Edie Campbell's Beauty Secrets Are Refreshingly Normal

The raven-haired rock chick talks modelling mantras and how a runny nose is kind of beautiful.

My boyfriend [Otis Ferry] was horrified when I left the house with flowing blonde locks and returned with a black mullet, but it’s been a great catalyst for getting modelling work. I get it’s not a guy-friendly look, and he thinks girls should have long hair, but thankfully he got over it. To keep it so black, I have it dyed every few weeks and use colour-protecting shampoos. The more I mistreat my hair, the stronger it grows back. I think it must be determined to survive.

Perfume stands in for the absent person. My mum wears Diptyque Philosykos EDP, so it’s extremely memorable for me – Otis wears Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioia, which triggers altogether different emotions. What I like about Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium is that it’s an understated scent that’s somehow familiar. Here’s a tip: if your taxi driver has to wind down the window, you’re wearing too much.

I don’t worry about chemicals. There are enough chemicals entering my body through all the fizzy drinks I consume to worry if my lip balm is 100 per cent organic. Most of the time I completely neglect my body, but Kiehl’s Soy Milk & Honey Body Polish is what I use when my skin needs a good scrub.

I want minimal effort, maximum impact. Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream goes on my lips and eyelids, and along my cheekbones. I curl my eyelashes, then apply a coat or two of Yves Saint Laurent Luxurious Mascara Shocking Volume because it’s heavy duty and unrefined. I’ll finish with a few strokes of Marc Jacobs Brow Tamer Grooming Gel.

You’ll never see me with a precision flick of eyeliner. Messy eyeliner became my thing by accident rather than design. If you can’t get it straight, then just work it in around your eyes. Charlotte Tilbury does a great brown eye pencil – the more you add, the more it smudges and the better it looks.

I’m not disciplined enough to have a skincare regime. I am, however, fanatical about SPF. I don’t do tans because I’m completely happy being pale. I use Avène Cleanance Cleansing Water because it’s great for sensitive skin, and if I’ve had my make-up taken off and put back on eight times in a day, that’s exactly what I need.

I don’t use blusher, as I have a naturally red skin tone. If a make-up artist even comes near me with blusher I completely freak out. In fact, I often use Marc Jacobs Re(Marc)able Full Cover Concealer to bring down the colour in my cheeks and around my nose.

As a model you become detached from your looks. You have to divorce yourself from your appearance, otherwise you become obsessed and hideously insecure. It’s my job to appeal to people via my physical appearance and essentially to sell products, but very seldom do I think about my looks outside of a professional perspective.

I feel at my most beautiful when it’s winter and I’m on a horse. I’ll have no make-up on and a slightly runny nose. Maybe I don’t look my most beautiful, but I feel at my happiest.