Chances are you’ll have seen Trinny Woodall on social in her Shapewear and with zero makeup on. It’s just one of the reasons we love the humorous, self deprecating styling guru and beauty boss behind Trinny London makeup. We suspect it’s also the reason she’s garnered an army of loyal fans who tune in her for social shares on what to wear and how to makeup.
Watch and you quickly discover she’s the queen of the quick glam-over with only one product to hand. She keeps it real creating a full face with fingers, no brushes required and she’s also passionate about skincare, introducing serum ingredients into her tinted moisturiser and under eye concealers.
Pre lockdown we chatted over breakfast (yep when brunch was still a thing) and took the opportunity to quiz her for her best skin and fresh faced hacks. Here’s her no holds barred must do’s and a warning, it includes maxing your skincare while on the loo! We admire her resolve to never to miss a beauty opportunity. And now you needn’t either.
1. The Facial Workout (to do on the loo)
“I’m obsessed with doing facial massage in the morning as we need to oxygenate our skin. You can do it with just your fingers. It’ll help if you feel a little puffy under the eyes like I do or if you love to eat dairy [that tends to causes puffiness]. Don’t just rub the face, but focus on lymphatic drainage, working from the clavicle with two fingers and pressing in a butterfly motion before releasing. Do this twenty times and then go up under the chin and push in and slightly pulsate. Then move up to the nose and push slightly either side. Then I go into the corner of my eyes and work along under my eyes, gently pressing and releasing. It’s a daily ritual I’ll do when sitting on the loo!
2. Exercise Your Eyelids
“By a certain age most women I know have a hooded lid, unless they have a deep hollow in the eye socket. So this is my suggestion for dealing with the overhang. Place your finger just under the middle of the brow and push it up, then open and close your eye 30 times and you’ll tighten the skin between your eyeliner and brow. Again it’s good to do when when sitting on the loo in the morning. It’s like a Facegym routine for the eyes.
3. Straighten Your Brows
“Many women have a tendency to over pluck their brows, so it’s a question of how to fill if you’ve been a compulsive plucker? There’s also tendency to taper brows down at the ends, but I think a straighter brow is fresher and more modern. I fill above the brow from inner corner to the centre, then fill below the brow on outer half to create a straighter, fuller finish.
4. Laugh Yourself Happy
“I am a very back and white person, but then there’s these things I’ll discover and I’m like, ‘Yes I like that, I’ll take it onboard.’ And right now its laughter therapy. I first did it on a Live with @Katie_Brindle and I have done it every morning since. I now even make people do it with me on Zooms. If you stand up and laugh for a minute it feels so good, by the end your whole system is tingling with the endorphins released. When you feel flat it can give you a renewed energy and all that smiling lifts and tightens the muscles around your cheekbones.
5. Be Quick Smart
“If you only have time for one product I put a cream product in a neutral shade over eyes, lips and cheeks so you feel like you have done your face in a flash. Today I used our Lip2Cheek in Veebee [£25], but go for a pale pink, apricot or soft brown to suit your skintone.
6. Have A Rethink
“Sometimes it’s about rethinking your routine and asking yourself, ‘Is my makeup making me go down the path of life quicker or is it not?’ If you feel it’s ageing you and making you look tired, it’s time to rethink it.
7. Less Is More With Skin
“Love your skin and don’t feel the need to mask it. Don’t make it an issue. I realised I’d been coming at it from my heritage of my skin paranoia. For me I spent aged 13-30 with acne and then covered it up with MAC’s Studio Fix for the ten years after that, then woke up one morning and thought, ‘WTF am I doing?’. I learnt from my daughter’s approach and when she says Mum, ‘I like my spots,’ it’s so refreshing. A light tinted base, like our BFF De-Stress Tinted Serum [£39], will look way fresher than masking it.
8. Some Rules Are Worth Sticking To
“Take off your makeup at night, it’s obvious but if you don’t that expensive serum you bought will go nowhere. And bloody well always wear SPF! Don’t even think about it, just take my word for it, as one day you’ll wake up and think, ‘Why didn’t I wear it?!'”
Want to know which Trinny products her loyal tribe swear by? Scroll down to see the Trinny London best sellers we all need in our makeup bag.