Abbey is the new face of Colgate Max White
Abbey Clancy - fashion model, mum of two, TV judge, and presenter – is a woman who can spot a saviour of a beauty product from twenty paces.
Her five year-old daughter, Sophia Ruby and her 10 month-old Liberty Rose are, shall we say, keeping her on her toes, and with whatever minutes she can find for herself, she wants products that multitask and act fast. ‘I just feel a little bit run down – not my freshest,’ she laughs. ‘It's all come at a bad time turning thirty, when I’ve got two kids, two cats and a husband all in the bed every night.’
Here, she gives us her bathroom cabinet must-haves, teaches us what ‘inner’ massages are, and tells us about the woman who acts as her white witch…
Abbey, what are your makeup bag essentials? ‘I get sent so many things and I'm quite a magpie when it comes to makeup, so I like trying new things out. I’m a big fan of Charlotte Tilbury – her Magic foundation is my go-to everyday – and I like the Clinique colour crayons because they’re easy, quick and give good moisture, too. I haven't got the time I used to have before I had the two kids to get ready in the morning, so I will literally just draw those crayons on in the car on the school run and make myself look a little bit more alive after a night of no sleep with the new baby!'
What’s your ultimate quick beauty fix? 'The one thing that's always in my handbag is Colgate’s Max White Toothbrush Plus Whitening Pen. You just rub it on your teeth for instant whitening, which is so handy – I’ll use it before I go to a red carpet event, too, and it just gives you that little extra confidence boost.'
What’s your favourite thing to do when you do get time for yourself? 'I like to treat myself to a massage, we've got this girl called Rachel Morris who comes to the house and she's basically my white witch. She fixes me. She blobs all these essential oils on me and tells me which will release which muscles, what will cure anxiety – everything. She's my healer, it’s like a therapy session where I moan to her for the whole hour and a half. And normally while she’s massaging, I've got Sophia massaging my feet at the same time and I have to bribe her with sweets to go and play until I’ve finished.'
How cute, though! ‘She’s a very girly child and is obsessed with looking at makeup. Pete’s like her dad stroke makeup artist now, he paints her nails and she loves dressing up - we have to transform her into a Disney Princess five times a night.’
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done in the name of beauty? ‘My friend Nichola Joss does something called an inner facial massage, where she can tighten your muscles by going inside your mouth. It’s so painful, but it really works. She did it on my mum first and did one side of her face but left the other and we were all amazed how much her cheekbone on that side had lifted! It's like a workout for your face. I like a good enzyme facial too on Harley Street, where they just eat all your dead skin.’
What’s your exercise regime like? ‘To be honest I'm not big on exercise. When I was pregnant I used to do a little bit of pilates, and of course I did my dancing, but for me working out is all about feeling strong and healthy. I do it to give me energy as opposed to being a weight maintainer. I don't need to exercise to lose weight - a little bit of stress and I'm half a stone lighter, plus everyday I'm with the children, which is non-stop. The little one is so fat and heavy, carrying her is the best toning ever. I don’t have any help, my mum minds them when I’m working, and so I literally don't sit down until I'm in bed at night.’
You’ve just come back from Dubai, so what’s your beauty policy on holiday? ‘When I was younger I used to do factor zero, so oil all over. It’s done me no good in the long run. When I was pregnant I got quite a lot of pigmentation, and now I wear Factor Fifty Heliocare everywhere. I spend a lot of time under the umbrellas with the kids, so I’m a lot more careful in the sun. In terms of makeup I love all the mineral based products by BareEssentials because they’re lighter than foundation but still give good coverage. I wear Nuxe gold body oil too because it just smells incredible.’
What were your teenage beauty experiments like? ‘My mum used this cheap, bright orange bronzer called Wonder Glow and there are a lot of pictures of me as a baby with that all over my face. Then as a teenager I was obsessed with fake tan, so I'm luminous orange in most of my teen pictures too. My natural hair colour is jet black so I went through a phase where it was long and dark, but with a bleach blonde fringe. I thought the look was amazing at the time.’ Who should we be following on Instagram? ‘I like following Rosie Huntington-Whiteley - she just seems like a lovely person, she's super classy and natural beauty. I try not to take social media too seriously. I put pictures up and I'm thinking, 'are people thinking I love this picture of myself?' But it’s all just a bit of fun.’
What’s your top tip for taking a great selfie? ‘Try seven million times until you get one? No, good light and hold it up high. I haven't quite mastered it yet - Alessandra Ambrosio was caught with one of those light up phone cases and there are these cool apps you can get now that make it better. I might have them if my phone memory wasn't full of children's games...’
Abbey Clancy is the new spokesperson for Colgate's Max White Toothbrush Plus Whitening Pen.