In Motion
Marco Medrano
BEAUTY EDITOR, WRITER AND EXPERT KEEPS IT SIMPLE
Anti-aging and grooming specialist Marco Medrano makes the science of beauty easy to understand.
02.02.2021
Marco Medrano has led, by anyone’s standards, a genuinely fascinating life. The San Francisco Bay Area native’s road to legitimate beauty and grooming guru was paved with long celebrated stints as a go-to Beverly Hills celebrity hairstylist/colorist, design firm co-owner and in-demand barber at Manhattan’s trendiest spot. As a longtime beauty and grooming editor for magazines including Out, ELLIMAN, elevate, HudsonMOD, saratoga living, NiC (Now It Counts) and more, we caught up with the affable journalist to ask him how he makes the hard stuff about beauty seem so easy.
YOU’VE HAD SO MANY INTERESTING TWISTS TO YOUR CAREER. WHAT IS IT ABOUT BEAUTY AND GROOMING THAT REALLY CAPTIVATES YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE?
After hitting 40, my personal fascination with slowing down or trying to reverse the visible effects of aging prompted me to completely immerse myself in beauty science as well as the engineering of nature’s power coupled with technology. Now that’s what excited me.
HOW DO YOU TAKE COMPLICATED SCIENTIFIC TERMS AND CONCEPTS AND MAKE THEM UNDERSTANDABLE TO THE AVERAGE PERSON?
It starts with my monitoring the depth and capability of a given anti-aging product to penetrate skin layers and then I determine if it actually regenerates inactive or damaged skin and achieves topical — and visible — results.
WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT THAN OTHER BEAUTY EXPERTS?
Well, I’m actually the aging customer I write to, so I constantly drill down for results. For example, I don’t generally recommend any product I haven’t personally vetted. The quest for authenticity is what ultimately sets me apart.
WE HAD TO ASK: WHAT’S THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE PEOPLE MAKE IN REGARD TO THEIR BEAUTY OR GROOMING REGIMEN?
Beauty maintenance is undeniably a 24/7 commitment that becomes an undetectable part of your life when practiced. The magic and the products with the most potency always happen at bedtime and overnight while we sleep. So, the mistake most of us make, is not maximizing the use of facial tools for circulation, massage and toning because, after all, that’s precisely what keeps us tight and lifted.
BEAUTY MATTERS BECAUSE…
When we look our personal best — or think we do — we feel our best. Everyone knows you can tackle the world with absolutely nothing when you feel your best. I know this from experience.
Every time I think the world can’t take another beauty product, innovation steps in. The never-ending quest to minimize the visible effects of aging is what motivates me. It’s quite a privilege to get to examine the newest products and services in this noble struggle. I truly have the best job a person could have.
Any time I can positively impact the LGBTQ+ community, I consider that a major win for humanity.
As Beauty and Grooming Editor at Out, Marco Medrano finds himself with an important national media platform directly aimed at readers he cares deeply about. “I do realize that beauty and grooming tips may not change the world, exactly,” Medrano says, “but it can affect how individuals feel about themselves, and that’s never a bad thing.”