crash and a half, because Kim O’Sullivan has a waiting list of – wait for it – twenty four months, to get access to. Yes, that’s two years! So, you can imagine how thrilled I was that Kim made time to sit down with me and let me delve into the recesses of her brain.

We chat here about how Kim’s career grew with her experience, first in retail, then into make-up when she became one of the original face designers when the Armani beauty counter opened in Brown Thomas about 20 years ago. And then… well, then the entrepreneur in Kim took hold as she started to break out and establish her own business – The Dublin Makeup Academy.

About 10 years ago, Kim started to specialise in brows and through time, experience and hard work she’s now A Phibrow Grand Master – one of only a handful globally. That means she’s an experienced and excellent practitioner as well as an educator of brow design and semi-permanent techniques, and she continues to expand her expertise.

Kim tells her story so well, sharing the highs and troughs of that non-linear journey to success along with plenty of tips on good brows, lashes, and product shout outs.

For more info and bookings with The Dublin Makeup Academy, see https://thedublinmakeupacademy.com

Follow on Instagram @thedublinmakeupacademy

Follow Kim @phigrandmaster_kimosullivan

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 4: Kerry Hanaphy Nurse, empath, businesswoman, aesthetician, Lip Queen

Filling – or refreshing – lips is a very fine art. It requires someone who’s vision can calculate the algorithms of beauty – which is all about symmetry and ratios – and combine them with very deft needle skills. For me, there’s only one practitioner who’s head and shoulders above anyone else in Ireland, and that’s The Lip Queen herself, Kerry Hanaphy.

At this stage in her career, Kerry has filled over 40,000 lips, and if you combine this experience with her background in nursing, you’ll see why she’s so good at what she does. She’s also kind, incredibly so, and has a wonderful way with people. It’s unsurprising then, that she’s built her business up, pretty much entirely through word of mouth, and now she runs three clinics across different parts of Dublin. 

Kerry knows everything there is to know about enhancing lips, whether you want to look like a Love Island contestant, or maybe might prefer a more subtle refresh to restore lost volume… Because that, I believe is one of the biggest misnomers about lip filling – it doesn’t need to be obvious to be effective, and it can make a huge difference to a person’s face and confidence.

We cover absolutely everything you might want to know ahead of an appointment… what’s involved in the procedure, what anaesthetic should you use (and which your therapist should avoid), how the product works, and how long it’ll last. We talk about where filler should go, and where it shouldn’t, aftercare, the Botox lip-flip, and how dissolving filler isn’t quite as straightforward as the TikTokers might suggest.

If you’re listening to this in real time, and it’s the end of October, this interview probably comes at a handy time – ahead of party season, so I hope you find it helpful.

Kerry Hanaphy’s clinics are situated at; 

27 South William Street, Dublin 2

Citywest Shopping Centre, Dublin 24

Unit 12, Boroimhe Shopping Centre, Swords, Co. Dublin

For bookings, either DM or call 086 771 6715

Follow Kerry on Instagram @kerryhanaphy

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx

An Appointment With… A podcast series where I crash the waiting lists of the beauty industry’s best creatives and professionals, and bring you with me.

Episode 4: Conor Doyle

Hairdresser, social media supernova, educator, entertainer. Conor is one of the new breed of nomad creative professionals who has to manage his business, his personal brand and his revenues whilst simultaneously creating digital content, managing client expectations and dealing with a constantly beeping inbox … all whilst trying to maintain some form of decent work/life balance, and mental sanity. No tall order.

This is a great chat, that covers everything from ADHD to the horrific effects fake tan can have on your highlights. There’s plenty here for fellow hair professionals on how to develop – and stay on top of – a career, as well as tips for the rest of us on salon etiquette and how up our good hair day quota.

Follow Conor on TikTok and Instagram @conorjmd

An Appointment With… is hosted by Melanie Morris @melaniemorris

Produced by Fearghal Curtis @tall_tales_podcasts

Enjoy!

Melanie xx