Nadia Bartel: Breath of fresh air

Beauty influencer Nadia Bartel has finally learned how to breathe and trust her voice of reason in the cluttered world of social media. 

The Melbourne mother of two launched clothing label Henne with her sister, Michelle Coppolino, in 2019 and, with more than 556,000 followers on Instagram, also makes a living promoting beauty products through tutorials and posts. 

The former WAG – she used to be married to former Geelong player Jimmy Bartel – has aligned with some big brands over the years, such as Wella and LaRoche Posay and Mac Cosmetics.

She’s known for her strict moral code when it comes to business, only collaborating with brands she says she knows and trusts. 

Since 2011, she’s chosen Instagram as her platform, sharing stories with women who hang on her every smudge-proof beauty move.

“If I don’t use it or wear it, I don’t promote it,” Bartel says. “I have slowly built my online audience over the last 10 years. It’s been organic and I never speak down to them.

“Most of the women who follow me are in Melbourne or Sydney. They know that what I post comes from a real place,” Bartel says.

She says she’s big on tried-and-tested tutorials, and that’s what wins her followers. 

“I try and be as honest as I can and have turned down big deals with big brands and good money too,” Bartel says. “But if I don’t shop there, my followers will know it’s not authentic. They would be able to see it’s not really me.”

Now Bartel is promoting Maybelline’s TerraCycle program, which collects old cosmetic packaging from Priceline stores across Australia for recycling.

 She started working with Maybelline two years ago when they spotted her using their products in tutorials.

“I’ve been using Maybelline since I was a teenager,” Bartel says “The green and pink mascara is one of the best and I still use a foundation I discovered way back too.”

Aligning with Maybelline on its ambitious plan to cut cosmetic landfill by 50 tonnes over three years resonated with Bartel. 

“I am conscious of being greener and more sustainable with what we’re doing at Henne,” she says. 

“We’re taking steps to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable too. We also want to move our production from China to Australia, and work with Australian fabrics in the next quarter.

It’s been two years since Nadia and Jimmy split, but she’s learned to lean into the changes that come with the unexpected. 

Bartel keeps herself busy with work – she is also co-founder of Spray AU, which is now stocked at Mecca Cosmetics – but keeps time to look after herself as well.

“In the last few years, I have done a lot of work on my spiritual self,” Bartel adds. “I went to see a breath work teacher and it was amazing.

“It’s a deeper form of meditation and, if you suffer from anxiety or stress, it helps you breathe in a certain way that brings you in the present moment. I set the alarm for 5.20am to do it before the boys wake.”

She is hands-on when it comes to raising her sons, Aston and Henley, and also counts on her parents to help with her boys when required. 

“I am lucky that a lot of my work is from home. I shoot content in my bedroom or when the boys are at school,” she says. 

“I try to spend as much time as I can with the boys as I want to be there in their formative years. I don’t have a nanny and do most of the drop and pick-ups from school.

“I have definitely changed a lot in the last few years. I am probably a totally different person – evolving and getting wiser.”