Nigella Lawson’s complexion is creamier than desserts week on The Great British Bake Off – and it’s all down to a two-step recipe that suits her perfectly at 66.
The chef and judge has revealed she swears by two complexion products, starting with Kosas DreamBeam in Original, which is technically a tinted SPF but a product she wears in lieu of foundation on low-key days.
Dubbing it ‘miraculous stuff’ in a Sunday Times column on her beauty favourites, she describes DreamBeam as a ‘beautiful, light, pearly, pink-beige cream that seems to even out the skin, leaving it with a gorgeous gleam’. It’s rather shiny at first, she says, but softens to ‘sheer luminescence’ within 15 minutes.
Kosas - Dreambeam - Gl ttende Make-up-basis Spf 30 - dreambeam Sunscreen - Sunlit
So radiant, so Nigella.
However, the real secret sauce is down to a second product which she swears by on days when her skin needs a bit more coverage.
‘For this I turn to the skin-kissingly wearable Dior Forever Skin Perfect foundation stick, letting the DreamBeam work, for the most part, as a glow-giving primer,’ she says. This Dior best-seller is renowned for its clever, skin-blurring effect, and a texture designed to hydrate and nourish mature skin – so no wonder Nigella is sold.
She also reveals she uses a particular application technique which, she says, gives a light touch result that flatters women ‘of my distinguished vintage’. Rather than swiping straight from the stick onto the face, she advises applying the velvety formula to the back of the hand first, then using a brush to apply just where it’s needed.
‘I use, gratifyingly, shade 1N, which feels rather like having a personalised number plate, only not as vulgar,’ she concludes, brilliantly.
Testing Dior Forever Skin Perfect
Well, if it's good enough for Nigella, it's good enough for my face – and I'm not that far off her 'distinguished vintage' either. Stick foundations wouldn't be my natural go-to, as many I find many are quite drying or cakey but Dior's is very much skincare-led, with a 24-hour hydration claim.
I'm immediately impressed by the velvety feel and look, which definitely delivers on the blurring promise. I adopt Nigella's 'brush it on lightly' approach, and find there's still enough coverage to smooth over uneven skin tone, without pigment wallowing on the surface. For testing purposes, I used Forever Skin as my only base product, and I'd feel confident forgoing undereye concealer if I didn't have one to hand.
I loved the finish, which is softly airbrushed but still lets freckles show through. Real skin isn't blotted out at the expense of hiding every single sign of being over 50. Although I do think it's flatteringly youthful, which I'm not complaining about! And I also really enjoyed how easily it melted into my dry skin, and didn't crease into lines.
It's a totally cake-free zone – and it's not often you'd associate that with Nigella Lawson.
