Life in Colour - 13: Champagne, Style & Skincare with Kirsten Smith founder of Bettyquette

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

In this episode of Life in Colour, I'm joined by the fabulous Kirsten Smith — wife, mum, midlife cheerleader, and founder of Bettyquette, a skincare brand born from resilience, honesty, and a whole lot of heart. Kirsten and I chat about everything from business beginnings and travel tales to juggling motherhood and prioritising health — and how, through a season of adversity and illness, the idea for Bettyquette was born. We talk about what it means to age with grace and grit, the surprising upsides of midlife, and why a good serum and a splash of champagne can go a long way. Kirsten is a former early childhood teacher turned content creator and accidental founder of the award-winning skincare brand, Bettyquette. Based in Brisbane, Australia, she has spent the past decade sharing authentic, relatable life and style inspiration with her online community. Kirsten’s life took an unexpected turn when, at the age of 42, she began losing her eyesight and was diagnosed with a rare condition known as Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH). The daily cocktail of medication she relied on to save her eyesight left her skin dry, dull, and dehydrated—yet nothing on the market provided the deep hydration her skin so desperately needed. Determined to find a solution, she created her own: a hydrating face oil. That one product became the foundation of Bettyquette, a natural skincare brand dedicated to helping women achieve healthy, glowing skin with products that truly work. Follow Kirsten for life and style inspiration on Instagram and Facebook: @kirstenandco Discover her skincare brand: @bettyquette www.bettyquette.com.au

Welcome to Life in Color, the podcast where we dive into the real, raw and wonderfully colorful aspects of life. I'm your host, Ashley, and I'm here to explore the ins and outs of seasonal color analysis, navigating motherhood, thriving in your 40s and beyond, and embracing health and wellness with a healthy dose of humor. Join me as we uncover the secrets behind finding your perfect palette, share stories of the joys and challenges of being a mum, and from practical tips to heartfelt conversations, life in color is your space to laugh, learn, and live life unapologetically in all of its colourful hues. So grab your favourite drink, settle in and let's add some colour to this adventure that we call life. Welcome to Life in Color.

Well, today I am so excited to have somebody on the Life and Color podcast that I have known on Instagram for a really long time. I think it's quite a few years. So Kirsten, I have known as Betterkit. She's the owner of a fabulous skincare company on Betta Kut, but also she's an amazing style makeup, just everyday life. I think one of her favorite phrases to use is the glamour never ends. I think that is something that has resonated with me. So welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for having me.

Well, it is a joy to be able to interview you today. So like we've just talked about off camera, I thought it would be really good if you could just introduce yourself and tell the audience who you are, what you do. And then we can go from there. Sure. Well, my name's Kirsten. I live in Brisbane. I grew up in New Zealand, moved over to Australia when I was 15.

With my family, I'm married. I've got two adult children, Sophie and Bailey. And yes, I have a natural skincare company, which I'm sure we will chat about, but that all completely happened by accident. And, yeah, I share the ins and outs of my life on Instagram. So when did you start that account? Because I feel like I've been following you. I've been on Instagram since 2015, I think, in different various.

capacities. So when did you join or what made you decide to start, I guess, a page for people to follow where you would share things about your life, health, wellness, style, all that kind of thing. So to rewind before, I actually was one of the first people to join Instagram way back when it first launched. Before that, I had a blog and that was back in the day when the only thing that existed was Facebook. So once Instagram started, I didn't really understand what that was all about. But back then, way back, I think it was like 2011, you'd literally just take photos of your food and run it through a Valencia filter and put a little frame around it. And that was that.

And I think for the first 12 months, I had my account set to private because I was just so like, why would people want to see photos of me? I didn't get it. So it took me a while to ease into it. But eventually I got it and I'm still here. Still there all this time. So let's try to rewind of it then. So what made you start a blog?

because I was talking to, you know, I've done an interview with Beth McDonald a little while ago and she was also one of the like OG bloggers. And so what made you start doing that? So I used to be an early childhood teacher and I exited out of the classroom when Sophie, our daughter, was about three just because my husband was traveling a lot and it just became, it was just really hard to balance everything. So we made a decision to just let me have a break from working full time for a year and to see how that would go.

And I mean, I love being a mom and I love, I'm an early childhood teacher. So I love being around the kids when they were little. But there were days where I was like, I need something else. I need something. So I just started writing. I started a blog. I didn't tell anyone I was doing it. It really back then was just more for me as a bit of an outlet.

And I actually used to love organizing kids birthday parties and do them for friends and of course for my own kids. And so that's really what the focus was about. I would share birthday parties and baking recipes. and just everyday life. And eventually it just sort of gained a bit of traction. And then one of my birthday cakes that I made for one of Sof's birthdays got picked up by a massive blog at the time in America called Amy Atlas.

And she was sort of like the Martha Stewart of birthday parties. And it got picked up and that post went completely viral. Wow. I have no idea. Yeah. And so I don't really talk about it because it was way back when and it went viral. And I had the self-confidence of a flea. I had no self-confidence back then.

And I didn't know what to do with that. And so I did nothing with it. Just I had so many opportunities. And I was like, I'd get emails from brands and things. And I'd be like, I think you've got the wrong person in my brain. I was like, surely that, no, this can't be right. So I just kept it. It was just very much a hobby.

And then I eventually started after about a year or so. I started working with brands. And that was in the really early days of monetizing. I don't even think that word existed then. And ironically, people. who have followed me for a while on Insta, well, no, I'm not an outdoorsy person. And ironically, the first sponsored post I ever did was for a brand that did clip on mosquito clips onto your clothes.

That is hilarious for me knowing how much you don't like the outdoors. Oh my gosh, that is hilarious. And so what I did for that was I actually did photo, because back then there was no videos. You just did all photos and uploaded them to your blog. And so I actually took photos of myself having a glass of champagne on the patio with this mosquito thing clipped to my jeans. And that's kind of when I realized you can inject humor into blogging. And that's actually something that not a lot of people were doing back then.

It was all very, well, the blogging world I was in was very sort of very serious with fashion and food and that kind of thing. And I just sort of transitioned into making things just light and fun. And I think that's kind of what resonated with a lot of people. I think having followed you for so long, that still resonates with. a lot of people because of how real you are because I think there are so many influences. There are so many people out there doing it now who it's one show for Instagram and then what you see behind the scenes is totally different. And a everyday women can't live up to that

expectation and they sort of berate themselves for that. But secondly, I mean, that's who's got the time to lead a double life? Like quite frankly. That's it. And the landscapes changed so much way back then. Everything was so real. Like there were no, like you couldn't access Photoshop or, you know, there was nothing to filter those except what was an Instagram wasn't a thing then. So everything you posted was just real. Like I look back at old blog post and I'm mortified by the quality of the photos. But everyone was in real. Yeah. It really was real life. And just like anything in life, the best way to be successful is to literally be yourself. Yeah. From day dot, I've just been myself. And at times it's quite scary to put yourself out there.

but I eventually over time just realized so many people give you back so much love when you are yourself. I agree with that wholeheartedly. I think any time that I've deviated trying to think of, you know, over the time of the businesses that I've had and then what I'm even doing now, if you deviate from that because you feel like that's what's either expected or, I'll give this a go because, you know, that's what, it never works out. Well, for me, it never works out. And as soon as I come back to being true to me, like I think I spent ages,

editing a reel a couple of weeks ago. And then when I went to post it, Instagram gave me a warning saying, you're over three minutes. We're not showing this to anybody new because you're too long. And I was like, stuff that. I'm doing it anyway because my audience like it when I do long, rambly, winding videos where I'm explaining things and going off on tantets. That's what they like. And I think if you, you know, your pigeonhole, when they try and pigeonhole everyone to do the same kind of thing, that's when it gets really boring as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And life is full of ups and downs. It's not pretty all the time.

So that's why I love saying the glamour never ends because one day you can be doing a glamorous photo shoot for a brand or for your own brand or whatever it is or going out to a nice restaurant. And the next day you're deep cleaning the floors. Absolutely. And I think you as a business owner as well, you know, we wear all the hats. We do everything. We're tech.

We're marketing, customer support, trying to then invent or make what we're doing. And that's hard and challenging when you're doing. all of that. And it's not all fun and it's not all pretty, but we get in there and we do it anyway. So how did you then, because I know you and I have obviously spoken quite a bit that both of our families over the years have had more health issues and journeys, say, than other families have. So how did you, I know that that then led into how you started better kits. So if you're happy to give an overview of sort of how you ended up there. Yeah. So when I was in my early 40s, I began to lose my eyesight.

And I had a whole lot of other issues going on. Like I had balanced issues, social numbness, really chronic migraines. And then my eyesight started going quite patchy. And then it got to the point where whenever I stood up, I would lose vision completely in my left eye. So I was going blind at a really rapid rate.

I didn't realize at the time that's what was happening to me. And I had, I've been short-sighted all my life. So I actually had laser corrective surgery way back about 18 years ago. And so when my eyesight started playing up, I just thought it was that wearing off. But then putting all those other symptoms together, I was like, something's not right. And then when it got to the point where I was actually going losing eyes, losing vision, I was like, I've got to do something about this.

So I went to an optometrist and they checked my eyes and were like, no, they're fine. Then I went to my GP and he was like, well, optometrists are very really wrong. I think you're okay. And then that's when my vision really. after that visit was when everything sort of came to a head. So I went to another GP, demanded to see someone, I didn't know who. I was like, I need to see a specialist of some kind because something's not right. And she was like, yeah, you need to go see an ophthalmologist, which is an eye specialist.

So I saw an ophthalmologist. And right at the end of the meeting, an appointment, rather, he looked in the back of my eyes. And then he said, could you take a seat? And I was like, I didn't have a lot of experience in the medical field at this point. but I was like, I know it's not good when I tell you to sit down. And so I sat down and he said, you have swollen optic nerves. This is something that I don't see very often. I'm really pleased you'll hear because this is really serious.

And it means one of three things. And it was either multiple sclerosis, a brain tumour, or this condition called idiopathic intracranial hypertension, or IIAH for short, which I'd never heard of. So he said, we need to send you for our lumbar puncture. and an MRI to confirm the diagnosis, but he was leaning towards I-I-H. And long story short, that's what I had. So basically, it is a really rare thing.

It's one and a hundred thousand women in Australia diagnosed with it a year. It's where my body has too much. We all have this fluid in our body is called cerebral spinal fluid, and my body for some reason just has too much. And it was sitting all around my brain, and it was actually pushing my eyeballs out of my head. And so that, what was what was causing the vision loss. So left untreated, it's permanent vision loss.

You can't, you can't reverse it. So it was all just a matter of once the diagnosis was in, it was like right off to a neurologist and get a plan underway. So the IAH itself didn't make me sick, but the medication that the neurologist put me on, I was actually had, he had a team that he worked with. So I had a neurologist, an ophthalmologist, and an endocrinologist, all working together.

And at the peak of it, I was on about 25 different tablets a day. I had alarms set in my phone every three hours to take this medication. And I remember my neuro saying to me, the first time you take this medication, you're going to want to stop it because it's going to make you feel sicker than you've ever felt in your entire life. But if you stop it, you will lose your eyesight. So that's a choice you have to make. What a choice to be given. That's just...

Right. And he wasn't kidding. I was so sick. So I-IH itself didn't make me sick, even though it was affecting my eyesight. But all the medication, we joke that 2015 was year of the couch because that's where I spent the entire year. I went from being the mum that was really hands-on, you know, I'd volunteer in the classroom, and I was, I'd bake every week.

And, you know, I was that mum to just not been out of function as a mum, as a wife, as a friend. I just couldn't do anything. it took me in total it took five years to push this thing into remission i mean i've been in remission now for a couple of years um but the first two years were really really difficult um because that's when it just the medication wasn't working and i had to keep upping the levels and i had six weekly appointments with all of those three um specialists and it was just this nonstop cycle of feeling like you i was never going to come out the other end yeah and i had some really dark days and in amongst all that I was still blogging and I was sharing this story just a little bits and

pieces. I've just gone back now and I've just started writing a book about it. I've said that in your stories last week. Yeah. So I've been belating all the blog posts and I've realized that I really downplayed how serious it was and how sick I was. But I think looking back on it, because I didn't know what this thing was, I didn't really understand how sick I was either. There are times where you don't. There are times when later you're ready to share it as well. I think when you're either trying to literally process it yourself at the time, I have something post-historic to me last year and I still haven't. I've touched on it sort of publicly, but I haven't fully gone into it.

And I think it's because I haven't fully accepted the trauma that went with that in order to then be able to talk about it publicly like family and friends and everything know about it. It's just, it's like in my head a no-go almost area. Yeah, I totally get that. Like post-medical trauma is real. People don't really talk about it. It's just sort of, and it can be for you personally or it can be for a child or a husband.

And I've had both of those go through, you know, I nearly lost my husband in 2013 twice and six weeks. And I had, you know, three kids under the age of, well, my youngest was nine months and my oldest was four. And that stuff still catches up with you. Years later and people think that you're over it. And no, no, it doesn't have daily away. Yeah, it runs deep. So I can understand how I think I know when you posted and you had your folder. So for those listening, Kirsten had a folder with all of her medical receipts from every appointment.

And that's a lot to even look at that. I felt that for you when I was watching the stories as someone who's gone through similar. It's a lot even just picking that up and opening it. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know why I kept them, but now I'm like, I realize. now why this I wanted to share my story I think now but at the time I just put it all in there and um kind of locked it all away and you know you're just bumbling through every day trying to

trying to get better and try to function as a human and have a bit of a life as well so this whole thing really impacted all of us all four of us as a family imagine because how old were the kids sof was nine and bailey was 13 turning 14 you're right in the thick I mean motherhood is in the thick of it pretty much at any time, but especially those ages when you're primary and early high school and everything. Yeah. So that was me in a nutshell.

I was battling all of that. And then to answer your question, it's always a long-winded answer when people are. I totally love these conversations. Yeah. So in amongst all of that, I mean, obviously I wasn't working and I wasn't doing any sponsored blog posts or anything like that

because I just didn't have the capacity. And then one of the tablets that I was on is called DiMox. And that actually, I was on, at the peak of it, I was on about 2,000 milligrams of that a day, which is a horrendously high dose. And one of the things that it does is flush out excess fluid. So, you know, to get rid of all the excess fluid that was floating around my head. And that left my skin really dry and dehydrated. And I've always loved skincare and beauty and really been all about self-care.

And of course, all the self-care just went out the window because it was a good day if I could put my track suit pants on and, you know. loving fashion to just like, I need the comforiest thing and, you know, no makeup and all the rest of it. So anyway, I was really suffering with my skin and my husband is an industrial chemist and he is an expert at formulating chemicals. And he would often look at my skincare products and say, look at the back of the ingredients list and say, oh, I've got that ingredient, that ingredient, that ingredient at work, I could make that. And he makes chemicals for the car wash industry. So I was like, that's really disgusting. Like, I don't, what? I don't want to put that on my face.

Yeah, yeah. So then I sort of started educating myself because I was putting so much medication into my body. I really started educating myself on what to put on my skin. And my skins always love face oil. So I started trying a few different ones and just nothing was working for me. And a lot of them were heavily fragranced and my medication just was really playing with my sensory overload. I didn't want anything smelly around me and that kind of thing. because nausea was real every day. So I just randomly said to Scott one night, can you make me a natural face oil?

And he was like, yeah, of course I can. What do you want in it? And I'd research that. So I told him what I wanted to do. I said it needs to be super hydrating, really quick absorbing. I don't want it looking greasy on my skin, no smell.

And it just needs to look like an oil because some of them out there are the most revolting colors. And so he made a blend, he actually made three blends. And on the third blend, I said to him, this is amazing. Thank you very much.

That was that. And I just started using it. Yeah. Then I'm doing, can you make me a night one with a bit of lavender and camomile in it? Because I have trouble sleeping and that might help with that. So he did. So I just started using those two products. I didn't tell anyone about it.

Like it was just for me. And over a period of maybe three or four months, people started like family and friends and people on the blog and Instagram had launched by then. Yeah. And I didn't post many photos of myself. But when I did, people would sort of start to say, gosh, you're looking better. You know, what your skin's looking good. And so, and they would say, what are you using?

And I said, oh, it's just a product Scott made for me. And didn't think anything of it. And then I was in a little boutique just down the road from where I lived at the time. And a complete stranger was in the shop. And she said to me, excuse me, I just need to say, your skin looks amazing. What do you use? And I said, it's a face oil that my husband made for me. And she said, can I buy a whole vat of it and can I dip my head in it?

And because humor is my kind of go-to, it just really made me laugh. Something just something clicked. And I was like, I think this could help other women. And so I went home and I said, I told Scott the whole story and I said, do you think we could launch this as a business? And he said, yes, but I was still really sick at this point, like really unwell. And he said to me a couple of years later. He said, listen, the only reason I said, yes, is because for the first time in 18 months, you had your spark back. You were excited about something and it was really nice to see. And I didn't want to squash that. But he said, I was also so concerned because you were still so unwell. I didn't know how we were going to do this. That was really nice of him because he could have easily said, I don't know that the timing's right or whatever. And I probably would have gone, yeah, you're right. But he really did kind of push me because I think he could see you need this. Yeah.

And I think that when you are healing or recovering from something, so that, and I think you'd probably understand this, for listeners who haven't necessarily been through it, your brain can become quite fixated on any little symptom that you're having or that, oh, I'm experiencing pain there today. or I don't feel quite right. And it's really easy to get stuck in that loop. And so you have to use anything to try and disrupt that so that you can actually just live a normal day without actually thinking of the chronic illness that you're having to deal with on it on a daily basis.

And so funnily enough like you, what I'm doing now, loving colour, was born out of the time when I was in healing and recovery. When I mentioned it, it was a similar kind of thing because it gave another direction to focus on. Yeah. and be excited about. And that in terms of healing, I think, can also do wonders because you start to invest your time into something that's happy. Yes. Yes.

And meaningful to you and doesn't involve sitting in an ugly waiting room. Or tests or medications or, yeah, or literally sitting on the couch in trackies, which you and I both have a lot. So, yeah. So that's amazing. So you decided to me for it. So I know from a business perspective of what it like

and how hard it is to launch. I had the retail business. for clothing first, which I think that's how we first started chatting with when I reached out to you with that. And then I manufactured my own dresses for the second one. And I know how painful that is, but I know that the skincare industry, it's a lot stripped up. There are so many rules and everything. So you took it to Scott and you said you wanted to make it into a business. How did you get from there to then actually being able to sell products? How long did that take and what was the process? That took about six months. We did everything our

every single thing. I had a budget of $5,000 to start the business from scratch. Fortunately, blogging taught me how to code and do websites and all that sort of thing. So I built the website myself and I had obviously quite a few friends in the blogging world and they were so supportive. Like people were sharing what I was doing once I sort of told people what I was going to do. And of course, all the followers that had been following my story really got behind. I think they also could see like this is something that she needs to do. You know, know and I had no intention of it becoming a thing so to speak. I was just like, let's just release these two face oils and we'll see how we go. And they didn't have a name. So I came up with

the name, came up with the name of the business and everything. How did you come up with it? So I wanted so the two face oils are get up and glow and sleep on it. Yeah. I just wanted something, names that were fun. Like the skincare industry back then was not very fun. It was very serious. You know, and I grew up in the 80s where if you want to skincare, your choices where you went to your local department store and got sold a three-step program or you went to the chemist. I don't even really think back then you could get things in the supermarket. So there was not a lot of children. I remember maybe Nutragina occasionally being talked about like, you know, and you could

get that from Coles and Woolies. But otherwise, it was going to DJs or Myers, like you said. That's right. The three-step program, I remember being sold it at the clinic counter. I reckon we've all gone down that track. Yeah. Yeah, so I just wanted names that were fun, but also a little bit of a motivation in the morning, like, because I was so unwell, I was like, get up and glow.

But it took me, at first I had that as get up and go. And then I was like, oh, no, glow. And the whole term of glow was not really a thing back then either. So I actually had to spend a fair bit of time educating people about glowing, the difference between glowing skin and it's not oily skin. A lot of people have never used a face oil. So, and I've been using them. for a long time. So I knew how well they worked to hydrate and nourish your skin. So there was a lot of

education that I sort of needed to pass on. But in terms of doing the business, I just, I just built everything from scratch, applied for business names and all that sort of thing. Scott, fortunately, through his work, knew how to source bottles and packaging and that kind of thing. So he would point me in the right direction there and I'd go off and order things. He also makes all of the products. So we didn't need to outsource any of that. at home or did he do, did you have to hire a space to do that? I would have a little lab that he, you know, busies himself in, so he's all good there. Fab to have a husband that's, you know, an industrial chemist that can make you things.

Yeah, he's done his whole working life. And I thought about it in that way at all because he deals with actual chemicals, not natural. And so, yeah, but everything else was done at home initially. So I was packing and sending orders every day from home, trotting down to the post office. And so when we launched, I had 300 Instagram followers on the Better Kit Instagram feed, which is nothing. I think we had about 350 people on our wait list. So when I built the website, I put a little, the landing page was something's coming soon,

sign up to be the first to know. So I built that email list. So blogging just taught me so much about marketing and how to put yourself out there. Keeping in mind, I was still really sick. So I wasn't actually sort of going full throttle. I had a total of, you know, we had like 350 on the email list, to 300 followers. And when we launched, I said to Scott, if we could sell 20 bottles, I'd be, I'd be so proud and excited.

Like, this would be amazing. And launch weekend, we sold 300 bottles. That's insane. What a launch. I couldn't keep up with the orders. I've got a photo of that I randomly took because back then also, you didn't really take photos like you do now. Yeah.

And I didn't really document things back then. But randomly I set my tripod up and took a photo of me on the launch day up and out, upstairs living room with all these boxes piled up. And I was for every order I was packing to send out two more were coming in. It was crazy. Yeah. Because a skincare is something back then that most people are reluctant to try online. Like they want to go into store.

Yeah. Let's see it, smell it. And so the trust that people put in our products from day one, I've just have been blown away, but also so grateful for it's been amazing. And we've just got such a beautiful community of like-minded women. And I had no idea that so many of us have dry skin. I had no idea. So it launched really quickly and I kind of freaked me out a bit because I was just like,

and when I say launched it took off really quickly and I was just like, I'm not well enough to cope with this. Yeah. And that was in 2017. We launched and now we launched with two products. and now nearly eight years later we have 10 products and stockists and everything goes in and out of a 3PL warehouse. I don't do any of the packing or anything myself anymore.

But it's still not a big business. It's still very much a small business and that's been a deliberate decision of mine since day one. Yeah, I can understand that. I think there are times when, and I've even thought that, you know, you can imagine having what some brands do where they want to, they start in the garage and then they want to be in those big warehouses and the big offices and everything like that. that. But I think there's also something to being a really small business that's contained where you still have a lot of control. Like I don't know if you listen to it. I love listening to how I built

this by Guy Raz. And I listen to those all the time. And they're fascinating. And there are sometimes where people come full circle. They go really big and then they end up coming back again or some that grow too fast and they can't keep up or so many of them where they grow really big and they take that next step and they take an investor and so many of them then either lose control or they even get pushed out of their own companies because of how big it's become. But I think, and I definitely think there's something to that keeping it small and the control that you have over it. And I think once I came out the other side of I, I was well, ironically, you would think then, right now it's time to take the business off to push it. You know, you've got the energy. And I just

kind of sat back and went, you know what, I am so exhausted physically and mentally. And And, you know, yes, being on Instagram is a whole lot of fun and running a business, it can be fun. But it's also you're giving to people all the time. You're giving your energy constantly. And I just, I think it was a combination of all of a sudden I was better again. And then I turned 50. And I was like, I just really want to slow down and take time just for me. I really hadn't done that probably my whole life, really, because you know, you're raising kids and all the rest of it.

And now we've got adult children. And so I sit now and I think, I have. I have days because people will say to me, you know, you could try and get your products into mecca or, and I have days where I think, yeah, I could do that. And then I have most, but most days, I'm like, no, thank you. Yeah. I just don't want that stress in my life. I don't, I don't want to be in my 50s, like scaling a business. I just don't. And I have absolute respect for people that do, but it's just not for me. Completely agree. And I think, again, when you've been through medical episodes and you do get to a point, you just want to live.

You just want to enjoy it. You know that in a split second, for whatever reason, life can change quite quickly. And so whilst you're in that happy spot, sweet spot, you just want to live and enjoy. And I think there's something beautiful that goes along with that. When you enjoy your kids and you have your own time, obviously you're slightly ahead of me in the stage of being where you've got adult kids and I'm in the thick of it with teenagers. Yeah. Yeah.

So it is. I think there's something really nice in that where you're finding. I don't like to use the word balance because I think balance, it's just something that never, anyone really achieves. But I think it's finding where you're happy of the level of where the business is at compared to how much you have to give them to Instagram and to the public and then what you can keep just for you and your family and having fun.

Yeah. A really good balance is key, I think, of just all of those things. Yeah. that's that's the business. So for those listening, I have allergies to a lot of natural things. So I've actually never been able to try the products even though I've wanted to. But my mum absolutely adores them. She has so many bottles.

She has this linen cupboard and they opened it the last time I was there. And she's got so many bottles of all of your products in there waiting because she likes to stock up so she can never run out. So lovely. She loves them. Stories like that are truly just. honestly why I run the business because to me it's never been about making a whole lot of money. I just, it's always been about like when I was a teacher that's about helping people. When I was blogging, it was writing to help people.

And now I just feel like these products do genuinely help people. So when I hear stories like that, thank you for telling me that. Because honestly, eight years later, I still pinch myself that people. Yeah, no, she, I think I introduced her. My mom's always had problems with their nails. I've got the opposite. My nows are like my nannas like they're just rock solid. Mums break, chip, flake at every opportunity and always have. And so I'm pretty sure it was for a mother's day.

And I bought her the, is it the lemon drop? Lemon drop? Yeah. I bought her that. And then it was from there that she tried your other products. And so, yeah, it must be, gosh, it must be two or three years now, I think, that she's been using your products. and I'm so sad that I don't get to try them or use them, but unfortunately for me, I became anaphylactic to seeds at the age of 37. Yeah, okay.

Yeah, no, you definitely don't want to try our products because they're all nut-based, plant-based oil. And so for me, unfortunately, because I used to use, I love face oils as well. I can't use them now, but I used to use one and the smell of them. And it's just, I talked to my mom, and she's like, it's like using a day.

day spa at night, the smell, and she just loves it. Yeah, that's the original product. That's the first one's got made. And that and sleep on our two bestsellers. Yeah, I would love to try them. So make sure you go and you have to her website. I'll put it all in the show notes for you to have a look. So you love skincare.

I know that you also like makeup. People constantly, you've got it on today, constantly comment on the lip combination that you've. I've tried to buy that. Again, I can't use it. But it's a beautiful for those listening. It's a beautiful like coral color, which suits you so, so well. How have you found taking, just changing tax slightly,

how have you found things have changed now that you have adult children? Because like when I first started you, you still had, I think it was definitely Sophie was still in high school. How do you feel life has changed with transition, you know, the transitioning into a whole new phase? Yeah, it's changed quite a bit actually. We downsized our home. So we moved from a family.

Did you do? Did you? We've moved a lot. We can't sit still. But the last house we were in a traditional, if you will, family home, two stories, like big house with the kids and the dog and everything. And then we downsized to a smaller, slightly smaller property with the view to move closer to the city because we were quite a way out where we were living because that's where

we chose to live there because we wanted the kids to go to a really good school out that way. And yes, so life's changed a lot in the last 12 months. Like we've downsized considerably. and it's just so fliving at home with us. And we just have like so much time now because we're not, I mean, I would never mow a lawn, but that's not for me. But Scott was, you know, we don't have a garden anymore. We have plants and that we look after.

Like our time, it feels like our time is our own. Again, sort of like going back to when you first met and got married, like word before kids, like it kind of feels like that. We're doing a bit more traveling now. We've just got, we have flexibility to travel outside of school holiday time. Game changer. Like, I can't imagine. Yep.

I don't have to cook dinner every night. You know, it's just, so I eat a lot of girl dinner because my husband still travels quite a bit. So invested in an air fryer, like baked potatoes. I mean, I really loved our family time. But now it's, this is this next phase is also really lovely. And what is really nice is when you raise your adult. kids to, well, your kids to become adults and then they go off and do their own thing and you can

see their life path unfolding is so rewarding and lovely to watch. So even though you might not see your adult children every day like you did when they obviously lived with you, it's so, it still fills your heart with love to see them going off and becoming their own person and establishing their life. And then when they choose to actually spend time with you, I think that's an amazing thing. And you feel like, yeah, okay, I've done something right. right here because they want to hang out. They're choosing to hang out with us rather than us saying, right, come on, we're having a family day together when they were little.

Yeah, that's really special. You know, I like you, I love being in the thick of motherhood. But I interviewed Joe Clark the other day who has an, yeah, who's an amazing podcast. And she was like, oh, you know, every, every season has its things. And at the moment, you can't imagine what it would be like to sort of be at the stage that you're at because you're such in the thick of it. but it's equally as good. It's, but it's equally as good.

And I had a glimpse of it when my eldest did work experience for a week. And she loved it. And it made me even realise what it would be like when she's at uni. Oh, okay. That actually would be quite nice. So what plans sort of have you got for the future then? So I know you're loving travelling. Didn't you have a reel that went like viral?

Yes, randomly. I mean, yeah. It was just a real. a random little meme thing that I put together about, you know, when you travel, show me everything. This is our holiday now. And it took off and it's still going. It's still going.

Yeah, but it's up to 8.2 million views. Gosh. Yeah. And it's been shared like 91,000 times. I had followers message me saying, oh my God, this was in my work group chat yesterday. And I think my followers in particular probably getting sick of seeing it because everyone was resharing it. It was so fun, though.

Like it was, I mean, I've been online since 2011 and nothing like that really has ever happened. And that was so fun just watching it all unfold. I'm not a numbers girl. I don't have massive numbers on Instagram and that sort of thing has never bothered me. But it was really fun to see. Like, I picked up, I think about 1,500 followers in a really short amount of time. And it was just doing my head in because I was like, Instagram's wild. Like, this is so, like, you know.

You just can't pick it. No. You put so much effort into something. And then either Instagram episodes, it's not going to show it to anyone. Or it just falls completely flat. And you're like, well, hang on a sec. That was really, that was really good. I don't understand.

And then you can have something totally random and just takes off. And it was so random. I've lost quite a few of those followers since, which I knew I would because I think people follow. And then you pop up on their feed and they're like, who is this woman? What's going? Yeah. So I think I lost about 300 in the last sort of six months or so.

But I posted that last year and yeah, it's still, every now and again, it picks up again. Someone else will share it. And yeah, like that's crazy. But it's, it was a lot of fun at the time. Yeah. So you still share about style and clothes and everything. Were you doing a clear out recently or was that a while ago that you did? No, that was the beginning of this year.

Yeah. I feel nine bags of clothes that I do not wear and I was absolutely mortified. Honestly, so many of them still had tags on them. They were things that like I'd kept that didn't fit me anymore. They're either too big or too small because my weight always fluctuates, always has. And I filled those and I was just like, oh my God, I need to do something about this. And so this year really my goal is to shop very mindfully and not just see something and think, oh, yep, I need that.

And, you know, Instagram in a way doesn't help because I'll scroll through and I'll see clothes and go, oh, I like that. Yeah, I'll add that to cart. And so I've just really pulled back and just thought, what do I actually need? Because I just, it really sort of bothered me that I was contributing to the waste, like the clothing waste. And I know that my local charity shop that I drop it off is very grateful for that

for those donations, but it just doesn't sit well with me that I was just contributing to it. So yeah, mindful shopping is my goal. And I have as also turned down a lot of collaborations. I don't. I just have to ask about that if you, because I haven't seen you as many. I don't do paid partnerships as such.

because I just have this thing where I think when when you go into the realm of paid partnerships, you're not giving a truly authentic review of whatever the product is. So I do gifted collabs. So brands will send me things in exchange for me posting about it. And so, yeah, in January, February is usually quite a busy month for collab opportunities because it's such a dead month for business. So like for that it's get the first quarter of the year is always our slowest. So brands are trying to get that built up.

So in January, I get it. I get that they want to work with people. But in January, after clearing out my clothes, I turned down, I said no to eight and said yes to two. And they were two. One was a small business here in Brisbane, Martha's Vineyard. It's a beautiful little boutique. And I said yes to her because she's lovely in a small business and I like to support that.

And then the other one was one of my all-time favorite brands, which I love. And when they DM me, I was like, oh, my God, I could not reply quick enough. I was like, yes, that was common. And their clothes are beautiful. and their size inclusive, which is something that's amazing. Because I know a few people who've been wanting to work with them actually, and they don't work with many people. So that's amazing.

Being a long-time customer of theirs, again, it just comes back to being authentic. Like, I love it. I genuinely love their clothes. And I think if you stick to that ethos in the influencing world of sticking with things you genuinely love, then obviously when you're showcasing them, the genuine love for that's going to come through. and your audience in turn appreciates that you're being honest and not just, you know, doing it because you've got something.

Yeah. I'm really mindfully thinking about not only my own purchases, but what I'm saying yes and what I'm saying no too. A lot of work. Those collabs are not, you know, I'm very well aware of how much work they create for the person doing them from my time when I used to do them. And like you, I did, it was always, which is how you and I worked together, it was always a gifted collab. I never ventured into the world of paying either for the same reason that you stated is because I want people to actually like it and want to share about it or they don't. That's fine. But yeah, I think it becomes so oversaturated sometimes with the, yeah. Definitely. And I have the same

approach with Better Kit. We do influencers sendouts every now and again. I don't do a lot of them. But when I do, it's, you know, give our products a try. And if you like them, we'd love it. If you could share, There's kind of no pressure because I want it to be authentic. And a lot of times I'll approach people that are in the influencer realm, but they also, I can see that they've ordered from us. So they're genuine customers. Yeah, it makes a really big difference. And like with you saying with mindful shopping,

that's something that I'm constantly telling my clients. It's not about the volume and the impulse buys because you could have a ward, you could have a massive wardrobe and still have no idea what to wear or if things even go together. or, you know, like you say, things with tags on. And I've had that too, things with tags on that you've never actually worn for whatever reason.

I think as we get a bit older, we become a bit more aware of that sort of shopping mentality, too. I don't know. I think, like, I'm 52 next month. And I'm just like, I don't want to fill my life with anything that doesn't serve me well. And that includes clothes, clothes, people, food, things, all the things. You know, I think you just get to a point in your life where I just want, things that I genuinely love and enjoy in my life. I completely say that.

I'm reading a book at the moment by Rachel Hollis, who I have followed for years and years. And it's her latest book. And one chapter is all about not what can you add to your life. What do you need to take away? That's big. And I love it. And I read that chapter a couple of times.

And she's the same talking about people, you know, things around the house, just little things, big things, but what can you remove from your life that you don't need? I think when it comes to clothing, you know, I've never been about trends and I even actually don't like the word fashion. I don't mind style, but I don't really like the word fashion because a lot of people seem to think that they then have to be fashionable.

What drives sometimes a lot of these purchases that you're trying to stay relevant, perhaps, rather than actually thinking about, well, what do I actually like wearing? It's not about what the stores are telling me to wear or the colors that the stores are telling me to wear. I actually want to and I think that can kind of get a bit lost, which at any age, like I'm watching my daughter navigate, finding out what her style is. We would have seen the same, you know, you go past a bus stop here, and they are all wearing the same denim skirt and top from Supri.

There's definitely a uniform out there. Yeah, there is. But I think seeing her and she's got a bit older, she's like, well, actually, I want to wear that. And if people don't like it, then so be it. I really enjoy it. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. So what's next for you coming up?

So you've got some more trips planned or? I'm heading up to. for work up to Mount Isa to do a pop-up shop for BetterKit at the wilds. Oh, that's really cool. Yeah, with one of my old blogging friends, Ms. Shardy. So she's always been a great supporter of Better Kit. And yeah, I met her through the blogging world years ago and we've become really good friends. So I'm heading up for work for that.

Travel-wise, we're hoping to get over. There's actually a trade show in the UK that I want to go to, a beauty trade show, towards the end of the year. So I'm hoping to just kind of combine a bit of business and fun travel after that. And then now that it's really just got an eye, and he travels a lot for work, I've started going on with him or meeting him when he travels. Yeah, just taking advantage of that. And so just little weekends away and things like that that we can sort of,

if he flies out on a Thursday, Friday, well, then I'll join him on the weekend. So really just kind of trying to take advantage of the flexibility that comes with being at this time of life, which is also said not places with lots of stairs there. Definitely not. No, those people who followed me when I was in Positano, that was like our dream holiday. Yeah. And I actually had a partially collapsed lung two weeks before we left for that trip. Yeah, I remember. And then, yeah, those stairs in Positano, no, I think I've got, I'm traumatized by those.

So, no, I would like to go back there, but somewhere that I don't know how I would navigate that. So I went to, I went to the Amalfi Coast and I don't remember climbing. As many says, we stayed at a hotel where you could take a lift down to the pool that was right at the bottom. That's clever. I don't know why I didn't think of that. It was, I'll send you the name of it because I can't remember now. So I always love to finish my interviews talking about colour because obviously that's my favourite thing in the world.

So first question is, what is the colour that you don't wear, you don't like and why? I don't wear, okay, I don't wear yellow, but I wear lemon. So right? Yellow does not suit me at all. And I wish it did because I actually really like it as a color, but it just does not do it for me. And I also, but interestingly, lemon pastels suit. Look, they look fine on me.

Lovely. I've got an idea of why that is, but yeah. Okay. I'd look at to hear that. And then I don't wear much beige because that really washes me out. So anything sort of in that neutrally, unfortunately, because it's so good to be able to wear neutrals. But those neutral colours just don't.

They just, yeah, they wash me right out. Yeah. Yeah. So my theory on that is, and I know it sounds door crushes, just because I've followed you for so long, I would put you just knowing you as cool toned. That's why the beige doesn't work for you. Yeah, okay.

Yeah. Like primary colors suit me, like red. Like strain of those colors. Yeah, I'd be interested to see where you sit in, so summer and winter are the two cool tones. toned seasons. And I've seen you wear brighter, bolder colors and you can really pull them off. So I would almost hit you towards probably winter, which is more bright. Yep. But that's where, so imagine in spring, which is like another spring and winter are the two

most intense seasons. They're really bold, bright, beautiful, but they're really highly saturated colors. Those bright yellows you're talking about, I would think they would sit in spring. Okay. Whereas the lemon sits in winter. Makes sense. Yellow can be warm and cool. Yeah. So that's why the lighter pastely kind of yellow is even leaning into some of the summer yellows.

If you find beige does nothing for you, like, I love beige. It doesn't like me. I can wear white and like off white. I can't wear cream. Yeah. And I can wear navy, grey. I don't wear black because being a summer black doesn't do us any good. But yes.

That's where those kind of colors, like tan and caramel. I love it. Yeah, I'm the same. No. It's so interesting. Yeah, like the shirt that you've got on. So she's got a beautiful, cool-toned blue shirt on, which looks fabulous on you. Well, thank you.

I'll take that from you, the color expert. Thank you. So what's the color that, and I think I're going to know the answer to this, but the others won't, your favorite color and why you like to wear it? It's definitely pink. I love to wear pink. But I also like to wear red and a little bit of orange. but I do find that the right shades of those colors are hard for me to find,

but definitely pink and I kind of wear all shades of that, but obviously the branding for Better Kid is pink. But when we first launched that, I was really into like the pale, the blush. And I think what is coming out now is I really love the more brighter colors. And I think when I look back on it, that's kind of even a self-evolvement of where I was sort of spent a lot of my 40s playing things down and kind of playing small.

And now I'm like getting bolder with the colors. Yeah. Because I just feel like I've grown as a person. Yeah. And that confidence coming out to do it. Yeah. Yeah. And so even like on our like in socials on BetterKit,

I'm finding myself leaning towards doing brighter, bolder colors and that kind of thing. So I think there's a real psychology behind colors and what you wear and that kind of thing. I love that. I also love that both our favorite colors are pink and we're both wearing blue. Yeah, I know. I thought that. And I actually when I was trying to decide what to wear it off,

I really would be on brand wearing pink. But then I was like, I love this dress. It looks like a shirt that's actually shirt dress. And it's comfy just to sit in. So that's wonderful country road pinks. So to explain it, when you have your best colors, so I give my clients five top best colors. So for example, pink and blue would be in there for you. When you have that best color, it sort of transcends quite a few of the seasons.

There's quite a few variations of that color that you can wear. Whereas with your yellow, you'll find that there's maybe one particular yellow that suits you. and the rest wouldn't. Not one of your best colours. So that's where I think you can find that you can wear all different kinds of pink. There will be a pink that suits you the best. And I've got a shirt in my all-time favorite pink. And I nearly wore it today.

And I had it on the bed and I said to one of my sons, which color should I wear today? And you pointed to the blue. So that's how I ended up wearing. But yeah, I love pink. I've loved it ever since I was about five. Yeah. Yep.

Same. Always loved it. Went off it maybe a little bit in high school because, you know, pink wasn't there. Yeah. And then by about 16, 17, 17, 18, and I was like, stuff it. It's my favorite color. I don't care. I'm going to wear it. And like you, my first business, I choose me, which was the clothing store, that was the same color pink or very similar, the blush pink to what our better kit is. And I've got a pink, but like you, it's funny up that evolving. My favorite, it's that brighter, not as bright, like a winter pink is really, really bright. Mine's sort of a little. bit less than that. But yeah, it's, that's what's in my brain colours now. So yeah. So yeah. And last question. How would you describe your personal style? What do you enjoy wearing and how it was? Yep. It's definitely casual classic would be my, how I'd describe it.

I'm a real, well, when it's warmer, a cooler, rather, I'm a real jeans and a blazer type of girl. In summer, I'm just a very, I'm a shirt dress. I'm a throw and go, but I'm still, I don't buy into trends mostly because I just find most of them don't suit me. And I like to go for classic silhouettes that I know will be in my wardrobe for a while. I've really embraced linen this summer. That's really got me through. And yeah, so definitely casual classic, I would say as my sort. Yeah, I'm very similar to you.

But yeah, it's, I think what I love about that, kind of style is just the simplicity of it. Definitely. And I'm very much a less as more. Like as you can say, I don't wear a lot of jewelry. I don't. I just sort of get a bit irritated by things all over me. So I keep jewelry and things to a minimum, but also my, most of my clothing pieces are to a minimum. And I have a mix of like more investment pieces and then like every day mix and match all of those all together. And yeah, that's me. You've also got the most fabulous hair, which when I was I always wanted to have curly hair. Like, I even ate the crusts on the sandwiches because I could do it.

I always wanted curly hair. And like, I have the most dead straight hair in the world. It's taking me a long time to learn to love these curls, but I do really love them. Obviously, my hair was great in the 80s because everyone was getting spiral perms and I didn't need one. You didn't need one. And then the 90s and early 2000s was the Jennifer Aniston era where everyone was dead straight hair so I really didn't like my curls then but I love them now and when I do get a blow out and it's

a bit straighter I literally don't know what to do with my hair so when you post having had your hair done and obviously as always it looks lovely because I do the same but it you look so different I know I look like a different because you do you look so different and it's even like my hair's shorter at the moment I cut it too short just before Christmas and I'm waiting for it to grow and I used to I've got to dice them. And I used to, when it was long, do, it's almost like that Kate Middleton bouncy blowout kind of thing. So it's not curls, but it just gives a real volume. If I do that now, I look like a granny in her 90s.

It's just had that, you know, that set done. I'm sure you don't. Oh, no, seriously, I should send you a picture the next time I try. So bad. And I, so I've just learned that when my hair's short like this, it just has to stay. For me to do this, right? Yeah, I think I've learned over the years, if you can, if you can keep, keep your hair as close to its natural form as possible, that's always going to make you look

and feel your best. And that's kind of one of my style mantras is, you know, look and feel your best. Doesn't really matter just dress for you. Do your hair for you. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks. Just do what you feel makes you feel really good. I love that. I really do. I have loved chatting to you today. Thank you so, so much for being on the Life and Color podcast. It's just been a joy chatting to you. And I think my listeners are going to love the conversation. So where can people find you. They can find me at Kirsten and Coe on Instagram and Facebook and the same with Betta Kitt, which is a bit of a tricky one. People don't always get that name right. They don't know how to spell it. So show notes will help you out there. I will put everything into the

show notes for everyone. But thank you so much for joining me today. I really, really appreciate your time and no doubt I'll chat to you on Instagram soon. Thank you for having me. It's been so fun. I feel like I was just having a coffee with a girlfriend. That's perfect. Just how I love it. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you.