BARE ESSENTIALS
I had a very scary job 20 years ago. Every day felt like going into battle, and I armoured myself accordingly. The heels, the tailoring and, most of all, the foundation. A mask of product, through which none of my lovely twentysomething skin could be seen. I remember thinking consciously that I needed make-up I could hide behind, in case I accidentally exposed what I wasn’t, and what I couldn’t do.
These days I never mask my considerably less blooming fortysomething epidermis. It’s in part an existential matter. I don’t need to hide any more. I am what I am. I do what I do. Like it or leave it (though I am pretty sure you will like it). The years I have spent honing my expertise, finessing my character, have left me quietly confident. I am now comfortable in my own skin, metaphorically as well as literally, and my make-up routine reflects that. I show my skin, my real skin, not a beauty brand’s version of it.
But it’s a practical matter, too. Because I happen to believe that foundation-free skin looks better, especially as you age. And I have done the data-gathering. I regularly get made up professionally for work, and I see the way that from a distance, and/or under the brutal lighting of a photographic or television studio, foundation can make you appear better, more uniform. But up close – and in real-world lighting – in all but the most feather-light hands, those oldfashioned foundations can look dated, and at worst, ageing.
The make-up artist Kay Montano, who works with actresses such as Thandie Newton and Julianne Moore, agrees. ‘It’s all about the skin,’ she says. ‘It is your most important feature. You shouldn’t be covering it up any more. And it doesn’t matter if you have lines – lines are beautiful. Cover your imperfections, but let the rest of your skin shine through.’
Which of course means that your beauty regimen should begin with skincare. Montano rates the SkinCeuticals range, especially the Hyaluronic Acid Intensifier and the Serum 10. My favourite is Alexandra Soveral’s all-natural range, particularly the inbuilt airbrushing that comes by way of the Super Hero antioxidant plumping potion. I love the London-based facialist’s oils too, and leave the delicate shine with which they endow my face well alone. Why would I seek to mattify when my skin has delivered me far more compliments since I stopped?
But it pays to go deeper than what you put on your skin, of course; to give proper consideration to what lies beneath. Nothing is more important than the A, B, C of lifestyle, in which A is for avocado (as in lots: there is nothing better for the skin than good fats), B is for bedtime (as early as you can, as often as you can), and C is for – wait for it – chi gong. I have found my complexion changing for the better since I started a daily chi-gong practice that takes me a little over 10 minutes. (I was taught the sequence, which works on each organ consecutively, by a trainer called Arron Collins-Thomas.)
Of course, even the most foundationaverse of us needs a little helping hand once in a while. If you are after a dewy finish, Montano rates Estée Lauder Revitalizing Supreme Global AntiAging CC Creme. If – like a certain Ms Moore – you prefer a more neutral look, try Rodial’s Skin Tint+. ‘Julianne just loves it,’ says the make-up artist. For the evening, I occasionally dial things up with MAC’s Strobe Cream, which gives the skin an iridescent shimmer.
Then it’s about concealer, because although you may want to show your true face to the world, you also want it to be your best one. Montano advises one product for under-eye circles, such as Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer Kit, and another for any blemishes or redness around the nose – try Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage. Finally, adorn your beautiful natural canvas with one knock-out beauty flourish. For me it’s usually a strong lip colour – from MAC, Nars or Rodin – but you may prefer to draw attention to your eyes.
To be clear: I don’t have perfect skin. I have lines, and age spots and scars like everyone else. But I have found that people don’t notice the detail if the bigger picture is skin that glows, eyes that sparkle, an easy-to-summon smile. If – in short – you have a ‘thing’, and that thing is a happy, confident, fully realised you.
People don’t notice the detail if the bigger picture is skin that glows and eyes that sparkle