04-08-2025
Do I have to stick with one makeup look forever?
Photograph by Annie Collinge
The other day I rode the underground opposite a teenage girl wearing burgundy eye makeup. As pleased as she appeared to be with herself, I'm going to posit she'll not be wearing the same in 10 years. In my case, after decades of wearing dark eyebrows, matte skin and a bold red lip, I recently noticed myself reflected in a shop window and saw a girl from the Addicted to Love video. It's not that I looked bad, or that I take issue with pop videos from the 1980s. But I'm emotionally interested in moving away from love addiction because I'm too old and tired for it, and I feel like my face is a good place to start.
People are evangelical about Hailey Bieber's skincare line Rhode, which is interesting to me. On a trip to New York once, her father, Stephen Baldwin, tried to convert me to Christ. It was a lot to handle on a six-hour flight and I wondered what his daughter-entrepreneur, head of a cosmetics company now valued at $1bn, is processing from her childhood. Her father went from the performance of being an actor to the performance of being a pastor. I appreciate why her makeup line would be built on literal transparency.
Rhode's glazing mist is where I start my post-Robert Palmer look. Then I add Trinny London's See the Light sunscreen, which is the best sunblock I've ever used. Under my eyes I use a concealer by Kosas – a peach that knocks out purple shadows. Then Hourglass's Phantom volumising glossy lip balm. Golden Hour Miracle Balm by Jones Road on my cheeks, forehead and the bridge of my nose. And Lisa Eldridge mascara in Burnt Umber. The new look I'm going for is 'middle-aged Raquel Welch making a yoga video at dawn on the beach' (a video I own and have studied).
French brand Violette are mistresses of how to pull off any new look you want
Encompassing both the teen on the train and Welch's minimalist high femme, French brand Violette are mistresses of how to pull off any new look you want. Maybe you've been wearing their Bisou Blush and are suddenly moved to wear on your lids their insanely pigmented Yeux Paint in electric Dieu Bleu. There may be a time and a place for everything, but I like the idea it's maybe not when you think. Maybe you wear technicolour blue lids to walk the dog, surprising and delighting people as you pass. My uncle used to mangle the phrase 'Who the hell does she think she is?' into 'She thinks who the hell she is.' That's Violette.
In short, you only have to choose a look and stick with it for life if you have a terror of ageing. Truman Capote noted that his high-society 'swans' styled their hair and makeup far older than their years, so that as they aged people said: 'She looks exactly the same as she always did!' That depresses me. If you could walk alongside the ageing process, coaxing it to stand under flattering lamplight, your makeup options are really endless.
On my radar… Powders, creams and serums to give you the edge
Go with the glow This fantastic setting powder is from Saie's Slip Tint range. I don't know how they made a non-iridescent pressed powder look glowy, but it's so very pretty and yes, undetectable, too. With their concealer also a must-have for me, this clean brand is my favourite mid-priced makeup line. Saie Undetectable Baked Setting Powder, £26,
Necks best thing It is empirically stupid to think that we need different things for different parts of our body. Will this culminate in a moisturiser for your ring finger? But The Elevator byTrinny London is intended to lift the appearance of your neck/décolletage and, like all her skincare – don't even get me started on the wonder of her Take Back Time vitality elixir – it really works. The Elevator Neck Cream, £68,
Smooth operator Calecim Professional Serum is pink and tiny and lives a life of pious seclusion inside your fridge! The elasticity and smooth texture this serum gives your skin is like a magic trick. It's because of its patented stem cell PTT-6, but I'd rather believe it's because it's pink. Calecim Professional Serum, £80,
