French dermatological skincare brand Vichy Laboratoires hand-picked the broadcaster, podcast host and communication coach as its first New Zealand ambassador. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s lunchtime on a sunny Wednesday afternoon and Toni Street is beaming at me through a screen. <\/p>\n
\n Both navigating the school holidays with children in tow, somehow we
\n managed to coordinate a moment of calm for our call.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter and her friend are doing a bake sale downstairs,\u201d she tells me. \u201cIt\u2019s a total cluster. I\u2019m embarrassed of what they\u2019re selling, so I\u2019m hiding.\u201d <\/p>\n
Relatable \u2013 I\u2019d hosed my son down moments prior after a backyard football session turned mucky. <\/p>\n
Juggling work calls amongst kid chaos is not exactly the picture that springs to mind when discussing beauty routines involving global skincare brands. But if there\u2019s one thing to learn from the years Street, 42, has spent in the public eye, it\u2019s that a rolling stone gathers no moss. <\/p>\n
Across two decades, she\u2019s tried her hand (and succeeded) in several fields \u2013 television presenter, sports commentator, author, broadcaster, communication coach, keynote speaker, podcast host and mum of three. <\/p>\n
But her latest gig is one that\u2019s less radio and more radiance.<\/p>\n
Toni wears Juliette Hogan blazer and pants, Camilla and Marc shirt, Zoe and Morgan jewellery. Photo \/ Babiche Martens <\/p>\n
Announced this week as Vichy Laboratoires first New Zealand ambassador, Street will become a spokeswoman for empowering women to feel their best whatever skin they\u2019re in \u2013 something she\u2019s always been preternaturally good at. <\/p>\n
Street says she\u2019s always been selective about the skincare she uses, explaining how she\u2019ll \u201cuse two or three skincare brands\u201d but she \u201cwon\u2019t really go outside of that\u201d. <\/p>\n
While she was already familiar with the 95-year-old French dermatological brand, it wasn\u2019t until Vichy approached her for the ambassadorship that she had the chance to try it. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love that Vichy has been around for almost 100 years and that it\u2019s been approved by a ridiculous number of dermatologists [80,000, to be exact]. It made me feel better about using it, as I have a history of eczema. I have to be careful because I\u2019ve tried quite a few skincare brands that have reacted to my skin, and luckily this one doesn\u2019t,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cI live a rugged life in a lot of ways, but it\u2019s real and it\u2019s authentic and that\u2019s what most of us do. I think it\u2019s nice that [Vichy] chose me rather than someone who\u2019s high beauty and doesn\u2019t look like they\u2019re 42. I feel really humbled that they did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vichy Laboratoires is now available in New Zealand from Chemist Warehouse. <\/p>\n
Vichy Laboratoires products are launched in New Zealand today, through Chemist Warehouse. But as part of the global campaign rollout, Street is flying to the skincare brand\u2019s namesake town of Vichy in France this Saturday, alongside Australian ambassador, actor Jodi Gordon.<\/p>\n
The Coast Feel Good Breakfast co-host says her boss was supportive of her taking an extra week\u2019s leave (she\u2019s spent the last two weeks off with her three children, Juliette, Mackenzie and Lachie, for school holidays) and jokes that her co-hosts Sam Wallace and Jase Reeves \u201cwould love to come to France with me if they get an option\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to the town of Vichy where it all began. It\u2019s a wellness town and they use a special volcanic water in their products. I like that they want to fully educate me from the ground up,\u201d Street says.<\/p>\n
The trip\u2019s wellness-centric itinerary includes yoga sessions and comprehensive biological and metabolic profiling at the integrated Health Clinic at the Vichy C\u00e9lestins Spa Hotel. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a new age thing where people get a blood test and it gives you a full workup on everything your body needs,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Street, who was diagnosed with autoimmune condition Churg-Strauss syndrome in 2015 and hosts health and wellbeing podcast We Need To Talk with Toni Street, says the brand\u2019s focus on wellness made the ambassadorship feel like a good fit.<\/p>\n
Toni wears Camilla and Marc shirt and suit (available August), Zoe and Morgan earrings. Photo \/ Babiche Martens <\/p>\n
Now in her early 40s, Street says she\u2019s paying more attention to her skincare. In her 20s and 30s, a time where Street says her skin \u201cbounced back so easily\u201d, she\u2019d switched from brand to brand, grabbing whatever she could find in the local pharmacy or in her mum\u2019s bathroom drawer. <\/p>\n
Over the past five years, Street says she\u2019s started to see the signs of ageing creep up. <\/p>\n
A busy home life and work schedule interspersed with coaching three netball teams mean Street is outside in the elements a lot, and sees a difference in her skin immediately if she\u2019s not applying the right stuff. <\/p>\n
\u201cI start to look quite weathered and tired. I think that goes with the territory of doing early shifts on radio and having three kids, but it\u2019s just become more important to me to work out what I like and what works on my skin,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs you get older, you start to notice your skin isn\u2019t what it was when you were 20. Looking after my skin makes me feel better. One of the things I pride myself on is having glowy, natural skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that hasn\u2019t always come easily for Street, who says she\u2019s gone through \u201creally bad periods\u201d with her skin. <\/p>\n
The first was in 2002 after the tragic loss of her 14-year-old brother, Stephen, in a quad-bike accident. Street was 18 at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt only lasted six months, and I think it was stress-induced. I got to university and got terrible acne, which was a lesson in how you\u2019re feeling mentally often gets reflected in your skin,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I start to look too haggard or hollowed out, it\u2019s my body trying to tell me to slow down or get more rest. I take more notice of the health of my skin now, because I want to be presenting as my best self. I don\u2019t want to be standing up in front of people talking about connection and how to communicate well while looking a shell of a human.\u201d <\/p>\n
The second came when Street was hosting Seven Sharp and taking heavy doses of steroids for her autoimmune disease. <\/p>\n
Appearing on prime time TV with half a million people watching felt daunting for Street, who says her treatment at the time caused hot flushes and significant hair fall out, to the point where she needed hair pieces. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne day my skin was really red and puffy, the next day I looked really drawn. So the makeup girls had to work so hard to put me in a presentable state. Not just for what I looked like, but so that I could feel confident going on and not be a nervous wreck,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
In those dark days, Street says it was hard to imagine functioning normally again.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I\u2019m here, being asked to be the face of an international skincare company. It\u2019s crazy,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith what I do for a job [as a communication coach], I talk a lot about how your confidence can get impacted by the way you feel and the way you look. Because if you\u2019re not confident in the way you look, you\u2019re not going to present as your best self, and those things matter.\u201d <\/p>\n
Toni wears Juliette Hogan suit, Zoe and Morgan jewellery. Photo \/ Babiche Martens <\/p>\n
Up before dawn every weekday, you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking Street has no time for an involved skincare routine before her breakfast radio slot begins. <\/p>\n
Quite the opposite is true, and Street says she\u2019s \u201cthe most efficient person you will ever meet\u201d – getting up later than her co-hosts do and still arriving to the studio in full glam. <\/p>\n
\u201cOften, I film straight after radio. I\u2019ll go straight from the radio studio to the podcast studio for filming, or to a keynote public speaking event. I\u2019ve got my beauty routine down to a fine art \u2013 I\u2019m literally done in 20 minutes,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoy having nice skin and nice makeup, but it can\u2019t take me too long. I get antsy when there\u2019s too many things to get done with the kids and work, plus I coach netball three days a week. It\u2019s a military operation.\u201d <\/p>\n
A telltale sign of tiredness, Street says she\u2019s not immune to undereye circles and crepey texture, which has rendered the eye cream\u2019s rich texture and hydrating properties a must. \u201cIf I had to choose just one thing to use on my face – it would be that.\u201d<\/p>\n
says a thick skin in the face of public scrutiny is something she\u2019s developed over time. <\/p>\n
\u201cI really struggled in the early days. It hit me like a tonne of bricks. The comments when I was first at TVNZ in my 20s were crushing. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou just mature to it, and there\u2019s comfort in knowing that no one is immune to it. People don\u2019t just target you, they target everyone, but that still doesn\u2019t make it okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
These days, Street says she doesn\u2019t get as much backlash being on radio as she did during her time on TV, and describes her approach to public trolls as \u201cruthless\u201d: if anyone sends her a hurtful comment, she blocks them and won\u2019t engage. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t reason with someone who\u2019s being super nasty,\u201d she says. \u201cYou\u2019ll always get the odd [comment] being a public figure \u2013 that just comes with the territory \u2013 but you have to try and not let it affect you.\u201d <\/p>\n
Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Street hopes she can show others that you can have an autoimmune disease and still live a \u201creally normal\u201d life. <\/p>\n
\u201cI hope I\u2019m a good role model in that sense. If for no other reason but to share the journey and show that yes, it impacts your life for a while, but it doesn\u2019t have to long-term,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
In the past year, one of the biggest shifts in Street\u2019s health has been weaning off steroids. It\u2019s thanks to a new injection called Fasenra, a biologic which was developed to help those with autoimmune conditions move away from daily steroid use. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s also embracing holistic practices, like regular movement, quality sleep and ample hydration. The self-confessed water baby loves therapeutic dips in the ocean, soaking in a hot bath, or taking a long shower. <\/p>\n
\u201cImmersing myself in water removes tension for me, and helps me relax. It\u2019s one of my non-negotiables,\u201d Street says. <\/p>\n
The beauty advice Street wants to pass on to her children is to take ownership of what they have, rather than try to look like a clone of someone else. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a real problem with our young people \u2013 they think they have to look a certain way. It\u2019s so boring if everyone looks the same. As you get older, you realise that beautiful people are the ones [who] own their features. That\u2019s everything from the way you smile to the nose you have,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel like I\u2019ve ever tried to look like anyone else \u2013 I\u2019ve stayed pretty true to myself and that would be my wish for my teenage daughter and all of her mates. We all have things we don\u2019t like, but you can try to be the best version of yourself by enhancing what you\u2019ve already got.\u201d <\/p>\n
Photography | Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
Beauty editor | Ashleigh Cometti<\/p>\n
Hair and makeup | Carolyn Haslett <\/p>\n
More beauty<\/p>\n
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