What I Put On My Face is Mamamia’s celebrity beauty series that goes inside the beauty cabinets of some of Australia’s most influential people. From what skincare products they use to their go-to makeup tips, it’s a pervy look at exactly what they put on their face. And body. And hair. You get the idea.
This week, we speak to Trinny Woodall. Many of us would’ve spent hours watching the iconic British duo Trinny and Susannah give out the realest fashion advice on telly with their noughties TV show ‘What Not To Wear’. Aside from being the original fashion makeover queen, the 55-year-old is also big in the beauty world with her makeup brand TRINNY LONDON. Trinny shares her extensive (and expensive) skincare routine and her philosophies on what makes women feel good about themselves. Enjoy!
To listen to Trinny’s interview with Mia Freedman on the No Filter podcast, get it in your ears below. Post continues after audio.
Trinny Woodall’s skincare routine.
The 80s wasn’t my best decade. It was my fake tan era. I had a lot of terrible acne from the ages of 13-30 and then I used fake tan to cover it up. It was like a pizza face, it was terrible. I made so many beauty mistakes but I had an enlightening moment when I was a teenager. My mother is Scottish and the most she’s ever put on her face is a bit of water, but I went to stay with my godmother in New York and she took me to a department store and Clinque had just launched their three-step routine.
At that point, I had nothing for my skin. My mother only ever gave me Nivea cream for everything. That day was my intro to knowing there is another way. It was so exciting. And every decade, there’s been more products, more choice, more difficulty to work out what suits you and it’s about refinement of choice for me. My skin now has got such an unbelievable resilience to anything. My skin can take anything and I feel that my skincare routine is layers and layers of active ingredients. I have a rule that I will try something for a month or two before I talk about it. A lot of my Secret Sevens [Instagram beauty series] are my favourite products.
To me, there are three main ingredients for skin – retinol, Vitamin C and SPF. If a woman is looking at what money she has to spend on skincare, I think spend the least amount of money on your cleanser, but make sure it’s one that really cleans your skin. I believe in cleansing your skin twice at night. Another big rule which I had to learn is: toner is not the end of your cleansing routine, it’s the beginning of your serum routine. It’s prepping your skin to receive products, resetting the pH balance so whatever you put on next will really penetrate.
It’s like looking at a history of my life looking my skincare. Jan Marini was my introduction to a stabalised form of Vitamin C, it’s a serum that felt milky so it didn’t oxidise and it’s great for sensitive skin. It gave you that glow without being scary, so it’s definitely in my hall of fame. Then you’ve got, on the opposite end, the most disruptive, not great for sensitive skin Vitamin C – the DCL Night Booster. It’s 30 per cent L-Ascorbic Acid and it’s really going to get you that glow. It’s a really strong overnight treatment so don’t do it with retinol. Allies of Skin also have a 35 per cent Vitamin C and Ferulic Acid in it. My favourite economy buy for Vitamin C products is Timeless CE Ferulic, a dupe for the $200 SkinCeuticals one. If you’re wanting an economy retinol, I would say spend more on the serum but buy a $30 titanium microneedling tool so the retinol can really penetrate.
I am also religious with sun care but I was a sun bunny in my twenties. I remember there was a very hot day in 1979 at boarding school and I lay out on tin foil like a chicken, I put olive oil on my body. That’s how addicted I was. My twenties was me killing my skin in one way or another. Only in my mid-thirties did I realise before it’s too late, I have to do SPF. In the summer, I do SPF 50 and SPF 30 in winter.
Her favourite products.
GOLDFADEN MD Doctor’s Scrub Advanced, $150.
SkinCeuticals by C E Ferulic, $200.
Timeless Skin Care 20% Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum, $81.94.
Jan Marini C-Esta Serum, $148.
Allies of Skin Vitamin C 35% Collagen Rebuilding Serum, $196.
Julia T. Hunter MD Maximal Strength Vitamin A Plus Serum, $217 (US$149).
Nannette de Gaspe Art of Noir - Baume Noir Face, $491.70.
Vinter's Daughter Active Botanical Serum, $269.95.
DCL C Scape High Potency Night Booster 30, $202 (£108).
Julia T. Hunter MD Maximal Strength Night Regeneration, $239 (US$164).
Neostrata Corporal Heliocare Airgel 360 SPF50, $42.55.
Trinny Woodall's makeup routine.
I have had really massive beauty blunders. It's a learning curve. Mine were the 80s nuder-than-nude lip and an inappropriately applied blusher - which has now come back in fashion - and fake tan. Some people say makeup should be your armour for life, but I think it's an extension of the best you want to be. It's be your best. That's what TRINNY LONDON is about.
On What Not To Wear, the first thing about the makeover that the woman would notice would be her makeup. I love makeup because for me, it's the camouflage. I look at a woman's body and think, how can she dress to show off what she loves and to cover what she doesn't, and to feel that she can be present? And it should be the same with a face, but a face is always on show, so what can you do to get that slight misdirection so you show off what's great? You don't camouflage totally [with makeup].
With fashion, when a woman doesn't like her tummy, she covers her whole figure from her boobs and she ignores the fact she has a waist. You can translate that to when a woman has a spot on her chin so she puts foundation all over her face. But since I was six-and-a-half at boarding school making over my girlfriends, I loved the buzz I would get from bringing information to a woman that could make her feel better. That's probably the thing that's been most consistent in my life.
When it came to making my own makeup products, I always found there were so many creams you could put on before a foundation. I wanted to make a cream that would definitely give you SPF, but I didn't want it to be that whole 'you have to drink green juice' kind of amazing, just something to make your other products look better. The BFF Skin Perfector preps the skin, brings everything together and then you can apply foundation or concealer just where you need it. I would never want a woman to feel like she has to cover her whole face. Freckles should be shown, it should give you a little glow, but not sweaty.
To me, I think brushes are amazing and there's definitely a place for brushes, especially blending products around the eyes and bronzer, but when you put on foundation with your fingers, you can feel your face and where all the structure of your bones are. Then you can put products on where you need them. If I need to get out the door quickly in the morning, for me, I always use a lip and cheek dual product because you can also use them on the eye for a tonal wash of colour. I love the synergy of that kind of makeup look.
Her favourite products.
Trinny London BFF Cream Skin Perfector SPF 30, $65.
Trinny London Just A Touch Foundation/Concealer, $50.
Trinny London BFF Eye Serum Concealer, $48.
NARS Climax Mascara, $37.
Trinny London Lip Love Metallic Lip in Sacha, $45.
Trinny London Lip Treat, $36.
Trinny Woodall's hair and body care routine.
I have a huge body care routine. I believe in slapping - stimulation of the lymphatic system. An age thing for women going "down the path of life" is that sort of little rippling on your arm. Three times a week, I will slap my arms and get the blood circulation going. You can do weights, but I don't have time. I also use the Julia Hunter whole body pads which have a nice mixture of Lactic Acid, Mandelic Acid and Malic Acid and they keep off the dead skin cells.
My hair routine is where I'm the most prima donna. I can blow dry my hair well with the Dyson Air Wrap, which is ridiculously expensive, but it's amazing for creating that broken curl that's not curly at the end. I think curly ends, to me, feel old fashion. I use SP Root Lift, it's an old-fashioned product but it gives structure to the hair without it being hairspray, and when you blow dry it, it holds and makes your hair look better with time.
But, I have a guy called Greg who comes along and does my hair because I'm a multi-tasker. The morning is the only time I can catch up on emails and if I do my hair, there aren't enough hours in the day. It's either a Greg or a Dyson.
Her favourite products.
Julia T. Hunter MD Maximal Strength Whole Body Renew, $141 (US$97).
Dyson Airwrap, $799.
Wella SP System Professional Styling Resolute Lift, $38.50.
Rita Hazan Root Concealer Touch Up Stick, $35.
Have you tried any of Trinny's favourite beauty products? Tell us in the comments.
You can read more from our What I Put On My Face series below:
- What I Put On My Face: Every single beauty product Rebecca Harding uses on her face.
- What I Put On My Face: Every single beauty product Sophie Monk uses on her face.
- What I Put On My Face: Every single beauty product Edwina Bartholomew uses on her face.
- What I Put On My Face: Every single beauty product Jackie O uses on her face.
- What I Put On My Face: Every single beauty product Rowi Singh uses on her face.
- What I Put On My Face: Every single beauty product The Bachelorette's Ciarran uses on his face.