'I was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, but I live in New York City. I came to New York through modeling, and now I run a charity called The Lunchbox Fund. It started on a visit to South Africa, when I went to a few schools with a friend. It hit me like a ton of bricks that there were millions of children going to school who had absolutely nothing to eat. At one of the schools, there were a lot of children who were sitting separately from the other kids, and when I asked their teacher why, she said, 'These children don’t have anything to eat and they don’t want to watch the kids who can bring a little something to eat.’ At that moment, I thought, ‘This is insane, we will have to feed those kids.’ It turns out there are 12 million children living below the poverty line in South Africa, and the government can feed eight million—that’s where the Lunchbox Fund steps in, to reach the places that the government can’t. We launched in 2004, using local bakers to make nutritious and easy lunches, in hopes of feeding those extra four million kids. And it’s grown tremendously in the past nine years. We went from feeding 100 kids a year to feeding 2,000. We will launch a new app, Feedie, on the October 16th, which partners with restaurants to turn the photos that you take of your food into a meal for a child.
What you consume is so important. When I think about it, I never, ever get sick in the winter, and I swear it’s because of Nutribiotic GSE Grapefruit Seed Extract. Every morning I’ll have a few drops of it in some juice—it’s very concentrated vitamin C. I’ll also put a few drops of Mushroom Wisdom by Mai-take D-fraction, for immune support. If you use these things every day, flus and colds won’t make a dent on you. I also drink Natural Calm, which is an anti-stress drink with magnesium. I have a teaspoon at nighttime, not instead of wine, but in addition to. [Laughs] I will eat anything I can to pack in antioxidants. I like coconut water for electrolytes, and I take tons of supplements. A lot of beauty and health starts with what you’re taking in.
I’m a little bit skin-obsessed. First thing in the morning, I’ll just rinse, and then put on Perricone MD Cold Plasma. Sometimes I’ll follow that with Perricone MD Acyl-Glutathione Eye Lid Serum. At the end of the day, I cleanse, tone, and then I use Environ’s Cosmetic Roll CIT. It’s a little roller that you push over your face, and it has microscopic needles that poke your skin. It sounds scary but it makes you absorb your skincare products something like 900% better. I’ve been using it for four weeks, and it has totally evened out my skin texture. I have freckles, which I love, but when they all clump together, they can give my skin a patchy texture and look—it makes me look a little haggard. But the Cosmetic Roll has made an obvious difference. Even I can see a change, and it’s so hard to notice things on yourself.
For exfoliation, I love the Ren Glycolic Radiance Renewal Mask. I used to think you should only exfoliate once a week, but Liv Tyler told me, 'You have to exfoliate every day!' So I’ve been following her advice, and it works. Then I put on vitamin-packed lotions like Environ Ultra Night Cream and C-Boost Clarifying Cream. And I’m a total freak about sunscreen. I have so many, but my favorites are Environ Alpha Lotion and SkinCeuticals SPF 50 Defense Lotion. They are so light, but you know they’re working. When I get sweaty, and the sunscreen starts to get slimy, I dust on Peter Thomas Roth Mineral Powder SPF 45 to make it sit.
I tend to go as light as possible on makeup, but I use red lipstick all the time: Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in La Fascinante, Rouge Allure in Excessive, and Rouge Allure in Fatale. How heavily I put it on depends on the occasion—if it’s just a blah day, I just tap a little tiny touch of it on, but if it’s more of a going-out thing, then I’ll put it on much thicker, full blast.
On my eyes, I’m obsessed with MAC False Lashes Mascara. It’s stunning, because it goes on deliciously, it doesn’t clump, it doesn’t flake, and it doesn’t leave dark circles under your eyes. You can give yourself a natural lash, or you can clump it on and have a vampy lash. I use the MAC eyeliner as well, which I recently lost, because I lose all these things, unfortunately.
For the rest of my face, I've been mixing Saint Laurent Teint Radiance Fluid Enhancing Flawless Foundation with my moisturizer, and then just smoothing it over with MAC’s 190 brush, which makes it all slurp into your skin for a smooth, matte finish. At the moment I’m into matte skin, but I go back and forth between matte and dewy. For a bit of a sheen, I love Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel Sheer Illuminating Fluid—just a teeny bit on my cheek and then that’s it. You don’t have to do anything else.
My hair is long. But I’ve been stressed lately, so I’ve been really concerned about my hair thinning, which can be a side effect of stress. My friend got me this incredible stuff from Christophe Robin called the Cleansing Mask with Lemon. It’s the most stunning thing in the entire universe, and makes my hair feel incredible. You put the mask on dry hair, and then you work it into kind of a paste-y lather, starting at the roots, and working it down to the ends. You add a drop of water at a time, and then, finally, rinse it out. The whole process is like a very gentle shampoo that takes at least twenty minutes—minimum—but it’s worth it. Otherwise, I like to wash with Shu Uemura Moisture Velvet Shampoo and Conditioner. I like the way it smells, and then I love to put arnica oil all over my hair. I’ve been doing a lot of Ayurvedic stuff too, like this Banyan Botanicals Bhringaraj oil—a creative-smelling hair oil [Laughs]—and Banyan Botanicals Healthy Hair Supplements, which I take once a week. They nourish your hair and promote growth.
To detoxify my whole body, I’m a massive fan of dumping an entire wad of Epsom salts into the bath with a couple of drops of lavender or sage oil. It’s so relaxing and healthy...and $1.99! Bath Salts for Inner Peace by Ila are also an excellent option. It really relaxes your muscles. I highly recommend it.”
—as told to ITG
Topaz Page-Green photographed by Emily Weiss in New York on July 16, 2013.
