Field Notes Editor · GLOW
Sasha Kowal
Editorial criticism · Founder strategy · Brand analysis · Field Notes column
Sasha Kowal made her name writing the kind of beauty journalism that quoted ingredient labels back to the brand executives who hoped no one would read them. After staff jobs at Allure and Into The Gloss, she went independent in 2022. At GLOW she edits Field Notes, the column on the second-most-interesting story in any beauty news cycle, the one that explains why the first story is being told.
What I cover.
- Field Notes, the weekly column on what the industry is actually doing
- Editorial criticism of brand claims, the thirty-seven words on the bottle that don't survive a careful read
- Founder strategy and the rotation of three brand-building playbooks behind half the launches you read about
- What "clinically tested" actually means, a journalist's read on the trade's most laundered phrase
- Industry M&A, what an acquisition tells us about where the category is heading
- Investigative reviews where the claim, the ingredient deck, the founder's previous brand, and the regulated equivalent all get the same paragraph
- Long-read essays for GLOW newsletter and annual edits
Credentials & experience
- Editorial tenure
- 10 years in beauty journalism
- Previous staff
- Allure, Into The Gloss
- Independent since
- 2022, contributing to GLOW, The Strategist and trade publications
- Base
- Brooklyn, New York
Editorial standards I work to.
Every piece I file is held to GLOW Standard, the publication's published methodology. The Standard's core commitments, no paid placement, a five-axis rubric for product reviews, and a published conflict register, apply to Field Notes the same way they apply to a graded review.
Editorial criticism is held to a higher evidence bar, not a lower one. Every brand claim I dispute is sourced to the brand's own marketing materials, the ingredient deck on file, or a regulatory filing. Every founder narrative is checked against companies' house records, press archives and previous brand registrations. Every Field Note carries a corrections line.
Read the Review Methodology for how GLOW's editorial protocol works end to end.
Disclosable interests
Holds no commercial relationships with any brand reviewed on GLOW. Accepts no PR samples for graded reviews and no speaking fees from brands she covers. Specific disclosures available on request at team@glow.com.au.
Recent features.
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Field Notes · column
The Field Notes archive
The weekly column on what the industry is actually doing, founder rotations, M&A reads, claim audits.
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Essays
GLOW essays index
Long-read criticism on category dynamics, brand-building playbooks and what acquisitions signal.
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Confessions
Confessions on overstated claims
The column on what the marketing said, what the product did, and the gap in between.
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Methodology
GLOW Standard
The publication's published commitments. The same Standard that grades every Field Note.
Contact & follow.
Direct: team@glow.com.au
Tip line for industry pieces: team@glow.com.au
For corrections to a piece under my byline: team@glow.com.au