“I always loved music. When I was a kid I would go to rock concerts in Paris, in the same neighborhood that I live in now. And when I moved to New York to model, all my friends were musicians, and then I started helping bands tour. And then I wanted to help them get deals, because it’s hard to get a deal if it’s not super commercial. So I came back to Paris and I met my man, and we made the label, then we fell in love. We did the label first. [Laughs] So that’s just how it all happened. I used to have my own production label, but I stopped last year. Now, I just produce for represented artists independently. We discuss the sound, the image, everything.

My approach to beauty is pretty easy; I tend to look very natural. You’ll notice for French women that it’s bad if you have too much makeup or too much surgery. If everything is too much, it doesn’t work. I’ve actually been trying to understand why, culture-wise, women can’t show off. It’s a bit sad in a way because it’s fun when people go eccentric. You can’t have fun with makeup, in a way. I don’t know if I keep things simple because it’s cultural, or if it’s just because I don’t want to do more. I think that, at my age now, it’s just about what fits my face best.

I put on a lot of mascara every day. That’s the only thing I do really: mascara. I like the MAC and the... the one I really use I’m kind of ashamed to admit. [Laughs] I really use the mascara of Jacques Dessange; it’s from a hairdresser. They do this mascara and I’ve never found it besides in the hair salon. I like it because it’s very dirty—you know? It’s thick and goopy. I don’t like when the lashes look very well-combed. I like it packed on thick; it makes you forget the under-eye bags. [Laughs] I just use so much mascara. I try not to put too much on the bottom because at the end of the day it kind of melts and the bags get really sad. [Laughs] And then I put YSL Touche Éclat #2 under the eyes and around the nostrils. Instant-Glow by Shu Uemura is great too—you put it on the skin and it’s a great highlighter. And if I want to wear a little more, I’ll use Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long Lasting Eyeliner in 85, or Nars Sumatra Multiple—on cheeks and eyelids. It’s like cherry. I’ll do that around my eyes.

For skin, I have a tendency to buy everything that tells me I’m going to look younger, but it never works. [Laughs] Like this Lancôme Génifique—sometimes I use it when I’m bored. And this I use on the eye because the woman told me it was important to put it on the eye: the Shu Uemura Phyto-Black Lift Anti-Wrinkle Cream. Actually, I love the Shu Uemura mask for the face. It’s great for when you really feel like shit. You put it on your face and it’s a bit like coming out of a spa afterward—you glow. The one I use is black, and there are also red ones. It’s one per pack and I buy a ten pack. It’s amazing. I also love the Essential Exfoliator from La Prairie. But cleansing is the most important step in beauty for me; I use Chanel Douceur. It’s really strong. I love it. It’s so clean, you glow after. It’s nothing compared to when you do Créaline—it goes way deeper. My skin is dry. I’m a mix around my nose and mouth, but otherwise it’s quite dry. Chanel Sublimage La Crème Texture Suprême is my daily cream. It’s the first time I found something that’s really amazing. It changed my skin, because I’m so dry and this is so nourishing. It’s all about nourishing, anyway. It’s incredible, I mean really. It’s not just because it’s Chanel, it’s really incredible.

It’s already such a big step to take care of my skin that I don’t really take care of my hair. People will give me stuff, but I don’t have time to put a mask on. For some people it’s a treat, but for me I haven’t gone to that step yet. I only use shampoo—if I use conditioner, my hair will get flat. I use the L’Oréal Elseve. I go from that to Pantene, because I like Pantene’s smell. I use supermarket shampoo. [Laughs] It just doesn’t matter to me. I don’t ever brush my hair. I wash it every two days, because I don’t have a choice—I live in a city where you walk, so there’s a lot of pollution and it gets dirty. And I touch my hair a lot as well, especially the fringe. I even sometimes just wash the fringe in the morning when the texture of the rest of my hair is really good. It does make a nice texture when you put a dry shampoo. I use the one from René Furterer; it makes a really great texture. But you know you always have to be careful for the color because it’s white.

My hair is really dry because I always let it be, you know. I get my hair colored at Stephane Pous. He’s a really amazing guy; he does all the French, Parisian girls. [Laughs] I don’t know what I call my color…Stephane will always do the right thing. He won’t do it if it doesn’t look good. For 15 years I’ve gone in and asked for blond, but he won’t do it. He knows it would be shit. [Laughs] Stephane first dyes the whole head to make it clean again, as I will start to have white hair sometimes, so I have to color most of it. And then he puts some lighter color around the face to frame it. I’ve had bangs for about ten years. I like the bangs; it’s nice. First of all, I think I kind of have a big face, so it kind of balances it all…and it hides my lines. Where girls do Botox, I put a fringe instead! [Laughs]”

—as told to ITG

Caroline de Maigret wears a Blk Dnm leather jacket [1,2] and an Equipment shirt and Blk Dnm jeans [4,7]. Photographed by Emily Weiss in Paris on September 25th, 2012.