Ep. 119: Talking identity, Americanisms, the Metaverse and beauty culture with London author Navaz Batliwalla

This week’s guest is someone I’ve admired from afar for a very long time. While I can’t remember when or how I first discovered Navaz Batliwalla’s writing, I’ll always remember how much I love/d the name of her blog – Disneyrollergirl. London-based Navaz is a writer who’s serious about her research (thank goodness!) and she loves to dive into a subject and write about the culture behind specific industries. Thus far she has written two successful books; one on fashion, the other is all about beauty. In 2016 she wrote The New Garconne; How to be a Modern Gentlewoman and last year, during the pandemic she wrote Face Values: The New Beauty Rituals and Skincare Secrets; featuring beautiful imagery and meaningful conversations, it’s a book I truly adore. During my chat with Navaz, themes that come up include identity, Americanisms, the Metaverse, her writing process, social media and of course how beauty influenced her earlier years – I loved hearing her share about the time she and her sister dressed up as ‘80s British icon Boy George to go to the local greasy spoon café at a time when social media didn’t exist. Enjoy this one; because I did! Be sure to tag myself and Navaz when you listen; you can find me @beautymepodcast and Navaz @disneyrollergirl. Let us know what you think and if you enjoyed, do please rate, review and/or subscribe. Also, have you checked out my newsletter yet? This week it’s all about that Rihanna cover shoot for US Vogue. You can sign up for free here: https://beautymenotes.substack.com See you next week!