She’s provocative and occasionally controversial, but if there’s one thing comedian and presenter Em Rusciano appreciates, it’s beauty products. And sci-fi. And Mills and Boons novels.

What’s thrilling

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I was at the supermarket the other day and I found these under-eye pads. I don’t normally buy my beauty products from the supermarket – I’ll admit it, I can’t walk into Mecca [Cosmetica] without shedding $300 or $400 every time – but this got rid of all the puffiness under my eyes. They are kind of sperm shaped, you pop them under your eyes and leave them on for 30 minutes and my under-eye area has never looked better. I’ve also bought this charcoal mask from GlamGlow called Supermud ($27). It goes right into your pores and it cleaned out all the blackheads, it was really good. And I’ve just started using an eyelash curler for the first time. I always thought it was a bit of a myth, but I put the hairdryer on [the curler] for about 10 seconds, then I curl my lashes up and it’s made all the difference.

I’m into sci-fi, so I’ve just finished reading The Broken Earth series. There are three books in the series, The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky, and it has changed my life. It’s written by NK Jemisin and it won the Hugo award for best novel in 2016 and 2017. It’s set in a dystopian future and basically humans have destroyed the Earth and the moon. I got very involved in the series. They are written by a woman – it’s very rare for a woman to win the awards – and it’s written through a female’s perspective too, which is why it appealed to me. It’s the same reason I love Outlander, same reason I love Wonder Woman. I’ve been reading and watching so many things through the male gaze and my neutral gaze became male, because that’s what I was conditioned. Then you start reading things pitched by women in a male domain and you start going, this is really connecting. I can’t recommend it enough.

What’s nostalgia-inducing

Reef Oil reminds me of being a kid in the 80s because that was considered over-the-top sunscreen then. That was what was considered being responsible, slathering your body in Reef Oil. My mum used to put it on, she’s so pale, and that smell reminds me of growing up and going to the beach as a kid. Every time I smell it, I’m taken straight back.

With books, it’s The Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High novels. I got into books really young so I reckon I read Baby-Sitters Club around six, seven and eight years old and then Sweet Valley High was more like 10, 11, 12 years old. I started my own baby-sitters club because I read those books and thought: what a great way to make money.

That was my first intro to trash. I love reading trash as well as sci-fi and a really cool self-help book. Oh, and Mills and Boon. My mum used to churn through the Mills and Boon books, so that’s another nostalgia for me. If I see a Mills and Boon, I just think about throbbing members and fleshy mounds.

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What I keep going back to

I keep hoping I’ll find “the” product, so I’m rarely loyal. I’m just hoping the next one is that the magic fix to make me look like Halle Berry or Miranda Kerr. I’ve always got some form of lip gloss in terms of either pawpaw [ointment] or Lip Smackers – I can never have nothing on my lips. That goes right back to the Body Shop lip balms. I used to save up my money and buy those pots from the Body Shop, and they used to get stuck under your nails.

I reread Tina Fey’s autobiography, Bossypants, because I found it so helpful. I related to a lot of that, being a female in a male-dominated industry, asserting yourself, being a bit weird as a teenager. I felt like she was writing my story in some parts, and I have such a weird obscure story that to have someone almost align and also someone I aspire to be like, I thought it was great. And she’s such a beautiful writer, she’s so easy to read.

Sick in the Head by Judd Apatow is another good one. I go back to that a lot, that’s almost become my bible. There’s great advice for creatives in Sick in the Head – it’s [Apatow’s] love letter to creative people. People who love comedy will enjoy it. Hearing other people’s creative process in your field that you look up to is so invaluable.