Apparently the actress Cameron Diaz has stopped
washing her face. This isn’t some weird rumour: she said
so herself on a BBC podcast. “I literally do nothing to it.
I, like, never wash my face. Twice a month, if I’m lucky, I’ll
be like, ‘Oh, I better put this on. One time works, right?”
I have tried to work out if she was exaggerating for comic
effect, but I don’t think so — and anyway, outing yourself
as terminally grubby is not especially comedic: “Yeah,
I never brush my teeth, lol.” On the other hand Diaz has
been loudly and laudably outspoken in the past about the ludicrous expectations the film
industry has about how women should look. I applaud her for this — but jeez, Cam, wash
your face! Do it for yourself! Not washing your face is gross. (Conversely, not washing
your hair can be quite effective.)
Or it could be that it was a way of saying, “All this hair and make-up that is
supposedly central to what makes a woman — it’s literally got nothing to do with it.”
But then you would say, “I hate make-up,” not “I never wash my face.” Still, I resent the
amount of time I have spent wondering about Diaz’s face and the accruing sebum
thereon. Onwards to cleansers.
As regular readers might know, I am a balm devotee. I love them. I love using them,
I love what they do, I love the way they make your skin feel and I love how clean they get
it without it ever feeling tight (Elemis and Amanda Lacey for preference, for me, but lots
available). I try loads of cleansers and some of them are great, but in the end I always go
back to trusty balms. So I did not expect to fall in love, is what I’m saying. I was out,
having a quick drink to be polite, and hoping to be home in time for Front Row. But in
the manner of these things it didn’t turn out that way. The cleanser is by Emma
Lewisham — I don’t know if this is a real person or a woman called Emma who lives in
southeast London, I do hope the latter — and is called Illuminating Oil Cleanser
(£46). It’s not cheap, but that’s OK because I will have excellent news on the cheapness
front at the end of April.
Here’s how I judge a new cleanser. It has to be nice to use, obviously, it has to get every
last scrap of dirt and make-up off, it has to leave my skin feeling pleasantly plump and
hydrated, but most of all I have to wake up and notice a pleasing and visible improve-
ment. This improvement should be evident not just the next morning — because that’s
more about your skin going “Ooh, newness! Let’s show willing” than about tangible long-
term benefits — but “going forward”, to use a loathsome phrase. This did that in absolute
spades. The improvement the next morning was noticeable; the improvement over the
next week really quite startling. A very, very good product indeed. ■ @indiaknightIndia Knight
INDIA LOVES
READ The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson (Mantle £16.99). Middle-class family
dysfunction with knobs on — monstrous artist father (giant spoilt-baby variety), talented
artist mother who has dimmed her own considerable light out of deference for 30 years,
damaged adult children, assorted relatives. All are gathered over a weekend for the
father’s private view. No space for more, read proper reviews, but man, so good.I’ve fallen head over heels for this cleanser that has
noticeably improved my complexion
With a new
cleanser I have
to wake up and
see a pleasing
improvement.
This did that
Victoria Adamson in spades
The Sunday Times Style • 57