Helen Mirren Wants Us to Rethink How We Use the Word 'Beauty'

“I don’t really have a beauty routine, honestly. What I try to do is a bit of yoga every morning,” Helen Mirren tells Fashionista during a recent interview. She doesn’t like the word “beauty” very much, she adds.

Throughout her prolific career, Mirren has become known for acting talent, candid and elegant interviews (especially in the face of chauvinism) and clever takes on style. And now, her latest headlining opinion is here: The British Dame, who is a longtime spokesperson for L’Oréal Paris and recently starred in the 2023 film “Golda,” wishes people would generally stop using the word “beauty.” (Or, at least, in its current interpretation.)

“It’s become the thing that covers everything nowadays. It covers cleansing products, it covers exercise and it covers the so-called wellness industry. Yet, it’s nothing to do with beauty… it just is the wrong word, really,” she says. “In using the word ‘beauty,’ it narrows it down to just simply what people look like. It’s so much of a broader church than that.”

It’s also about how you feel, which in turn influences how you look, the actor says. This is why she focuses her own rituals on what makes her feel good, like morning yoga exercises or evening baths, whenever she can take them. So, what descriptor would she prefer? Instead of “beauty,” Mirren prefers using “swagger.”

“What gives you swagger? It’s what makes you feel good and be able to face the day. I applaud the way L’Oréal Paris has expanded the concept of beauty into so many different understandings of the word,” Mirren explains. “Of course, the great thing about the [annual] Woman of Worth evening is that you realize these other profound, valuable understandings of ‘beauty’ in the sense of beautiful behavior… beautiful people who do beautiful things.”

Mirren, who strutted the runway at L’Oréal’s “Walk Your Worth” show during Paris Fashion Week last October, finds that the main job she and her fellow brand ambassadors share is to expand this notion of “beautiful behavior.” 

Re-imagined language aside, Mirren doesn’t deny her love for cosmetics: “I love hair and makeup and costumed clothing. I’m an actress. I love the way those things can transform you. I’ve always loved playing around with them,” she says. 

After decades spent on various sets, she keeps a few learnings particularly close. First, Mirren stresses the impact lighting can make: “You can look wonderful with great lighting and you can look absolutely terrible, even though in reality you look quite good, with bad lighting.”

Letting go of perfection also makes it more fun, she says, adding that she always lets hair and makeup teams do what they want, projecting their artistry onto her like a canvas. The actor has learned to apply this principle of flexibility to her own looks, too. Rather than getting “rigidly stuck to certain rules about the way you look,” she advises being bold. 

In her case, there’s always something different that she’s playing with: “Some days I’ll put an eyeliner on, and then I’ll never use an eyeliner and just use eye shadow. Usually I put mascara on, but sometimes I don’t even do mascara. Usually I put some sort of lip on, but sometimes I don’t do that.” Some of her other favorite products include L’Oréal’s True Match foundation and sunscreen. 

For Mirren, an open mind is key when it comes to dabbling in beauty products (uh, swagger products?). “Experiment and throw out everything that’s familiar to you,” she advises. “Try new things.”

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Source: Fashionista.com