As the leaves turn amber and the days grow shorter, it’s natural to want to slow down, wrap up in cozy blankets, and take comfort in familiar rituals. But what if the last quarter of the year, starting in October, could be more than just a period of winding down?

Inspired by TikTok’s viral Winter Arc Challenge, this article will guide you through using fall and winter as a period of growth, glow-up, and setting yourself up for success come January. Let’s take the momentum from the summer glow-up trend and ride it through the cold months, not just to stay fabulous, but to grow in every aspect of life: beauty, wellness, and self- improvement.

What Is the Winter Arc?

The Winter Arc is a trend that’s been around in the fitness and wellness spaces for some time, but it’s blowing up this year thanks to influencers like Carly Berges, whose viral TikTok videos encourage followers to use the 90 days between October and December to make lasting changes.

@carlyupgraded

Instead of waiting for January to start on your goals, the Winter Arc pushes you to act now, transforming how you spend the colder months. Whether it’s setting new habits, improving mental and physical health, or simply ending the year on a strong note, this is about finishing the year with purpose.

Create Your Glow-Up to Growth Winter Arc Challenge

In keeping with this transformative mindset, let’s create a winter challenge designed to blend beauty, self-care, and goal-setting. It’s not just about aesthetics—it’s about cultivating habits that make you feel your best inside and out. Here’s how to approach the Winter Arc for a well- rounded year-end transformation:

Weekly Self-Care Rituals for Glow-Up Goals

Dedicate one day a week for indulgent, pampering self-care. Think luxurious face masks, hair treatments, or at-home spa days.

• Skincare Reset : After the summer’s exposure to the sun, winter is the perfect time to purify your pores and repair your skin barrier. Use this opportunity to try out new skincare products that can maintain your glow through winter.

£ £33.50

Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Mask

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Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Minimising Cleansing Clay Mask

£ £140

Sisley Black Rose Cream Mask

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Black Rose Cream Mask

• Hair nourishment : With summer’s heat behind us, it’s time to rejuvenate your hair. Hydrating masks, especially in the dry winter air, will work wonders.
Oils like argan or coconut will help repair sun damage and protect against the cold.

£ £28.45

Moroccan Oil Mending Infusion

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Moroccanoil Mending Infusion Styling Hair Serum

£ £47

Kerastase Nutri-Supplement Split Ends Serum

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Kérastase Nutritive Hydrating Split Ends Serum

• Home Spa Days: Indulge yourself with warm baths, fragrant oils, and soothing routines. Taking time to relax will also promote mental wellness, a key part of the Winter Arc.

Mental and Emotional Growth

• Journaling and Meditation : Set time aside each week for mental well-being. Whether it’s journaling about your day, writing or reading affirmations, or doing a guided meditation, nourishing your mind is crucial.

£ £42

Moleskine Precious & Ethical Notebook

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Moleskine Classic Notebook

£ £14.04

Ryve Affirmations Cards

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Affirmation Cards

• Early wake-ups : Avoid reaching for your phone first thing in the morning. Instead, spend the first hour of your day device-free, meditating, reading, or stretching. This small shift can help you start the day with clarity and intention.
• Gratitude Journaling: Begin each day by jotting down three things you’re grateful for. This simple practice can foster a more positive mindset and help you focus on the good throughout the colder months.

Physical Health and Movement

Don’t let the cold weather slow you down. The Winter Arc is a time to move your body and stay active, even indoors.

• Gentle Exercises: Commit to small, manageable daily exercises. Following a 10- minute Pilates or yoga video on YouTube is gentle enough for winter while still keeping your body active and engaged.

• Pilates easy workout
• Hydration and nutrition : It’s often falls by the wayside in winter, so be mindful of your water intake. Carry a stylish water bottle (a Stanley cup or any aesthetic alternative for motivation,) and make it a goal to drink a set amount of water each day.

£ £75

The Stanley Cross Bottle | 0.68L

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• Stanley Cup

As for food, focus on nourishing meals that warm you from the inside—think hearty soups packed with seasonal vegetables and lean proteins to fuel your body through the transformation.

Accountability and Motivation

The Winter Arc is not just about setting goals but staying consistent. Create a plan that works for you. Some might thrive with daily check-ins, while others might prefer weekly evaluations. If you’re feeling ambitious, share your progress with friends or social media to keep yourself accountable. The sense of community can be encouraging, especially when the days feel darker and more isolating.

Why You Should Try the Winter Arc

While many people wait for January to set their goals, the Winter Arc flips this concept on its head. By focusing on small, sustainable habits now, you’ll build momentum that will carry you into the new year. This transformation isn’t about dramatic changes, but about refining your daily routine so that by January, you’ve already laid a strong foundation for growth.

As Carly Berges aptly puts it, these darker months are perfect for reassessing what’s working in your life and illuminating areas that need more attention. This time is not only about the glow-up but also about personal growth that will set you up for success in the coming year.

Words By

The post From Glow-Up to Growth : Embracing the Winter Arc for a Year-End Transformation appeared first on Voir Fashion.

Recently, Voir had the pleasure of interviewing Girl Meets Brush’s founder, Lynne Mills, on her journey thus far – discussing everything from the overarching makeup industry, to her personal career journey and support network. By helping to produce the next generation of Make-Up Artists alongside exciting product innovation, there’s no doubt that the brand is a one-stop shop for all things makeup. Whilst nurturing talent in a supportive manner, Girl Meets Brush doesn’t fall short of emulating the challenges present within the wider makeup industry, pushing its clients to strive for success. The difference? At Girl Meets Brush, anything is possible, and when it comes to the pathway to triumph, there’s nothing quite like a little support and kindness to get you to the top. 

Lynne’s story is laced with tales of hard work, ambition, and a few little strokes of luck – the perfect concoction on the road to victory. From makeup tips to a plethora of competitions to get involved in, below, you’ll find everything you need to know about the makeup superstar and her trailblazing brand. 

Let’s start off with a couple of icebreakers. What’s your favourite makeup trend? 

I think my all time favourite, which is very recent, is strobing. I love natural skin, my signature look is creating that natural, flawless glow. Strobing is great for this time of year and it’s quite simple to do too, you just use a natural cream or liquid highlighter and add it at the top of your cheekbone, your temples, your cupid’s bow, and then a little bit down your nose, creating that flawless look but with a light matte foundation. It just gives a really lovely glow that stands out. It’s perfect for day makeup, for evening make up, for catwalks, and editorials – you can incorporate it in so many ways. It’s an all-round look.

If you could only use one makeup product for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

This is a tough one! There’s actually two, but I think the frontrunner would be a cream blusher. I love NARS’ Orgasm, you can put it on your cheeks, your eyes, and on your lips too, and the difference it makes is amazing. But also mascara, because you can define your brows and eyes by doing your lashes.

What is your best beauty tip for our readers as a professional MUA?

This one is from our community, it involves applying mascara – we were talking about it just a couple of months ago. It was something brought to the group, and we were like Oh My God! We’re gonna do this, it even works well on dark lashes. You just get a little brush and a cream liner or a liquid liner. You tickle a little bit of your mascara, brush it, and stroke it at the back of your lash with a fan brush. Not that many people use it because they’ve never heard about it!

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background in Make-Up Artistry. 

Well, it’s been 18 years. First of all, when I got into makeup, I wanted to be trained in makeup and fashion. There wasn’t a lot of options in Scotland, but that has changed drastically over the years. I trained in fashion and editorial in Manchester instead, and I did a beauty course that covered skincare and that kind of thing. When I came back to Scotland, I set up a business. What I wanted to do was build a team of make-up artists for special occasions and parties. Within a year, we were doing weddings across the country [Scotland] – I had a team of 5 make up artists which grew to 10, and we did this until 2011. We focused purely on that before we starting doing shoots and editorials, one of which was featured in Vogue, which was a really great platform for me. I then did a product launch, developing my own eyelash products which were launched by Harvey Nichols. It was a false eyelash with an eyeliner flick attached, and it was picked up by ASOS too. After that, Eylure contacted us, so I collaborated with them, they licensed the product and we sold it out to them eventually.

Did you work with any celebrities during that period? Did this help you further down the line with Girl Meets Brush? 

Throughout doing bridal work, the products and editorial shoots, I worked with quite a few celebrities such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Anna Friel, Arlene Philips, Russell Brand, Mo Gilligan, the original cast of Great British Bake Off Team and Celebrity Juice Presenter, Keith Lemon. All of this led up to the Girl Meets Brush launch.

So how did Girl Meets Brush products come about? Do you feel there was a gap in the market for this? 

So the business of Girl Meets Brush was about having all this experience and putting it together, this inclusive brush set that has everything that you need – rather than a set where something is missing or there’s far too many brushes. It comes with a gage so you know what to do with it. It’s developed for makeup teams to both use on their jobs, but also sell to their customers. What happened was that the business evolved into a community for makeup artists, and then into an academy as well. So, we’ve got the product side of the business, as well as the academy and community side too, which has evolved from 2015 to now. When we were in lockdown, our online community had so many signs ups, so that’s when it really started off. We did make-up challenges and online masterclasses, building on that community and keeping the creativity going. Now, the online community has evolved in that we focus on creating opportunities, so we do fashion weeks, masterclasses, and publication opportunities too. 

Your brand is all about community, offering support to make-up professionals of different skill sets. How do you make make-up simple for the everyday woman and MUA’s? 

We offer online courses, we run a membership, and we give people high-end, quality training. You can choose to pay monthly to have more flexibility too. We’ve got a few different labels, but first, we’ve got three groups for community – for people just to chat and get to know others as make up artists, to share tips, and to work. Ultimately, we give people community, training and opportunity.

Your online masterclasses are very inclusive in terms of both technique and business – do you feel like learning the business side of the makeup industry is as important as the artistry?

Yes! Absolutely. I mean, we’ve got a lot of make-up artists who had very little experience on the business side of things when they joined. The high-end program focuses on your skills and portfolio, including how to put it together and present it well for the clients. A lot of make-up artists who come to us have experience and great images, but nothing is happening and they feel quite stuck. It’s up to us to take them through the necessary process. It is definitely easier when you find your signature look and find where you fit in the market. The make up market is enormous, there are so many areas and you don’t have to be able to do everything. People get so overwhelmed, but the truth is that you need to focus on what it is you want to do. The easiest route is to find your strongest area and go from there. Get your portfolio and website set up, your social media looking good, and work on how to use to these platforms properly. Get that social proof and then just set some targets and goals for yourself.

Makeup is a difficult field to be successful in. How do you think your academy helps with this? Do you wish that something similar was around when you were starting out in the industry? 

Yes, absolutely! I wish there was something like this when I was starting out. Even just to be able to get help from your peers and to have a safe space. In our academy, we give positive and constructive feedback to one another and people feel safe to ask a question without feeling silly. You can always ask for help from our community with something you’re stuck on, but when I was starting out, you had to figure everything out yourself. There wasn’t a huge amount of support at all. People never really wanted to share any of their secrets, so I think it’s good to have a community that’s based on sharing secrets for success.

When it comes to Girl Meets Brush, we’ve got a lot of success stories about people who have felt a bit stuck within the industry, but who came to us, used the skills we gave them, and launched successful businesses for themselves.

Tell us more about the opportunities that you give people, such as fashion weeks and editorial projects.

A lot of the opportunities come through doing our make up challenges. For example, the Glow Up series which is on BBC – the make up they do on the show is amazing, some of them are very creative. It pushes you out of your comfort zone, as it’s not going to be your everyday makeup. So we do this challenge series, and at the end we have different winners and educational awards – rewarding people that are working as professionals now. 

Our main winners are experienced make-up artists who know what they’re doing. But those who are just starting out on their journey have shown amazing work throughout the challenges too. Maybe in the next year or so, they will be the ones creating the publication opportunities. They are developing their aesthetic and learning from the other girls, with everybody sharing their tips and expertise. 

We’ve got contestants from Glow Up coming to masterclasses with us and sharing their advice. It just allows them to grow in that way. In terms of publication opportunities, we have master classes in the academy that help them to do that, creating a good photo, with good lighting. But what we also do is fashion week, running twice a year, which is a great opportunity for the girls. We want to challenge them and make sure that they put themselves forward, so we’ve got that running up until the middle of next month in September. Quite a few of the girls are doing bridal work, it gives them a platform. Some of the girls did a shoot in Iceland!

You are holding a Girl Meets Brush Make-Up competition where candidates go face to face to create the best look. Tell us all about it. How can you apply, and what should we expect?

We hold lots of challenges! The Glow Up is one of our main challenges, but we also do our make up artist of the year, and that runs in a similar way. We do a challenge series which people can still apply for. It runs for 10 weeks and will likely start in September, running to near Christmas. You get another publication opportunity, as well as the chance to join us backstage at the February show during Fashion Week.

We do lots of challenges in between though, including one just after the Glow Up based on the MET gala. It pushes everyone to create. In fact, we have some girls who largely use it for their portfolio. Some amazing opportunities end up coming their way. it just sets them apart and gives them that platform to have their works seen in editorial credits and fashion weeks. It also helps them to understand how to network. Those who apply themselves to it see the success. When you come to Girl Meets Brush, you need to be involved in our community to get the most out of everything but, we have so much to offer. 

Our next Challenge Series is starting up really soon which is our MUA of the Year Awards, you can win some amazing opportunities & credit here too & it’s one of our most exciting challenges.

Last Years MUA of the Year Winners

Do you have any words of wisdom for those who are taking part in the competitions, or for those who want to give it a go at home? 

Please don’t be overwhelmed or think the industry is too saturated, because it’s not. It is about doing what you love to do and being interested in make-up, as well as finding your signature style and focusing on what it is that you love. With the right support you can succeed! It is a huge industry, but there are so many opportunities – so stop thinking that it is too big or too much, because it’s not. There’s room for everybody. The bigger the industry grows, the more opportunities there will be.

Here at Voir, we’re all about community, and Girl Meets Brush is no different. With humble beginnings, offering products that were simply accessible to the masses, the brand has now flourished into its very own, global MUA forum, aiding individuals around the world at each stage of their journey. Through editorial opportunities and competitions, the brand has provided burgeoning talents with the opportunities that they need to make it to the very top – a prospect difficult to achieve in an industry as competitive as this one. 

If there’s one word to sum up Girl Meets Brush, it’s encouragement. In a world where the strongest of talents can often go unnoticed, sometimes, competitiveness is the easy route. Girl Meets Brush refuses to subscribe to this philosophy. Instead, it offers a strong support system where everyone helps one another, sharing their strengths and weaknesses whilst simultaneously striving to be successful in whatever sector of the industry they choose to tackle. What is there not to love? 

Get involved with Girl Meets Brush competitions/forums:

GMB Masterclass

Any Aspiring MUA’s can sign up to GMB’s Free MUA Masterclass with Founder, Lynne Mills, which discusses how to get started as well as details on the academy & how they can help. A sign up offer is now available.

Brand Ambassador Programme

GMB are relaunching their Brand Ambassador Programme for their Brush & Palette Collections later this Summer with amazing Pro Discounts & Promotional Opportunities, including exciting Make-Up Challenges for all. You can also win the opportunity for a Palette Collaboration! GMB are looking for Pro MUAs, Aspiring MUAs & all Make-Up Lovers in general too! Sign up for more information.

GMB Facebook Community

GMB’s free facebook community is available where you can meet like-minded aspiring MUAs & share your work. Find support & inspiration on GMB’s page here.

£ 80

Girl Meets Brush Essential 12 Piece Brush Set

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£ 38.99

Girl Meets Brush EyeShadow Palettes

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Words by Gracie Eastwood

^{Header Image Lynne Mills @girlmeetsbrush}

The post An Interview With Lynne Mills: Introducing The Founder Of Girl Meets Brush  appeared first on Voir Fashion.

It’s day God-knows-what of working-from-home, the novelty of rolling out of bed into a makeshift home office at 8:58 is wearing off and the fatiguing prospect of staying at home for the indefinite future is causing you to lose track of what day of the week it is. The lack of structure and social life – group Facetimes just aren’t quite the same as the real thing. Isn’t this exactly what we all wanted, though, More hours in the day? If we’re going to be stuck inside for the foreseeable, now is the time to focus on being your best self. Skincare, haircare, working out etc. Here is Voir’s summary on how we plan to achieve a quarantine glow up as we make way into a hot girl summer.

PSA: it’s completely OK if you’re feeling anxious and if seeing people online treat isolation like a self-care/wellness retreat or who seem to be doing a million and one things at once is stressing you out. It’s also OK if you do just want to spend your time watching Netflix or YouTube videos if that makes you feel good in these weird times!

Reset Your Skincare Routine

We’re all guilty of having dozens of skincare and beauty products hibernating in the depths of our bathroom cupboards from a 10-step daily routine we started months ago and kept up for a week before slowly falling out of the habit. If you’ve been neglecting your skin, now is the perfect time to start paying it some extra attention – that face mask you’ve been saving for a special occasion, that night oil you forget to apply each night until you’re already too wrapped up in the warmth your duvet, that serum you don’t bother applying in the morning for fear of turning up to work looking like you’ve just run a half-marathon in 25-degree heat. If you don’t have any masks around you can also refer to the Voir’s article of homemade skincare(https://www.voirfashion.co.uk/post/from-cupboard-to-skin-homemade-skin-remedies) of natural organic products found in your home that can serve as skincare alternatives. Even if you’re not going anywhere, there’s nothing better than fresh feeling skin, and in however many weeks when we emerge from our quarantine, we’ll all be glowing.

Work Out At Home

Apparently, there’s something about being forced into confinement that’s giving everyone the itch to get up and move – everyone, even the people who haven’t so much as run 100 metres since school, seems to be downloading Couch to 5K or proudly sharing their home workouts on their Instagram stories. When you’re stuck inside, sat at a desk or curled up on the sofa for hours on end, there’s nothing better than exercise to break up your day and give your body and mind a shot of energy in the form of a run or a home workout. So, now’s the time to start that home fitness plan you’ve been putting off for weeks, or simply try one of the plethoras of free workout videos on YouTube and Instagram. Getting some fresh air is also one of the best ways to get a physical and mental refresh, so if you can, put on a podcast or your favourite playlist and step out for a (socially distanced) walk.

Try New Recipes

Feel good from the inside out and nourish your body by trying out some healthy new recipes. Dust off the old cookbook on your shelf or download a recipe app and find comfort in the joy of home-cooked food – the Deliciously Ella app (https://deliciouslyella.com) is a go-to (and affordable) favourite for easy, healthy plant-based recipes. Or, bake some indulgent treats that’ll give you a little something to look forward to each day.

Get Creative With Social Media

Not sure how to maintain a perfectly curated Instagram feed while quarantined? Get creative with the content you can create from the confines of your home – after all, there’s only so many throwback pictures we have backlogged in our photo rolls to post. Practice taking the perfect WFH OOTD selfie-and yes, that means changing out of your pyjamas and actually getting dressed – or stack your favourite necklaces and snap your layered (the latest Instagram jewellery trend). Organise your room to create a -worthy display of joy-inducing memories and pieces – whether it’s snapping a colour-coordinated bookshelf, your favourite aesthetically pleasing beauty products in the bathroom or simply a thoughtfully put-together collection of personal objects.

Practice Make-Up Tutorials

Since you most likely won’t be seeing anyone (besides whoever you’re living or isolating with) for a while, now is your chance to hone your makeup skills and get outside of your beauty comfort zone by experimenting with some bolder looks. YouTube offers a cornucopia of tutorials for a schooling in how to perfect that contouring or cut crease. If you are not sure where to start here is a list of makeup look to try. (https://www.voirfashion.co.uk/post/5-eye-looks-to-try-if-you-re-wfh)

Practice Mindfulness

We all know by now that meditation and yoga are great for combatting stress and anxiety and for focusing your energy on yourself rather than everything going on in the world around you, but there’s never been a better time to slow down and take some time to be more introspective. It can be hard to really remove yourself from the outside world at first, so find an online guided meditation or live stream yoga practice to help you get started. Even if it’s just devoting an hour or so of time a day to doing something that you enjoy away from any distractions – taking a bath, journaling, tackling the pile of books you’ve been meaning to read for months. Here are some examples of yoga meditation sessions that will help you find inner peace.

Clear Out Your Closet

There’s nothing more satisfying than a perfectly organised, uncluttered closet. Now is the time to Marie Kondo your wardrobe. Practice the art of Kon Mari (https://konmari.com) by throwing out anything that no longer inspires you when getting dressed (but of course, donate or resell rather than throwing away if you can). Go one step further and clean out your whole room, flat or house – after all, an organised space is an organised mind.

Words by Ruby McAuliffe

Graphics by Katie Janes

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The post The Quarantine Glow-Up appeared first on Voir Fashion.