'I started experimenting with jewelry in my 20s—I was playing around with gemstones and painting things in gold leaf and it turned into this huge obsession for me, so I launched my first jewelry line, Jade Inc. I went from there to becoming a creative director at Asprey & Garrard for about 10 years and I then started another brand of my own. Now I’m launching a collection with 1stdibs.com, which is all pieces cut from large sapphires, rubies, and chrysoprase—it’s called Neverending, because the inspiration is kind of endless pieces of gems, things that are timelessly designed, and will stay with you and your family and become heirlooms.
STYLE
My personal style changes wherever I am. When I’m in Ibiza, I’m a bit girlier because there’s an opportunity to be more romantic and dress up for the beach scene. Whereas in New York, I tend to go for suiting and tailoring that almost feels like weaponry for the city—but I think I’m quite playful no matter what. It’s always hard to put yourself in any sort of category. I hope I can sort of dance around between different looks...I’d hate to be stuck in one genre.
Now that I’ve just had a baby, I’m reacclimatizing myself with my wardrobe and deciding who I am again—I always feel like you have to reinvent yourself after each child. He’s my third baby and my eldest daughter just had a baby as well, so now I’m a grandmother, too. I've found that motherhood helps you figure out what absolutely needs to be done and what doesn’t. You just learn to do everything quicker and quicker—your style and your makeup gets more refined and generally easier.
SKINCARE
My mother has the most incredible skin and I’m grateful to have inherited a little bit of it, but I don’t have that flawless, cool look she has. I used to steal a lot from her when I was younger, actually. Now I have a simple routine, but I do like to change my products every once in a while. I get bored of using the same things over and over so I’ll go to the beauty counter at Harvey Nichols or Space NK, stick my finger in a new cream, and take it home.
As a kid, when I was living in America, I started using those Noxzema wipes that just felt like you removed half your face. I quite like that tingly sensation. Now I’m older, I’ve been using the La Prairie 3-Minute Peel as an exfoliator to make sure that my wrinkles visibly diminish. And it gives you that sort of Noxzema tingle—kind of a spicy feeling.
I also like to use a lot of natural products—I incorporate things like Neal’s Yard to everything else I use, so it’s sort of like naughty and nice. Now that I have my baby, I’m showering in the morning and taking baths at night. It’s nice to do because I feel like a good scrub at the end of a work day just washes everything away.
FRAGRANCE
A couple of years ago, I redesigned the Shalimar bottle for Guerlain and started using a lot of their products. I especially like their perfumes. But I also I really love the Le Labo scents—I think I’ve been using them since he opened the store downtown. My first one was the Rose 31 and then I got to changing scents—I have the Santal 33, Fleur D’Oranger 27… so many of them.
HAIR
My hair is naturally curly and if I brush it too much, it gets really frizzy, so I’ve learned how to deal with it other ways. I’m quite casual about it all—I usually just leave it natural. If I blowdry it, I think it looks too prissy, but sometimes people say, 'Oh, you look so much prettier!' And when I get it done, I always regret it and wish they hadn’t touched it. They’ll blow it out and curl it back up again and I just wonder if there was any point in it all.
I do like Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray a lot. And a few years ago, I worked with Kérastase to redesign some of their packaging and in the process, got really hooked on their conditioners and the Elixir Ultime Beautifying Oil. It’s been a fun part of my design repertoire to collaborate with people—you gain so much from it.
MAKEUP
As a designer, I definitely think the appeal of makeup is in the packaging. I’ve got Guerlain eye shadows and Kohl Liner because they’re packaged so beautifully so it’s kind of like jewelry for your handbag. I also have a bunch of Shiseido eye shadows that I really like. But for the most part, I keep my makeup pretty natural during the day. It depends… after the summer, you always feel kind of healthy and glowing and then slowly you sort of pile it on a little more to add some sparkle as it gets colder.
Charlotte Tilbury does my makeup for events. I love her new range—I’ve been using the Ibiza Lip Lustre and the Beach Stick has a really nice texture and smells kind of provocative—I use it on my lips and cheeks. And then also Cheek to Chic in Ecstasy is really great. But I’m always careful not to put too much on anymore—I think it can be aging. Or it can make you look like you’ve tried to hard, especially if it cracks and fall apart. But I think without it, you certainly feel naked.
TRAVEL
I source all of the stones for my jewelry in India—and I make all of my collections in Jaipur and handcraft it with my manufacturers there. And they have incredible craftsmen who make me believe anything is possible. But when I'm preparing to go for awhile, I always end up packing light—packing for a weekend seems harder than packing for a couple of weeks. When you think about it, you really need the same amount of stuff—your perfume, enough makeup, but never too much...
I don’t get to the spa much, but in India they have a big Ayurvedic history and everything is kind of holistic, so I think it’s always fun to make time for it when I’m there. I’ll go places that make their own kind of different formulas: face masks, hair masks, and oils…I’ve been to an Ayurvedic doctor before, but it’s hard because they always tell you that shouldn’t have the things that you love because you tend to be ‘addicted’ to all of those things that are bad for you.. For me, it’s always about spicy food—they’ll tell me that I’m pitta-aggravated and that I should eat healing foods. Last time they told me I’m a wind person—I haven’t got my feet on the ground.”
—as told to ITG
Jade Jagger photographed by Tom Newton.
