London’s Facialist to the Stars Tells All
Often referred to as the facialist in London, Amanda Lacey has worked with some of the most elegant of British beauties, from Emily Blunt to Spectre‘s Moneypenny, Naomie Harris. Here, Lacey recalls her modest beginnings in the trade, picking up tips from her mother’s homemade beauty recipes, and her earliest hair blunders.
What’s your first beauty memory? Sometime in the 70’s watching my mother rinse her hair with diluted local draught beer from Kent to make her hair shine. It was a half water/ half beer solution and did the trick!
What was your worst beauty blunder? When I was fifteen years old I tried to re-create the Vidal Sassoon bob by myself. I cut my bangs and ended up having to shave the sides with a razor in an attempt to get a neat line. Needless to say, the end result was nothing like l Sassoon’s mastery. I cried for weeks.
What beauty products are currently in your purse? I’ve fallen for RMS’s line so I have her ‘Un’-Cover Me Concealer in 11 and Living Luminizer, as well as a few fun colored lipstick: Nars’s Satin Lip Pencil in Yu, Surrat’s Automatique Lip Crayon in 1 P.O.C and Chanel’s La Favorite.
What’s your 5-minute morning beauty routine? I cleanse with my Amanda Lacey Cleansing Pomade and then I prep my skin twice with Sisley’s Emulsion Ecologique or my Amanda Lacey Protecting Day Moisturiser. I don’t use foundation all over so the focus is always on my skin.
If you had an extra 10-15 minutes in your routine, how would you spend it? I would focus on massaging my face to help de-puff and wake me up, applying pressure from the base of the nose, under the cheekbones and out to the ears to help with lymphatic drainage. For that I would use a few drops of my Oils of Provence on the ring finger and just repeat the motions.
Which discontinued product or shade do you mourn? Chanel’s Pro Lumiere Foundation. It was super creamy and brilliant for concealing!
What beauty product do you not “get”? The ‘Bull’ nose ring (Septum Ring ) Not a pretty sight.
What’s your beauty peeve? Overly made up eyebrows! I’m all for thick, Brooke Shields brows, but if you’re filling them in, ladies, please use a colour that matches and be subtle.
What are you currently obsessed with? My Princess [and the Pea] bed at the Lowell Hotel on the Upper East Side is Pure Heaven! I was there the other week bringing my atelier to my New York clients and I can’t wait to go back next year.
