Feeling old? It’s just in your head
When AMBER GRAAFLAND met style guru Trinny Woodall, she ended up with a surprise makeover
WITHIN five minutes of arriving at Trinny Woodall’s glossy London offices, I’m already in the middle of a makeover. My make-up is off – removed by the woman herself – and she’s busy telling me how I should chop four inches off the hem of my midi dress (“that’s not a flattering place to cut off the leg”), apply eyeshadow differently (“lift and swipe to stop your eyelids looking droopy”) and showing me how to take the perfect selfie.
Trinny, 55, is a whirlwind, as I quickly discover when we spend an afternoon putting the world to rights about beauty, make-up, fashion, social media, empowerment and a whole lot of other stuff in-between.
She’s as upfront and honest as she was in her What Not To Wear days in the early noughties alongside partner-in-crime Susannah Constantine. The duo became famous for their refreshingly forthright approach as they doled out style advice and makeovers up and down the country.
On the show, Trinny had a gift for getting inside women’s heads, helping them believe that, armed with the right outfit, they could take on the world and win.
FAST forward nearly 20 years and it’s clear one of Trinny’s biggest gifts is this natural ability to sum people up in seconds and see the bigger picture. She genuinely wants to reach out and help people – in fact, she can’t stop herself.
This is because she knows how powerful change has been in her own life. “When I was younger I had acne and I felt really ugly for many years. I hated dating.
“When I got rid of it I had a new confidence. I felt that change in myself. When I did makeovers, I could see how much the women shifted. I like seeing that shift.”
So it’s no surprise the makeover queen has now turned her attention to the transformative power of make-up with her range Trinny London.
It has been a labour of love from the start. After raising £150,000 from investors ,Trinny ran out of money during the research and development phase. Her solution? To sell the vast majority of her extensive wardrobe.
“This raised £80,000, which enabled me to work for another year.At every stage I thought, ‘I can’t give up now’.”
And her hard work paid off as the brand’s sales are up 500 per cent in the past year.
When it comes to make-up, Trinny says, less is definitely more.
She recalls seeing Kylie Jenner in a restaurant in Portofino, Italy, over the summer.
“I was going over to say ‘hi’ to get a picture for my daughter, who watches their reality TV show.
“She was sitting in this beautiful restaurant wearing so much make-up. It was glorious weather and she just didn’t need it.
“I’ve just started this new thing where I go up to people in the street and re-do their make-up.
“Women tend to use foundation as armour. I want to give women the opportunity to see something different, which will empower them.”
Trinny is still just as opinionated about fashion as ever and admits to being something of a control freak about her own look.
“Some stylists over the years may have had some not very nice things to say about me,” she laughs.
“The hardest thing for me is when I go on a shoot, and someone thinks they know how to dress me. I can’t get let go of what I know really works.”
But she is also more than happy to laugh at her own style mistakes. Yes, she regrets the too-short short skirts, the orange fake tan and the poker-straight ironed hair of her younger years.
She hates “mom jeans” and thinks kitten heels should be banned. When I tell her I have several pairs in my wardrobe, she assesses my ankles – and tells me I’m still allowed to wear them.
As I said before, she can’t help giving style advice – something she has used to build a reputation with a new generation of fans on social media.
With half a million followers on Instagram and the “Trinny Tribe” – 12,000 women she interacts with on Facebook, she has embraced social media with gusto, giving her followers daily fashion and make-up tutorials via video.
“I can talk for as long as people are prepared to listen,” she says.
Throughout our chat, Trinny has been busy directing her make-up artist to do my make-up.
The end result is fantastic, she really has knocked years off me.
I ask her how she feels about getting older, saying a lot of my friends say they now feel invisible.
Trinny tackles this subject in her typical no-nonsense style. “Feeling old is about what’s inside your head. If one week you suddenly don’t feel good in something, or no longer feel attractive, it’s about what’s going on in your head.
“The truth is, nothing has changed outwardly in seven days.
“Rather than worrying, ask yourself how you can shift gear. I use guided meditation. It’s about resetting yourself internally.”
For Trinny, it’s all about building confidence.
“Walking into a room with real presence is something I think we should all be able to do until we die.
“And how do we get that? Well, clothes are a good start.
“Before you can open your mouth and say the things that will have everyone hanging onto your every word, you need to get their attention.
“So it’s about that moment, that first impression.And finding your style allows you to do that.”