When you think of Kristin Scott Thomas’ Slow Horses aesthetic, there are many things that come to mind. Poised, sharply tailored and as ice-cool as her character, Diana Taverner. So it’s a delight to see Kristin herself embracing a warm and laid-back beauty update for autumn, directly inspired by her knitwear. Yes, really!
The actress unveiled a new-season update for London Fashion Week and JW Anderson, wearing the brand's fairisle knit with her black bra subtly on show – a fashion-forward look that’s far removed from her buttoned-up ‘Lady Di of MI5’ persona.
That said, sharp-eyed Ms Taverner would certainly appreciate the attention to detail, with makeup deftly accessorised to her autumnal outfit. The makeup artist behind the look, Adam de Cruz tells us: ‘The makeup colour palette is actually from the jumper – it’s definitely an autumnal look! She’s just the dream.’
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He explains: ‘I used a dark smokey grey eyeshadow stick from NARS to smoke out her top lashline, then used whatever residue of that same colour that was still on the brush to lightly shade the lower lashline. This helps to make the lashes look thicker.'
‘I find black would have been too severe, and the grey makes her eyes pop,’ he says. ‘For the main eye shade, I used a light toffee colour, also taken from the jumper, using a NARS eyeshadow stick.’
The knitwear thread continues with Kristin’s lippy, he adds. ‘Her lips are the same nude pink that was in the jumper, using a Victoria Beckham Beauty lipstick, and topped off with the nude Victoria Beckham lip balm.’
Kristin’s skin has a beautiful ageless lustre, which started with skin prep at Salon C. Stellar, London’s hottest skincare-meets-wellness destination. Adam further enhanced her glow with ‘fantastic new brand Gezeiten’ plus the new Suqqu skin tint, calling it ‘the most gorgeous emollient formula’.
He also used Suqqu’s brow pencil to define Kristin’s brows with pinpoint precision: ‘I love how thin these pencils are. You can literally draw single hairs with them! Then I brushed her brows into place with my absolute favourite brow product, Surratt Expressioniste Brow Pomade.’
Rather than a Diana Taverner-esque razor-cut bob, Kristin wore her hair in a relaxed, softly swept-up style, and embraced her natural salt and pepper shade instead of Diana’s signature blonde.
The combination of lighter white pieces around the front, and darker shades at the back is a technique known as the ‘halo method' for embracing silver hair, and a great option for those who are going grey unevenly.
It's the sharpest, most chic way to go grey – and anything but the Jackson Lamb look!
