Are there any beauty secrets that you’ve picked up from the makeup artists and stylists that you’ve worked with over the years?
I work with Alex Babsky a lot, who I adore—he has worked a lot with us on the Noble Panacea campaigns—and he, to me, is an artist. And Hung Vanngo is the same. They use their fingertips a lot, which I love. I think brushes are great, but there’s something about the application when they use their hands and the warmth of their skin. I always really love how the makeup then sets, so I think that’s something that I’ve definitely taken in. I was also obsessed with Alexa Chung as a teen, so a cat eye to me is just heaven. But whenever I’ve tried to do it in the past, it always ends up, like, up here, past my eyebrows and super thick. So I asked Alex what I was doing wrong. I just want a really fine, smudgy, sultry, lovely, made-no-effort cat eye. [laughing] I’m not asking for much, am I? I always started from the outer edge, and he said the trick is to start from the centre of your eye, facing forwards. Then you take the line out to the edge of your eye from there. And I have to say, I’ve started doing that, and it really works. So that’s changed my life [laughs].
I’m going to have to try that because I am useless with eyeliner!
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve usually done the rest of my makeup, and I’ll have about 20 minutes before I have to leave, and I’m always like, should I? Should I not? Then, of course, I go for it, and I fuck it up, and it’s like noooo [laughing]. So it’s been a really useful tip for me.
Obviously, we have to talk about Killing Eve, as it is a total phenomenon. I absolutely adore it, and a big part of the appeal is the amazing costumes and the incredible hair and makeup. What are some of your favourite looks from the show, and do you ever take inspiration from Villanelle for your IRL looks?
God, I wish! Now, they hold on to the costumes a lot more, but I’ve bought a lot of her shoes—they gave me a little discount, don’t worry [laughs]—because her shoes aren’t as heavily featured. And Sam [Perry], our costume designer, always sources the best stuff. So I have a lot of her boots in my wardrobe, which I love. I can get away with them. Some of the other stuff I’ve taken I now feel like I can’t wear because it’s too associated with her. I think if someone sees me in the street, they’re going to be like, “Isn’t that Villanelle’s dress?” and it would be so embarrassing [laughs]. My all-time-favourite look was one from Berlin in season one. She had this Dries van Noten suit. There were greens and purples and burgundies, and it kind of looked like a puzzle, and then they put my hair in plaits and pinned them up, and she wore it with Doc Martens. I loved that. I think also because I was so comfortable in it.
What I love about Villanelle, and we’ve played around with it in different seasons, but especially with regard to makeup, is that I think she doesn’t think all that much about it. You know, she’s busy. She’d be like, I don’t have time for that kind of thing, which I like about her. Probably because I’m similar in that way. Although, mine comes more from a lazy place of not wanting to deal with the upkeep of makeup throughout the day. I think my makeup look would be the Radiance Resilience Moisturizer, Soap Brows, and then there’s a Westman Atelier lip palette (£78) with four shades of red in it. For me, you can put that on your lips, you can put that on your cheeks, and I think that Villanelle is that kind of girl as well.
