Fashion industry’s best-kept beauty secrets revealed!

The author of ‘Supermodels’ Beauty Secrets: Hot tips for style, beauty and fashion’, a former top model gives us hot tips on style, fashion and beauty from the world’s leading models: “In an age when the worldwide female population are spending more time and money on beauty care than ever before, I thought it an appropriate moment to take a look at the beauty secrets of the true female icons of the twenty-first century and to discover the reasons they continue to look so timelessly right.”
We often wonder how a model can keep her body in such a good shape and why her skin always looks so good. The truth is that most models do not spent too much time on working out, they do not wear designer clothes head-to–toe and their drawers are not filled with expensive creams. Most supermodels admit that their “look” was unimpressive before a professional with a keen eye saw their potential when they were gauche and gangly and the metamorphosis began with the help of fashion editors, make-up-artists, hairdressers and fashion stylists. But, according to Victoria Nixon, it takes more than an attractive face to make it to the top. The most successful supermodels are the ones with the best attitude. They possess an insight and realistic knowledge learned through their work of the limitation and expectations of beauty and hair products, diet, exercise and clothes.
Nothing reflects health and well-being more than a woman’s complexion. One of the first facts a model learns from make-up artists and dermatologists is never to assume that an expensive skin product must always be better than a cheap one. A small but expensive glass jar of cream containing a special ingredient (which may not be special at all) looks more convincing than a simple plastic container, but if you check the ingredients, there will be remarkable similarities.
“All supermodels use the Drugstore/Gucci principle for their skin-care. They mix and match good-value, simple products with the designer luxury items they feel are worth the extra money”.
Jerry Hall loves Dr. Hauschka Rose Cream moisturizer: “The Rose Cream is the star of this great holistic range. It has no preservatives or petro-chemicals and it’s made from petals harvested at dawn to capture their full-force. And it smells divine.”
The answer to serious baggy eyes when nothing else works is a thin layer of hemorrhoid cream, gently applied to the bags. Leave for ten minutes and then remove with eye make-remover. This little trick has saved many nightmare situations for make-up artists but should only ever be used in an emergency.
However, the right regime for the epidermis, the outer layer of skin, isn’t enough to maintain a great complexion. It’s also essential to improve the quality and structure of skin from the inside. Models treat the deep layer of inner skin, the dermis, to a combined 1000 gram vitamin C and zinc tablet every day. It revitalizes the skin’s structure and quality, and improves the skin’s ability to hold in moisture, vital for glowing skin.
During the day, water is the must-have accessory for all models who are always seen carrying bottles of water, and avoid at all cost anything sparkling. Drinking water flushes out toxins and it also suppresses the appetite.
When Victoria Nixon first arrived in New York, her agent Eileen Ford who was at the helm of the most famous agency in the world advised her to always start the day by drinking a glass of hot water:
“Little did I realize then that getting into hot water was the best beauty advice I have ever received. Don’t add lemon juice, it’s far too acidic for your system, and make sure the water is not boiling but hotter than lukewarm. It’s the heat and purity of the water that kick-starts your system like no other, cleansing and purifying your entire physical being.”
Most top models do not wear make-up when they’re not working. It gives their skin time to breathe and relax. They use certain brands, make-up classics that will never date. Kate Moss and many others use “Touche Eclat” by Saint Laurent, an under-eye concealer with light diffusing particles, pump action and built-in brush. Linda Evangelista was the first model to use Mac’s Spice Lip Pencil. Spice is the perfect natural color for all lips. Linda Evangelista wears it every day and she thinks it simply perfect.
Another great make-up classic is the Great Lash Mascara by Maybelline; it never globs, separates beautifully and comes in five shades. It is used by Christy Turlington and Eva Herzigova.
During one of her photo shooting session for Vogue, the author asked Helmut Newton how he chose his models: “I look for a certain defiance, and good posture is important. Nonchalance, and that indefinable way in which a girls wears the clothes rather than allowing the clothes to wear her. It’s that elusive thing called style.”
But how can one define style? We know when we see it but how do we define style and more importantly, how do we acquire it? Being stylish owes very little to the latest fashions. You can be very fashionable without having any style and you can be stylish without ever being fashionable. Money does not buy you instant style,” says Sadie Frost, one of Kate Moss’ closest friends.
Kate Moss is known for her sense of style, and despite having easy access to any label in the world, she puts her own spin on the way she looks. She knows exactly what suits her, she never follows fashion diktats and trusts her own taste. She has the ability to mix designer, high-street and vintage clothes that always works”
Claudia Schiffer is another model who enjoys mixing old with new. She says one of her best ever buys was a vintage leather jacket she spotted in Portobello Road, London, which she swears she’ll keep forever. However, wearing vintage can be tricky and it should never be worn from head to toe.
Yves Saint Laurent couture from the sixties and seventies is now worth a serious fortune. Very early Christian Dior, Elsa Schiaparelli, Coco Chanel outfits from the twenties and thirties are valuable and John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Alexandre McQueen are tipped to become highly collectable items.
Designer’s clothes are expensive to purchase so the rule is never to shop when you’re a bit depressed or you are in an odd mood. The idea when shopping for designer clothes is to buy one key item that is so beautiful, it’s worth every penny you pay. Designer clothes are far superior to high-street in the quality of the fabric and in the cut of the garment.
The top five classic fashion buys are cashmere jumpers, a little black dress, well-cut trousers, a winter overcoat and a pair of jeans which fits well. Never wear shiny fabrics and a cheap jacket is a terrible waste. Nothing looks better than a well-tailored jacket by Helmut Lang.
Your smell says a lot about you. Many celebrities prefer a bespoke fragrance, mixed specially to suit their requirements. This trend is catching on since more and more of us want original, unique perfumes made exclusively for us. The only scent the author, Victoria Nixon wears is a mixture of three fragrances from “L’Artisan Parfumeur”. The formula is a mixture of Fig, Vetiver and Mimosa and the result is so staggeringly fabulous that every time she wears it, she is asked about it.
Carla Bruni loves Guerlain’s “Shalimar”:” I’m very classic when it comes to perfume” she admits. Ines de la Fressange who was Chanel’s top model for many years, prefers Guerlain’s “Vol de Nuit”: “My true favorites are old French perfumes” she says.
And Elle Macpherson wears a man’s perfume “Vetiver” also made by Guerlain: “I like the way male fragrances smell on me”.
A unique thing happened in the eighties when the top models started to become more famous than the products and designers they promoted. Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Helena Christensen, Elle Macpherson, Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss were the first top models to become multi-national enterprises. They succeeded not so much because of their physical attributes but because of their inner qualities:
“I think the public should relate to my mole and my female shape. But I was able to relate to my mole and my female shape. But I was successful because I was professional.”
Jerry Hall is a good example of a positive attitude overcoming a difficult childhood. Her father was a brutal man who terrorized her mother and four sisters. She began modeling at 14 and went to Paris a year later to look for some work: “I never thought I was pretty, but I thought I had the right bone structure to make a model. I read every book, memorized every modeling pose and decided modeling was less about being good looking and more to do with knowing how you would look through the lens…I could lunch with girlfriends, shop and socialize all day but what a complete waste to time.. I like to have projects and being creative. As well as acting I’m doing an Open University course in Humanities. Work is important for my self-esteem. It also means I am financially independent and look after myself.”
Helena Christensen was keenly aware that very few models will have the opportunity to have a long career. She also acknowledged that a good sense of humor is very important and that we should also not be too hard on oneself.
“The most important thing is to know that beauty is meaningless, if it’s self-serving. True beauty really does come from the inside” she concludes.
Victoria Nixon gives us an insight into the life of some of the world’s most famous top models who share with us some of their beauty secrets. Far from being shallow and superficial, we discover that the most famous top models such as Jerry Hall, Kate Moss, and Elle Macpherson have a strong personality. Despite the pressures thrust on them they were at the same time determined, disciplined, and resilient and that helped them make it right to the top.
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