Canada: Vanessa Craft, 37

Vanessa has been the beauty director of Elle Canada for two years. A die-hard beauty addict on first-name terms with both models and make-up artists, there is nothing she doesn’t know about beauty. She’s fiercely championing a bright bold lip and chic nude nails for spring.

“As stereotypical as it sounds from a Canadian, our beauty concerns are driven by the environment. It gets crazy cold here, which means dry, flaky skin and hair conditions, but it also gets super-hot in the summer.

As a result, we love anything containing argan oil that we can smother on our hair or repair wind burnt or dry skin. Ingredients wise, fruit stem cells are big news right now and, true to their Canadian spirit, B Kamins harness the antioxidant powers of our ubiquitous maple syrup to hydrate and brighten.

Effortless beauty is the ideal. No ‘try-hard’ looks. That’s not to say you can’t roll with graphic blue eyeliner or an edgy buzz cut – everyone in our office is working the pastel hair trend, from lavender streaks to delicate pink ombres and half-moon manis (reverse French) are all over the place – but the true standard is to look naturally gorgeous like you just woke up that way. Thick, glossy hair, beautiful skin and don’t-care-cool: that’s what we want.

We spend more per person on beauty products than our American counterparts ($212 per person to their $171). Our cities are full of a huge variety of ethnicities. We have giant Asian supermarkets (where we first spotted the BB cream trend years ago), and tons of West Indian hair shops to pick up hair oils.

The smaller, yet diverse Canadian market is often used as a ‘tester’ for brands before they launch in the States, too. Mac, Ojon, Bite Beauty, and the infamous Moroccan Oil were all born in Canada – Joe Fresh is the latest make-up brand on our lips – and though we’ll elbow an old lady out of the way to get our Chanel or La Prairie eye creams, we are very loyal to homegrown brands.”

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