She WHO Dares... Quinns
Like the Selling Sunset star herself, Christine Quinn’s new range of make-up is fierce and feisty. Katie Wright meets reality TV’S latest queen
NESTLED on a velvet sofa in her extremely posh London hotel suite, Christine Quinn is resplendent in purple pleather, the collar and sleeves of her jacket fringed with an explosion of marabou feathers.
Blonde hair cascading in waves, with two long, thin plaits framing her perfectly made-up face, and talons painted baby pink, the Selling Sunset star is every inch as glamorous in real life as she appears on the Netflix series.
Fans of the reality show – which follows the staff of La-based luxury real estate firm the Oppenheim Group – might be wondering: is the resident ice queen as frosty in person?
“Hi!” Christine says, jumping up from the sofa, greeting me with a dazzling smile and a warm hug. does this mean the reality TV version of the Texas-born straighttalker isn’t entirely accurate?
“Not at all! No, no, no,” she says when we sit down to chat. “I love to play a character. I went into the television show, and I said, ‘Listen, I’m going to be remembered.’ I said, ‘Whether you think I’m a b***h or I’m crazy, I’m actually genius, because everyone’s talking about me,’ you know?”
The 32-year-old says her approach was “very similar to Paris Hilton and what she does – she’s so intelligent, but she’s known for this character”.
Now, Christine is branching out into make-up with a fivepiece collection created with British brand Ciate London.
Founder Charlotte Knight reached out to the beautyobsessed reality star after watching Selling Sunset.
“She said, ‘I love the two sides to you. I love that you’re this fabulous villain that everyone wants to hate, but they can’t hate you, because you’re so interesting and funny. Then I see this sweet Barbie doll side to you too’.”
Inspired by that villain/barbie split and a new technology Ciate patented, the Under The Influence of Sass range features nude and deep red shades of Heat Transforming Lip Cream.
“If you’re drinking a hot cup of tea, it changes colour. Or if you’re eating a popsicle or drinking cold tea, it changes colour. So, we kind of played into that duality of my personalities,” Christine says.
The collaboration took place during the pandemic, when Christine was living at home in Los Angeles with her husband, tech entrepreneur Christian Richard, and she gave birth to her first son, named Christian, in May this year.
“My birth experience was so traumatic,” she says. “I almost died, my son almost died. I had an emergency C-section.”
Plus, pregnancy was a challenge for the glamorous blonde, who started to get hormonal acne.
“Not only did my skin change during pregnancy, but my hair started falling out. I felt so self conscious about it.
“But, I mean, literally, having a human is a miracle. So, you know, I just looked at it as a little test from God.”
Whether you think I’m a b***h or I’m crazy, I’m actually genius, because everyone’s talking about me’, you know?
Christine Quinn