Fellow Perth native Tammi Ireland recently interviewed me for her blog for Perth’s Bella Hart Beauty Emporium beauty blog. On my last trip to Australia just a week ago, I didn’t have the chance to visit Perth, but I’m looking forward to that raw, rugged, wild, windswept style which permeates that old outpost of Western Australia. Read on for our exchange. Thank you Tammi for your kind words about my book! It is such a thrill to find that the work I did was worth my goal: To inspire others by sharing something golden I had come across. May we continue to come across much more that is gold here.

“Few times in a lifetime, you’ll read a piece of prose so poignant to your life at the time it will seem as though the author wrote it just for you. This is how I felt when reading Sophie Ward’s The Beginning of an Inexplicable Journey in France last year.  Her first book, I devoured every word, writing notes in pencil and underlining important sentences.  Sophie’s writing is honest and inspirational at the same time, much like her life, which saw her move from Perth to New York City as a model and writer, establish an independent publishing house and recently marry her soulmate.  When I think Sophie, I think big – big dreams, big achievements, big flavours.  Meet a part of her, here…”

Photo: Sebastian Mader

Sophie Ward, 26, Writer, Author and Publisher 

BH: Why write?

SW: It makes me feel alive, and it enlivens others. It is a gift that keeps on giving.

BH: What do you love about beauty in Perth?

SW: The rugged, raw, young, windswept style that lives through it.

BH: What’s the best advice you can give about getting back to your own roots?

SW: Relive old memories. A picture, a song, a food, it brings forgotten parts of your ever-evolving identity back into focus. For me, these could be lemon curd, Michael Nyman, white wicker chairs on afternoon verandahs…

BH: What one beauty product can you not live without?

SW: Jojoba oil

BH: You’re tired, slept through you alarm and late for a meeting.  How do you pep yourself up with makeup?

SW: Eyelash curlers! But usually if I’m late for a meeting, the meeting is more important…

BH: Describe your every day look:

SW: 1970s rock bohemian mixed with classic black New York utility, with some royal touches (velvet) to complete.

BH: What do you miss most about Perth?

SW: The ocean in summer.

BH: What is your ultimate holiday destination?

SW: A private island in the Great Barrier Reef.

BH: Favourite place to shop when you’re in Perth?

SW: Fremantle vintage.

BH: What tune do you wish to hear on every playlist?

SW: Paradise, by Coldplay.

BH: Your style in three words:

SW: Poetic, elegant, renegade.

BH: Celebrity style you most envy:

SW: Katherine Hepburn

Fast Five

• Beauty is… inside

• Love is… everywhere

• I want to… dance

• I feel strongly about… compassion

• Bella Hart is… beautiful!