Early life and education
Hughes was born on 21 February 1975 and grew up in Blackwood, Caerphilly. Her father worked in politics for the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and her mother worked for a local education authority. She has three brothers, and attended Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni, a comprehensive school. She initially worked as an assistant to make-up artist Lynne Easton for two years while looking for work experience at magazines. This included working on photo shoots with George Michael and Pet Shop Boys, and television commercials.Career
Journalism
Hughes's first job in journalism was as a staff writer for the men's lifestyle magazine ''Loaded (magazine), Loaded'' in the mid-1990s. She then wrote features and opinion columns for various publications as a freelancer including ''Grazia'', ''Elle (magazine), Elle'', ''The Guardian'', ''Glamour (magazine), Glamour'', ''Stylist (magazine), Stylist'', ''ShortList (magazine), Shortlist'', and ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan''. Since January 2011, she has been ''The Guardian''s resident beauty columnist, featuring weekly in its Saturday magazine and online video tutorials. She also appears weekly on BBC Radio 5Live. Hughes presented an edition of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''File on 4'' in October 2020 about her experiences as a victim of abusive comments from internet trolls.Writer
Hughes' first book, ''Pretty Honest'' was released on 25 September 2014. It was a beauty handbook and was published by the 4th Estate division of HarperCollins. Two years later she released her second book ''Pretty Iconic'' which was about influential beauty products. In 2019, Hughes' third book ''Our Rainbow Queen'' by Penguin Books, Penguin was released. It was about the fashion trends of Elizabeth II. Her fourth book, ''Everything is Washable and Other Life Lessons'', published by HarperCollins, Harper Collins UK, was released in September 2022.Personal life
Hughes married comedy writer Daniel Maier in October 2017. They live in Brighton with her two sons from a previous marriage. In 2018, she co-founded Beauty Banks, a charity that provides those living in poverty with basic daily hygiene essentials and personal care items.References
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