Helena Christensen is diligent at dodging UV rays. “I am trying to be very disciplined about protecting my skin, because I’m a very outdoorsy person,” she says while walking Vogue through her beauty secrets from a balmy bathroom in the Bahamas. That said, the Danish-born model confesses: “I like when your skin looks like it’s been kissed by the sun.” And in the six minutes to follow, she uses her go-to products to create a makeup look that channels the “exotic, beach” vibe she’s after—no sunbathing required.
For her first order of business, the Strangelove creative director pats Westman Atelier’s Sun Tone Bronzing Drops onto her sunscreen-clad cheeks. “You just need so little to give you that glow,” she says. And though she’s already giving off tropical vibes, the 56-year-old decides to spend five more minutes amping up her out-of-office radiance.
After adding a pop of creamy pink color to her cheeks with Goop’s Colorglow Glow Balm, Christensen decks her eyes with a subtle wash of sparkling color, topping Merit’s Flush Balm Cream Blush with shimmering shadow from Hourglass. “I love putting something on my eyelids that just enhances the natural shadow that you already have,” she says.
But after using a fan to set her makeup in the Bahamas heat, Christensen shares where her loyalty to barely-there makeup ends. Capping off her look with a hibiscus-red lipstick from Dries Van Noten, she confesses: “I like natural lips, but I love red lips… The no-makeup-makeup look just fell apart.”
The model takes a moment to fluff up her ocean-breeze-ruffled hair and dab on some Strangelove perfume oil, then calls it a wrap. “This is my sexy island look,” she says, smiling as she heads back to the beach.
Shop Helena Christensen’s routine, below.
Director: Gabrielle Reich
DP: Josh Herzog
Editor: Sara Rao
Associate Producer: Lea Donenberg
Line Producer: Natasha Soto-Albors
Production Manager: David Alvarez Paz
Production Coordinator: Tanía Jones
Global Talent Casting Director: Ignacio Murillo
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Post Production Coordinator: Holly Frew
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds
Filmed at: The Other Side Hotel