Dress by Barbara Casasola, skin by SK-II, good genes entirely Kate’s! © Video by Leon Kiong for herworldPLUS
Here’s the deal. When quizzed about guyliner, Kate Bosworth says she doesn’t know what to make of men wearing makeup. As she puts it, “my guy” most certainly goes au naturel, at least in the cosmetics department.
That “guy” would be her dandy director hubby Michael Polish – incidentally a pretty polite dude, if three seconds of interaction are anything to go by. Chancing upon us in the anteroom, the man very nearly twisted his arm into a knot trying to shake our hand while grappling with a garment bag containing his partner’s dinner dress in the other. How very courteous and charming.
In any case, Kate’s indifference towards male makeup puts me in something of a quandary; after all, yours truly is a guy who dabbles in the dark art of maquillage for a living …
Let’s double back and set the scene. We’re in a dizzyingly deluxe suite sequestered away at the top of The St. Regis Singapore, gazing upon a gazelle of a woman who, quite frankly, lives a life utterly removed from our own.
What now? We’re taught in journalism school to attempt to relate to the subject of a profile piece, and the best I can come up with is this: I’m like Kate Bosworth in that we’re both pale, bird-like creatures with an affinity for SK-II products.
Some explanation is in order here. If you were to pair Kate up with her spirit animal, she would be, like me, a songbird of some sort. In the flesh, the woman is fragile and fine-boned, with skin so glassy in translucency, it’s crystal clear, so to speak, why the 31-year-old actress is an SK-II ambassador.
As she tells it, Kate’s been a fan of the Japanese prestige beauty brand for some time now, long before she signed on to be its official face. (For what it’s worth, her studly counterpart Godfrey Gao taps her as having the sexiest skin in the industry, alongside luminaries like Cate Blanchett and Tang Wei.)
Indeed, her fastidious facial regime appears more strikingly Asian than most: Facial Treatment Essence day and night, occasionally switching things up with the LXP Ultimate Perfecting Serum and Ultimate Revival Cream; a dab or two of Stempower and Cellumination Cream EX; with sheets of Facial Treatment Mask on the go. (Obligatory sponsor’s shout-out: Use SK-II and you’ll look like Kate Bosworth!)
WHAT KATE WORE: VERY DUCHESS INDEED
This one’s for the fashion crowd: Kate’s swathed in a Barbara Casasola midi dress that reads very much like the Duchess of Cambridge to us. Sumptuous, satiny and feminine in the extreme, her outfit’s raspberry-and-cream colourway somehow manages to be both scrumptious and stately in bearing.
Kate’s deeply romantic aesthetic dovetails with that of the legendary house of Oscar de la Renta; we later learn that it was the Dominican-American designer who custom created the strapless gown for her wedding with Michael Polish.
You could, indeed, call Kate a clotheshorse – and she is one, in an almost literal sense of the word. She made her film debut in The Horse Whisperer at age 15, and she’s made no secret of her love of all things equestrian. Quotable quote: She says she’s most at ease when she’s “connected to the Earth”. Kate Bosworth as windswept mystic, who knew?
But if you’re thinking that the rough-and-tumble sport of horse-riding doesn’t gel with the gamine woman-child pictured here and in our video below, Kate says she conserves her creamy complexion by being scrupulous with sun protection. That right there is the best beauty advice ever. Kittens, don’t leave the house without sunscreen!
One last observation before we sign off. While packing up our film equipment, I tell her that her berry-stained lips are a beautiful hue, and her famously mismatched eyes – blue pupil on the left, brown on the right – crinkle up in what seems to be a genuinely unguarded smile.
(Her face painter says she’s using Clé de Peau Beauté Extra Rich Lipstick in R1, and my heart skips a beat; anyone who’s a fan of CPB is more than alright in my beauty books!)
Oh, and that thing about guy makeup? Kate later confesses that she was flummoxed by my out-of-left-field question, and apologises if her response was flippant. No offense taken, Kate – just keep on fighting the good fight for delicate, bird-like horse-riding girls the world over!
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For more information on SK-II, visit www.sk-ii.com.sg and follow the brand on Facebook and YouTube.
