Zoë Foster Blake, everyone’s Instagram girl crush, is coming to Canberra.

To say I’m excited is an understatement.

For those like me who have been beauty-obsessed from a young age, you probably know Zoë’s perfectly contoured face well. She’s a former beauty editor for Harper’s BAZAAR and Cosmopolitan, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

There seems no limit to what she can do. From beauty advice and spot on observations about motherhood via her incredibly popular Instagram to penning multiple non-fiction books (that are now being made into TV shows) and even creating her own skin care line, Go-To.

Zoë’s latest adventure, however, has actually been more of a revisit – she’s updated and bejazzled her 2010 beauty bible Amazing Face into…wait for it….Amazinger Face.

Zoë’s Amazinger Face book tour appearance at Muse Bookstore this weekend sold out in around eight seconds, but we managed to catch up with her in advance to chat about life, beauty and digital disruption.

Amazinger Face is a shiny, plumper update of 2010’s Amazing Face. I’ve heard that the update has something to do with sunscreen, beauty bloggers and Instagram? 

WHO TOLD YOU THESE LIES. Nah, you’re dead on, actually. The sunscreen bit because, well, to be blunt, I don’t agree with the stuff I wrote about sunscreen in the original, and it was no longer entirely accurate.

The beauty bloggers and Instagram bit because the beauty world has EXPLODED since Amazing Face was published five years back.

Every dame and her dog has a beauty blog; vloggers and beauty Youtube tutorials are massive, and smart young female celebrities quickly produce or sign on to endorse a beauty line. Also, our obsession with selfies and showcasing public and therefore perfect skin/hair/makeup constantly means we’ve all had to lift our game a bit, hasn’t it.

Image via instagram/zotheysay

What was the highlight (pun intended) of creating/updating Amazinger Face? 

I loved being able to go through and update products that were discontinued, or were no longer best in the field, and also put in some stuff about pregnancy and skin allergies, things that are really confusing areas for a lot of women. Also I got to refresh a lot of my (pretty bad) jokes.

Obviously this book contains patent secrets like the recipe for world peace and how to nail winged eyeliner – what’s a favourite tip/trick from Amazinger Face?  

Instead of trying to mask an angry spot with concealer and powder and blah blah blah at night, just pop a brown eyeliner pencil on top of the spot and twist gently so that it covers the pimple. Now you no longer have a pimple AND you have a beauty spot. You clever banana!

Your Instagram @zotheysay has a devout following – who are your top three ‘must follow’ beauty related Instagrams accounts?

Jen Atkin – Because she is the High Priestess of Hair 

Lisa Eldrige – A fantastically talented, easy to follow, softly spoken Big Time makeup artist from the UK

Ania Milczarczyk – An Aussie makeup artist with a sense of humour, and makeup looks are flawless, and a little bit different to everyone else. 

Approximately how many times per day does someone fangirl out on you over Twitter or Instagram? 

Constantly, and it’s always the same three people: Taylor Swift, Kylie Jenner and that bloody keeno, Gigi Hadid.

Image via instagram/zotheysay

Your boutique skincare line, Go-To, has developed a cult following since your launched in 2014. How do you see specialised lines fitting into the larger beauty industry landscape in the future?  

I wouldn’t call us specialised, exactly, as Go-To makes the essentials we all use, every day, but if you mean in terms of being a bit disruptive (oooh, buzzword!) and cheeky and sort of messing with how traditional skin care products are marketed and sold, then I think our job is to have fun with the consumer, and give her an experience she isn’t used to getting from a beauty brand.

We do this by making easy-to-use products she actually needs and that work, and on an engagement level, by making sure she has fun, and feels confident using the products and buying them online, and also that she is heard, and that her feedback is validated.

As we’re small, and local, and our business and consumers are entirely digital, we can do that. And it’s fun!

What is your dream product to launch through Go-To or, alternatively, what is a dream beauty product you’d like to see created? 

A perfect spray tan, and it lasts a whole stinkin’ year. Imagine that.