My mother is American, my dad is French, and I was born in Milan. I lived there until I was two, then we moved to Paris until I was about 10 or 11, and then we moved back to Milan. Now I live in New York, and I guess I feel like a mixture of the three: Italian, French, and English. In my style, I’m definitely a mix. Every shoot that I do [as Fashion Editor at Town & Country], I learn something new. But I definitely have a certain way that I like things.… For example, I love—and I’ve always loved—a sequin and a feather and some diamonds. [Laughs] That's the Italian side of me. But I also love minimalist. Like, right now, I’m wearing my father’s shirt and leather pants and heels. This is basically what I love. But, oh my god, I’m obsessed with hats. My new obsession is this civil military hat I got in Buenos Aires... I also adore crowns—I got this little coin piece of heaven in a crazy little nightclub in St. Barth’s. I’ve worn it out at night. I love it! It makes a lot of noise, so you can’t even hear what’s going on. You just shake you’re head, and it’s like, yeah! [Laughs]
In my beauty routine, my big thing is mascara. I just love heavy, sooty lashes. The mascara I’m using now— Voluminous False Fiber Lashes from L’Oréal—comes in a fun gold tube, and I just do my top lashes. Then if it smudges around, I like it, so I just keep it. And sometimes I’ll rub a bit of Vaseline on the smudge, so it gets a little darker. I usually do it with my finger but it tends to get all over, so then I’ll clean it up with a Q-Tip. And what else? An eyebrow pencil. I fill in my eyebrow just at the end—I extend them a little bit—with the SRB [Sania's Brow Bar] Mechanical Brow Pencil in Medium. My mother keeps telling me that I need to deal with my eyebrows, but I do it myself. And sometimes I just forget. [Laughs]
I wish I could wear lipstick and look fabulous in it, because the rest of my sisters and mother just look like heaven. I keep trying, but I don’t really know if lipstick works for me. I like Nars Vendanges because it’s sheer. It’s like a deep, red-y Bordeaux, like you’ve drunk a little bit of wine. Sometimes, I’ll use that, or I’ll just put it on my cheeks if I look a little pale. And since I don’t wear foundation or anything like that, I just started using Napoleon Perdis Off Duty Tinted Moisturizer. I got it in the [Town & Country] beauty closet. The packaging is so awesomely ‘80s—it looks like an old Revlon situation. [Laughs] But it’s super, super light and sometimes I use it underneath my eyes. I don’t mind a dark circle at all, though, which is very French I think. Like, you always see women with a little bit of dark circles; I think it’s sexy. I don’t’ think everything needs to be perfectly airbrushed.
I don’t really care about taking off my makeup every night. Sometimes I just add more mascara in the morning—that absolutely happens. I actually like it, too, though. I can’t remember who, but somebody told me on set—I don’t want to misquote anyone—that he used to do the makeup for all the big supermodels in the ‘90s and he would do their eye makeup the night before and then they would just wake up in the morning and it would be that perfect, sexy, sooty, disheveled situation. That’s what I’m going for.
I’m pretty minimal when it comes to skincare. I just discovered this brand, Tatcha. A makeup artist named Daniel Martin, who I shot with a couple weeks ago, had some of these Japanese-inspired products and he was just saying that they are fantastic. I love the Tatcha Polished Gentle Rice Enzyme Powder, ‘cause I love scrubs and exfoliators and all that shit. You just mix it with water and it’s really gentle but it gets your skin so soft. And then I smack the Radiant Deep Brightening Serum on. And then I do a cream on top of the serum: Tatcha Supple Moisture Rich Silk Cream. And then eye cream. I’m a big eye cream lady. I started using it a couple of years ago, but constantly, throughout the day... I don’t know why—I think because I started seeing little lines, I just became obsessed with doing it, but then a makeup artist told me I only needed to put it on in the morning or the evening, and not all day long. [Laughs] So, I stopped carrying it in my bag and just keep it in the bathroom. Right now, I’m using Ahava Time to Revitalize Extreme Firming Eye Cream. I love Ahava's products—the brand is based around ingredients found in the Dead Sea.
I’m also really into oils now, too. As soon as I get out of the shower, I spray Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Usage Dry Oil like there’s no tomorrow. I put it all over my body, it immediately absorbs, and it just gets all soft and silky. And it smells divine. And then also, I discovered an avocado oil when I was in St. Barth’s with a friend—they have all these great products they make on the island—called Ligne St. Barth Avocado Oil. I put it in my hair, just on the ends, and then I’ll wrap my head in a little scarf and sleep with it. [Laughs] It’s also nice to put on your legs because it gives you a little sheen—it looks like you’re a little tanner and I feel longer. They also have an Aloe Vera Gel with Mint, which smells so good. That, I just put on my face. You know when you wake up and you feel a little puffy? I’ll just put some of that on—it’s cooling and feels like heaven. Another good oil is the Ren Bio Retinoid Anti-Aging Concentrate. When I use it, I see a difference—it makes my skin so soft and dewy, and it also gives a little bit of this golden color. I feel like it’s an instant brightener.
I also try to do face masks, like the Caudalie Moisturizing Cream Mask. I bought it during Paris Fashion Week, and I kept it in the fridge at my hotel because it just gets so cold and it feels like you’re putting snow on your face; you just feel yourself de-puffing. Ah, I love it. Sometimes I’ll just put a thin layer on and sleep with it, and when I wake up, the skin is all dewy and glowy. If I’m not doing a mask, I wash my face every night with Nuxe Eau de Mousse Micellaire aux Pétales de Rose. It smells like little, baby roses. [Laughs] And it’s really gentle; I like it. Oh, and this stuff is amazing: Eau Precieuse, which my mother picked up for me in a French pharmacy. After you wash your face, if you feel like you’re getting a pimple or something, you just swipe a cotton ball with that on and it just clears everything up. It’s nothing fancy but it works.
Also, I am obsessed with lip balm. I'll buy a bunch at the pharmacy and then keep them in different coat pockets or bags. I use Vaseline or any kind of lip balm I can get my hands on. Actually, In the morning I like to brush my lips, to exfoliate them. But all of the scrubs I’ve found are too harsh, so now I just wet my toothbrush, put some Vaseline on, and brush—and poof, that’s it. I do it every day. I brush my teeth first and then rinse off the toothbrush and do the lips and then apply lip balm. Yes, I take care of my entire mouth. [Laughs] Right now, I’m using the MAC Lip Conditioner, but Vaseline is a pretty miraculous product. It’s basically all I need. [Laughs]
For my hair, I’m really into anything from Living Proof. I have really fine, sort of baby hair and this is the only thing I’ve found that’s like an instant thickener—it’s like a wig, basically. [Laughs] An instant wig. Their Full Thickening Cream is amazing, and the Full Root Lifting Spray is great, too. It just gives your hair grip. Because I like to play with my hair a lot, I’m constantly moving it around. This just gives your hair, like, guts. Otherwise, it gets oily. I use their shampoos, the whole system, although usually I just use the Thickening Cream because I’m always running 15 minutes late—more than that actually—so I don’t have time to do the whole thing. But these are great: the Single Dose Restore Recovery Regimen. They’re great for when you travel, too. I’m really bad about getting haircuts—I cut my own hair, really, and so I feel like I am always in ‘recovery’ mode. Whenever I see a split end, I’ll just snip it myself. And I feel these things really help my hair.”
—as told to ITG
Sophie Pera photographed by Emily Weiss in New York on November 14th, 2012.
