How does Hollywood's hottest 49-year-old maintain that youthful glow, shiny hair, and perfectly toned body? She trusts her basic (beauty) instincts.
When you interview movie stars, it's always interesting to see which ones have obviously spent three hours in hair and makeup before the interview and which ones feel comfortable enough in their own skin to meet you sans makeup, styled hair, or borrowed shoes. This interview with Sharon Stone had its own brilliant beauty trajectory: When I arrived at Stone's suite at the Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan, she was fresh scrubbed and just settling in to get primped for a big event later that day. As we talked, she was slowly transformed from bedhead and Levi's to a bronzed glamazon in a Missoni dress.
SEE LOOKBOOK: SHARON STONE'S FAVORITES
The first thing you notice about Stone is that even without makeup, she appears preternaturally youthful for a woman about to hit the midcentury mark. Not in that I've-had-my-entire-head-Botoxed way that so many women in Hollywood do, but like someone with enviably good genes who doesn't smoke or drink coffee and probably does Pilates. (Guess what? Her parents are good-looking. She doesn't smoke. Rarely drinks alcohol or caffeine. And, yes, she has used Pilates equipment.)
When Stone stripped down to her Hanky Panky thong so the makeup artist could meticulously bronze her limbs ("Do you mind?" she asked me, already out of her jeans), it became clear that although she claims not to stick to any specific exercise regimen, she has a body that anyone half her age would be thrilled with. Trust me, I saw it up close. This is a woman who takes care of herself.
So it comes as no surprise that in addition to her work as an actress and activist, the perfect skin and nice bod landed Stone a contract in 2005 with a big-time beauty brand, Dior's Capture Totale skin care, reminding everyone that women over 40 have the tools to look fabulous, too.
How did it feel when you got the call from Dior? "I was like, 'Hello? Are you kidding me?' You don't normally think when you're 47 that you're going to have a cosmetics company calling you up. I said to my agent, 'They need to come over and take a look at me. I don't want to change. I don't want to be different than who I am and what I am.' The Dior executives came over, and I booked us a table at an outdoor restaurant. I didn't wear makeup because I wanted them to really look at my face. I wanted them to understand that I wasn't planning on any plastic surgery, and this was it."
What happened at the meeting? "I wanted to know, Why me? They said that year I had stood up at the World Economic Forum at Davos, and they loved that I was courageously standing up for others. They wanted someone who had courage and a voice. I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe it, because I have had people drop me from other things because they're so afraid of things I've said or done or things I believed in."
I hear you're involved in product development. "When Dior sends me a product, I try it first on my leg or my arm, like you clinically try it. That's how I first tried Capture Totale skin care, and that's how I knew we needed to develop a product for the body because it was so great on my legs. They're making the body product now." (The cream is slated to launch in fall 2008.)
What are your Dior favorites? "Dior makes the best lip glosses going. I'm nuts about them, especially the clear one with the silver sparkles. I got addicted to DiorShow Mascara, too. It makes you look like you're wearing false eyelashes. It's the only one that rivals Maybelline."
What's your everyday makeup routine? "I use Visiora cream base as concealer under my eyes because regular concealer is too heavy. Most make you look older. I like to use Stila cream blush, which I put on with a flat brush. It makes you look sun kissed. I also groom my eyebrows. Oh, and I carry gloss — Clinique Superbalm or the DiorKiss tubes — all the time."
And what about for a big night out? "I can go completely berserk with the makeup, depending on the event. I'm currently in this very mod stage. I wear false lashes and color on my eyelids. I'm really liking shiny eyelids in copper, rose, gold, or silver."
Do you wear fragrance? "I wear Aveda Energizing oil. I am big into aromatherapy."
Your skin looks flawless. How do you take care of it? "I use M.A.C. Wipes or a Shiseido cleansing water to cleanse my face, and then I use all my Dior Capture Totale products. That's it, very quick and simple."
No facials? "No! I don't like people to push and pick at my face."
You're wearing your hair short again. "Rod Ortega gave me this short cut. I have to say I never liked my haircut unless I did it myself. I always cut my own hair. But he did it. He's such a good haircutter, and I love it." (Ortega makes house calls in L.A. Call Solo Artists at 310-558-7656.)
Who does the color? "I was really unhappy with my hair color. I was shooting a movie in Jacksonville, Florida, and I heard there was a colorist, Ron Nepa, who was great. I went to him and he spent four hours and fixed my color, and I really love it. He took all the weird brassiness out, and to top it off, he was so nice." (Call Ron at Arcadia Place salon in Jacksonville at 904-396-6002.)
What are your favorite hair products? "I am nuts about the Tancho stick. It's a styling wax. It works better than anything else, but you have to use it sparingly. Just touch your finger on it and then touch your hair. It makes your hair stand up and gives great tousled texture. Then I spray dry shampoo or the Blondish Hair Powder from Bumble and Bumble. The powder sticks to the wax. I think it's important to change your shampoos and conditioners. I keep at least four different brands going in the shower. Right now, I like John Frieda and PureOlogy. But I don't wash my hair every day, only every three to four days."
Are you a believer in plastic surgery? "If you want to have plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery, live it up; go ahead and have it. But if you don't want to have it, don't have it. All these people who keep saying they gave it to me — well, I must never get out of the operating room! How about I happen to be fine and you have not sliced me? It seems to be unfathomable to people that I just happen to be 49 and look good. I am totally capable of accepting myself."
You're very slim. Do you have a special diet? "I don't really want to be fat, so I stop before I am. I'm not a vegetarian, but I might go through a phase when I'm not interested in eating protein for a week or so, and then I might go through a phase when I eat nothing but steak. I don't use caffeine unless I use it medicinally. I don't eat onions or garlic or a lot of shade fruits because I think of them as medicine. I don't use a ton of dairy, but I feel like I need the fat as I've gotten older. I have the body type, which I think I've been lucky about, that is a little skinny. I am a tea fanatic. I like Sunrider Calli tea, an herbal cleansing tea. I don't like the feeling of being drunk, so drinking hard liquor has never been of interest to me. I have wine with dinner, which I enjoy. My weakness is dark chocolate. I carry little tins of it in my purse."
Do you work out? "I work out only as much as I have to to not be a fat ass. I chase three children to stay in shape. I don't have a regular routine. When I notice things aren't quite where I want them to be, I kind of move more, step it up. You park farther from the door; you take the stairs instead of the elevator."
Do you fear aging? Do you think about it? "Yes. And sometimes I literally have to sit down and look at myself and say, 'You are a lot older, and you look completely different.' You can't just keep doing the same hairdo or the same makeup and the same jewelry and the same look. You have to face the face that you have. I'm not the 32-year-old pretty girl from Basic Instinct.
"The other day, I thought, 'Confront this; you really are starting to look so extreme. What are you going to do about this? You're going to have to change the way you are looking.' This was after I decided I can't deal with the hair extensions. I am done with hair extensions.
"I thought, 'Okay, I'm going to wear a little less makeup and more jewelry. I'm going to wear bolder pieces: huge earrings and bracelets and necklaces.' [I think of] women I admire, like Carmen Dell'Orefice and Paloma Picasso, women that have these really powerful looks. I might as well just go with it."
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