If you only had five minutes to leave the house, what products would you use?
I have to wash my face, always. At the moment, I’m using an Environ face wash. Then I’d use some hyaluronic acid which is good for hydration and keeps the water in your face. At the moment, I’m using a Green People Hyaluronic Serum (£27). This one is vegan and cruelty-free which I like. And then my makeup artist friend Justine Jenkins, who I work with a lot and who uses a lot of vegan products, gave me this Organic Facial Oil (£33) by a company called By Sarah which is really brilliant.
Are natural and organic important factors for you when choosing products to use?
Sometimes, but I mix it up, really. My skin is a mixture of very sensitive and dry and spot-prone, so it took me a while to find things that work. So I use the facial oil and then after that I put on factor 50 sunscreen on my face. Especially at the moment when I’m working in Berlin and it’s been 36 degrees here. I use a Dermalogica sunscreen for my face and a Jason mineral one for my body. Although I do love a hat, too! [Laughs] I’m a big hat gal—it means you’re super protected from the sun.
And what about makeup? Are you someone that wears it on a daily basis?
It depends on what I’m doing. I definitely take lots of days off with makeup, but when I do wear it I’ll put a bit of light foundation on and I’ll thicken my eyebrows a bit because I overplucked mine loads when I was younger [laughs]. There’s a brand called Cosmetics à la Carte that I found a few years ago and who really saved my bacon because for a while, after a particularly exhausting job, I got allergic to nickel, which is in a lot of makeup products. They are a family-run business and they can tailor-make your makeup. So I use their eyebrow cream (£28) and I use their makeup when I’m on set every day—I just love their products.
I always like a bit of something on my lips too, either I’ll lightly tint them or if I’m going out and I want to have fun, then I quite like the darker, plummier, more gothic kind of colours. I love Chanel’s Rouge Noir (£33) or Laura Mercier’s glossy lipstick in a plum colour which is very sheer, but it’s got a slightly more gothy, boho kind of look. Because I’ve got blonde-red hair and I’m so pale, I don’t like looking too girly—I like to push against it a bit and wear colours that are a bit darker, more striking and I guess less feminine. I like playing around with no eye makeup too, which can be a bit of an odd look, you know? No eye makeup but a strong lip.
When I was younger, I always felt like I had to kind of gel and fit in, and especially as an actress, I thought I couldn’t be so unconventional-looking. I couldn’t be so pale and red [headed] in order to work. I had to blend [in] a bit better. And now that’s just not true. I love it when I see all sorts of people just embracing what they have naturally. … I find that really inspiring. I also think that the beauty industry—finally—because of what women have been pushing for, is starting to adapt and cater [more] to everybody’s unique looks. I think that’s really important. I definitely felt in my teens and early 20s that I couldn’t find foundation that would match my pale skin. I wore fake tan instead, so it’s nice that we can all appreciate our uniqueness now.
