Not just a pretty face
Makeup guru’s diet gives beauty a boost
Makeup legend Bobbi Brown, 60, may be synonymous with barely-there, youbut-better beauty products, but her true secret weapon isn’t the perfect nude lip pencil — it’s what’s stocked in her Montclair, NJ, refrigerator. “What you put in your body greatly impacts how you look — not only how your skin looks, but also how clear your eyes look, how you feel and how your brain works,” says Brown. Here, the beauty entrepreneur and author of “Beauty From the Inside Out” (Chronicle Books, out now), shares her daily diet with The Post’s MOLLY SHEA.
Iwake up in the morning and I drink 16 ounces of water. I either put lemon or a green superfood powder in, and that’s how I start my day, no matter what.
Then I go right over to my Nespresso machine and make a double espresso with a tablespoon of coconut butter from CAP Beauty. Everyone keeps talking about coconut oil in your coffee, but coconut butter tastes so much better.
Then I usually exercise, and sometimes I’ll grab a handful of blueberries as I go out the door. Afterward, I’ll make a protein shake with chocolate protein powder, water, coconut or almond milk, and a handful of frozen berries. I’ll also put a handful of frozen kale in it, which makes it more frothy, some chia seeds and some extra cocoa powder. If I want something a little sweeter, I’ll put in a couple of pitted dates. I’ve found if I don’t eat carbs in the morning, I’m not craving them throughout the day.
I do a lot of breakfast meetings, so when I’m out, I order two poached eggs, steamed spinach and a side of berries. And that usually keeps me to lunch. I don’t really snack in between.
For lunch, I’ve been doing a buffalo burger wrapped in a collard leaf some days, and I might nibble on someone’s sweet potato fries. Otherwise, it’s a salad — my favorite is a combina- tion of fresh greens plus steamed greens that I put together — topped with some kind of protein. I never use dressing, just olive oil and lemon.
I’ll have an afternoon snack around 4:30. My gotos are Combat [Crunch] Bars — they taste like candy bars but are really high in fiber — or a hot cocoa protein shake I make with chocolate protein powder and lower-fat coconut milk and froth up a little with my Nespresso frother.
Right before dinner, I try to have some more water. I eat dinner out quite a bit, and when we first sit down, I ask for a pot of hot water, and I put a few ice cubes in it. I find that warm water goes down easier than cold water, so I drink it quickly, because I know I’m going to order a drink in one minute — a tequila on the rocks, or a vodka on the rocks. Then I’ll order a grilled piece of fish, or steak or hamburger if there’s nothing else on the menu, and I’ll have a salad with a couple of cooked vegetables. Dinner is when I’d ideally like to have really good carbs, such as a sweet potato, brown-rice pasta or quinoa.
I don’t do desserts in restaurants unless they have berries, but I do keep some Paleo cookies from Hu Kitchen, which are sweetened with coconut sugar, in my freezer. I don’t eat processed food, and I don’t eat gluten. I don’t even eat foods that are labeled “glutenfree,” because if you look at what’s in most of them, it’s not good stuff.
But I’ll make exceptions for food that’s worth it. The week before last I stopped at the dollar-slice place on the way out of town. It was a crazy day, and we were just ravenous, and it was the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.