Liz Earle wants longer legs!

[Janette]

Found in yesterday's copy of The Times:-

Fashionista questionnaire: Liz Earle
The co-founder of Britain's biggest independent skincare brand takes us through her fashion essentials

Nicola Copping
What is your favourite item in your wardrobe? A long, embroidered Paul Smith cardigan. I like clothes that have an interesting texture; maybe it's because I work a lot with skin. I think if something feels good, you automatically feel better.

What is your fall-back outfit? A soft silk Dosa dress that I bought from Browns boutique eight years ago. I have favourite dresses that I keep for years; I wear them time and time again until they fall apart.

What is your one piece of beauty advice? Always use a moisturising cloth when taking off your make-up. It will gently massage away dead skin cells, immediately making your skin look radiant.

Biggest fashion faux pas? When I wore leggings and ra-ra skirts in the early 1980s.

What aspect of fashion do you hate the most? Waste. We don't use Cellophane or very many boxes. I also don't like overcharging. I think being sensibly priced is part of being an ethical brand.

How do you think people perceive you from the way you dress? Approachable, I hope. I think that, like my range, I'm very natural. I talk to real women all the time. It's not right for me to be super-trendy. Frankly, I can't carry it off.

If you could steal anyone's wardrobe, whose would it be and why? Carla Bruni's. She has the understated elegance of a modern Audrey Hepburn.

If you could change one part of your body, which would it be? I wouldn't mind longer legs! I think that's why I spend a lot of time in heels.

What are your five desert-island staples? Cleanse & Polish, my cleanser that comes with the muslin cloth - I never leave home without it; a mineral sun-filter cream; a huge pair of sunglasses to protect the skin around the eyes; a thin cashmere blanket; and a big straw hat.

What is a day in the fashion life of Liz Earle? Nordic pole-walking, followed by travelling - often to the Isle of Wight, where we are based. And I don't go anywhere without an extra pair of shoes

 

[Janette]

Also found this article in The Times as well:-

More than a few years ago, a friend and I were standing at a drinks party given in honour of a new lipstick (I’m serious) when a chic, highly regarded PR approached. “Last week,” she said to my friend hotly, “I saw you on GMTV and I cried.” My friend, being the understated, nice person she is, demurred, while the PR railed defensively about the technical niceties of exfoliants. “Gosh,” I said when she had finished and gone, “what on earth did you say?” My friend grinned. “I told the truth,” she said. “That a good old-fashioned wash cloth is just as effective as any expensive exfoliant or ridiculously overpriced scrub.”

Granted, my friend went on to become the skincare baron Liz Earle (and I still attend parties in aid of dresses and handbags), but there was more than a grain of truth in what she said. I was reminded of this recently when a heated discussion broke out in our office on the topic of the joys of a good flannel and the return to, if not strictly soap and water, the idea of washing one’s face in the stuff that comes out of the tap, rather than in a smush of cleanser and tonic. You could get all Zeitgeisty about this and say it’s a return to grass roots, traditional values. Or you could just take the tack (which I prefer) that not much feels better than a hot face cloth first thing in the morning or last thing at night (not much that’s printable, anyway).

Liz Earle calls me from her mobile to concur – she is in the wings at QVC, waiting to sell another squillion tubes of Superskin. “A fine cotton cloth will do the job of a chemical astringent or a peel. What we are trying to achieve is the gentle exfoliation and polish of the skin – this aids cell renewal.” Cell renewal, as we should all know, is the holy grail of anti-ageing. “This is not rocket science,” Earle goes on. “This is really what our mothers taught us. Go further back and you’ll see that geishas used silk flannels as part of their beauty routines.” I’m a looped terry towelling girl myself. (Earle is disgusted – the weave must be fine, she cautions, or irritation might result.)

Matters of cleanliness aside (and you are advised that for matters of personal hygiene a clean flannel should be used each time), you have to concede that this flannel business could be a big cost saver. Flannels, as we all know, go on for years. There’s none of that cotton wool or wipes business and they don’t take up much room in the washing machine either.

John Lewis is big on flannels. It says sales of its premium pima cotton flannels (in white) are up 12 per cent. Gosh. I’m really on to something here. The store says it’s because people want to ape the experience of a hotel bathroom. You mean the luxuriance of washing one’s face with a scrupulously clean, deliciously soft, virgin white facecloth? I think that’s where we came in.

 

[Dazzler!]

Thanks Janette, all sounds good to me. I like Liz Earle. I think she looks good. Thanks for posting that. I love the muslin cloths used with the Cleanse and Polish ( only one more sleep till the TSV)