I’m standing on one foot in a Soho hotel bathroom with Trinny Woodall, talking about skincare, balance, and success. There are far worse ways to spend a summer morning.
If you are not familiar with Trinny, she is a delightful force. A remarkable 58-year-old woman who is confident and fabulous enough to wear a silver paillette tank top during the day, she is also a hugely successful entrepreneur who has built a skincare and makeup empire. Her iconic skin-perfecting BFF Cream SPF sells at a clip of every 6 seconds at peak. She’s the kind of woman you would love to call your confidante or hang out with in Ibiza for a week in a caftan. She’s my type, for sure.
I love her approach to beauty and life in general and was thrilled to meet her while she was in town to chat about her new skincare line. As she showed the line, she mentioned how skincare can be practical and somewhat sentimental. Meaning that you always perceive your skin from the skin you had as a young person and the first products you used. And for most, that was acne care. From that ubiquitous Clinique 3-Step system to a present-day quest for eternal, dewy youth, we women (and men, too) go to great lengths to keep our skin in check. Thanks to my thick-skinned Eastern European grancestors, my skin has rarely been on my shit list, but I’ve always wanted to take good care of it. I’ve come a long way since washing it with “beautiful skin can be a breeze” Sea Breeze and hitting it with some Noxzema (I can still smell both in my mind).
After I toured the line, Trinny took me to her bathroom and put me through the paces of an optimal skincare routine for a woman in her 50s.
Trinny has been to that proverbial holy grail of skincare and back, so you don’t have to go to that cave in Japan or that super-swish facialist in Baden-Baden
We both double cleansed (a must for makeup wearers) and used the process as a meditative, self-care moment. We massaged. Pressed. Drummed with fingertips and lifted. We released and we repeated. And all of this has a real purpose other than percussing your pores. Because Trinny has been to the proverbial holy grail of skincare and back, so you don’t have to go to that cave in Japan or that super-swish facialist in Baden-Baden. You can simply do what she says and, from my vantage point, taking advice from a beautiful woman in a sparkly top is always a good idea. Plus, the British ability to never take oneself too seriously is just my vibe. It’s no wonder I’ve been an Anglophile my whole life.
We then moved on to the serum steps, each done while standing on the aforementioned one foot. Trinny pointed out that past 50, balance is hugely important to your physical wellbeing and, I’d argue, your mental wellbeing too. I love how she made skincare a full-body ritual because why not? My right foot had me applying a retinol serum featuring retinal, the newest and most advanced version of retinol that brings energy and life back to the skin. The left had me plumping with a peptide moisturizer to nurture, plump, and bring back some bounce. I left that bathroom wiser and dewier than ever. Incidentally, she does not believe in eye or neck creams and that using regular products for the face is just fine for your eyes and décolletage. Noted.
As we applied skincare together, we spoke about success later in life, and she told me that everything she’s ever done has led her right here. And that’s when it hit me why she has what is known as a “Trinny tribe,” a group of women of all ages and stages that follow her every move and hang on her every word.
I dig Trinny’s idea of giving your routine a rethink, and that goes for more than just skincare, IMHO
Because, much like success, that skin we’re in needs love and care. I dig Trinny’s idea of giving your routine a rethink, and that goes for more than just skincare, IMHO. For those of us in midlife, we can see this part of the trip as an ending or, better yet, a beginning and a chance to take care of ourselves and our changing skin because change is good. Trinny’s prescription for change? See below.
Sparkle in sequins during the day. Recognize the experience women our age bring to the table and the medicine cabinet. And most of all, be down to age and, ultimately, change. You also have to work out a few times a week, which she does with a combination of Pilates, strength training, and resistance band work. All in all, she’s done the work, paid the dues, and is living life out loud and doing it her way.
Because you can live a long life and still be exceptionally glowy and dewy. Was my skin less lined in my 20s? Certainly. But did I often fall asleep with my makeup on and stress out my skin with too many cigarettes, cocktails, and chaos? Also, yes. But now, my time in the bathroom taking care of my skin and myself is long but worth it and far more fulfilling than last night’s party, though sometimes that’s nice too. Balance, friends. Balance.
From a product standpoint, everything felt luxurious and yummy on my face, and I can’t wait to try them out and make them at home in my medicine cabinet. For more on her makeup and skincare line, check out her site, and do follow her super fun Instagram if you don’t already. Once you go on her site, you can answer a few questions and get a personalized routine, which I think is the future of beauty, and the fact that everything is refillable. With so many celebrity-backed skincare lines popping up, Trinny’s line takes the cake and is the real deal. She’s been in beauty for a long time, and her now iconic makeup line was successful for its skin-first, stackable, super real approach to helping women look and feel fabulous and on their terms. As I turn 52 this month, I’ve experienced a renaissance in my thoughts on getting older and have met some of the most inspiring women who floor me with their expertise, unique brand of genius, and exceptional style that’s transcendent. I’m grateful for hotel bathrooms, female bonding, and fabulous, glowy skin. Let’s keep this sequins for daytime/telling it like it is party going—cheers to that.
Connect with Trinny:
Instagram
Trinny London
OMG Sheri I can smell Noxema like it was yesterday instead of yesteryear! All the old teen beauty standards like Bonnie Bell and Clearasil to say nothing of Shalimar perfume which in hindsight was nauseating. Admitedly I have a jar of Cold Cream in my bathroom cabinet as I thought it might remove eye makeup better than my MAC remover and it kinda does. Although I appreciate the care the two of you went through and how fab your skin must feel and look, I don’t have enough years left to spend time with so many products before I expire. I will check her out however – thanks for the memories of Noxema.
XO