What's in Your Bag, Nigella Lawson?
Struggling to cook healthy? We'll help you prep.
You've likely seen this saucy chef on one of her cooking shows or in the pages of her nine cookbooks. Her latest, Simply Nigella: Feel Good Food, shares lighter recipes, such as her Wild Alaskan Salmon, Avocado, Watercress, and Pumpkin Seed Salad. "It's quick and makes me feel fabulously calm. Plus it's lusciously good!" she says. When she's out of the kitchen, Lawson relies on a steady consumption of yoga and water to keep herself looking as good as she feels. We asked her some questions related to her routine and to share some of her picks for feeling pretty.
Q: How has your beauty routine changed over the years?
Nigella: For 30 years I’ve washed my face every night with a muslin cloth. I started off using an Eve Lom cleanser, and now I use either Temple Spa’s In the Beginning or Cailyn’s Dizzolv’It, but the ritual remains. I can’t go to bed without a clean face.
Q: What’s your biggest beauty blunder?
Nigella: When I was 12, I plucked my eyebrows into a very thin line. My mother was furious and told me that eyebrows “must always look like the wings of a dove.” I took the lesson to heart. Luckily, they grew back, and I’ve kept them thick ever since. I never pluck them now, just keep the shape with threading.
Q: What's your favorite thing you've cooked lately?
Nigella: Wild Alaskan Salmon, Avocado, Watercress and Pumpkin Seed Salad. This comes from the “Quick and Calm” chapter of Simply Nigella and it’s quick to cook and makes me feel fabulously calm. Plus it’s lusciously good.
PRODUCT PICK: FX Brite PrepWHY I LOVE IT: This illuminating primer does double duty for me, as it comes with an SPF 50 FPS. And I am so sun-phobic, I need to wear a factor-50 sunblock even in winter. In summer, I slap more sunblock on top.
PRODUCT PICK: Cailyn O Wow Makeup BrushWHY I LOVE IT: This dense and fibered little makeup brush is almost the size of a toothbrush, but it punches above its weight: It makes foundation give the lightest but most even coverage—like DIY fuss-free airbrush—and you need use only the tiniest bit, so foundation lasts longer, and you never look done up.
PRODUCT PICK: A small, soft Sensodyne toothbrushWHY I LOVE IT: Healthy gums and a good smile are more anti-aging than the most expensive treatments or luxurious creams.
PRODUCT PICK: Charlotte Tilbury Full Fat LashesWHY I LOVE IT: Apart from its great name, this gives lashes length, curl and volume: it is the holy grail of mascaras.
PRODUCT PICK: Chanel Coco Moisturizing Body LotionWHY I LOVE IT: Even products you can’t see make you feel better, and wearing this body lotion in my favorite scent is much subtler and more beguiling than spraying on perfume.
PRODUCT PICK: Amazing ConcealerWHY I LOVE IT: A tiny bit of this patted under the eyes gets rid of shadows without giving panda eyes or settling into creases.
PRODUCT PICK: Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Pink MosaicWHY I LOVE IT: If you’re pale skinned, it’s difficult to find a blush that doesn’t make you look like a painted doll, but this brushes on to give a rosy glow and de-ghouls my pallor.
PRODUCT PICK: Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener in BisqueWHY I LOVE IT: A few dabs of this make me look like I’m well-rested even when I haven’t had any sleep.
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