French Girl Beauty Secrets With Mona Walravens
Courtesy of Dior
Mona Walravens may not be a household name in America, but the actress, who recently played Lise in Blue Is the Warmest Color, is poised for major success in France. We caught up with her in Paris at the Dior Institut to get all her beauty secrets.
Harper’s BAZAAR: Americans really romanticize French women’s beauty routines and fashion—what do you think the appeal is?
Mona Walravens: I think it’s the natural aspect of beautiful French women, the less-is-more style. For example, I really like light dark circles, I think they’re beautiful. I feel that Americans have a more standardized approach to beauty, whereas the strength of French women lies in their physical uniqueness. We accept imperfections and manage to emphasize the unique aspect of beauty instead of trying to modify and change it and move towards a standard of beauty, like having full lips and a small nose. Some of today’s most successful models are what we call atypical beauties, like Anna Cleveland. She’s magnificent—she looks like a Picasso painting to me. And she is comfortable with her beauty.
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HB: Growing up, what were you taught about beauty?
MW: My mother has hardly ever, in her entire life, used moisturizer! Having said that, I’ve never been like her. I more or less followed my instinct, and I experimented with beauty tips, but I’m always looking for natural simple result. The most important thing for me is having healthy-looking skin and a beautiful complexion. At some point in time I wore more makeup. I have very sensitive skin, so I’ve always had a complex about how red I looked. I know lots of people think blush looks charming, but I had a very strong complex about it and so I always tried to make my complexion look perfect. Changes in temperature or emotion would always make me blush, so I tried to hide the redness and camouflage it with green-based creams and then with foundation, although I don’t remember going through a “mask” phase. So yes, I was always trying to get a flawless complexion. I was inspired by what my friends were using. Everyone would pass on their tips, and I also saw quite a few dermatologists whom I learned a lot from. They taught me to respect my skin and to take care of it. My mother wore a little bit of makeup but she really did the absolute minimum in terms of skin care and makeup and even now, I still don’t think she wears any foundation. She says to me, “You told me to buy this but you can have it because I never wear it.”
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HB: What makeup do you use now?
MW: When I was filming with Abdellatif Kechiche [the director of Blue Is the Warmest Color], there weren’t any makeup artists on set or on location and we weren’t allowed to wear any makeup because for him, makeup is like a mask and it doesn’t interest him. What he finds more moving is seeing pores and skin that breathes and natural-looking eyes. He would get angry if he saw that we were wearing makeup; it was out of the question. It was all about not hiding behind something. I also think that afterwards it even helps you as an actor once you have gotten past your embarrassment because you feel a bit naked—it kind of makes you relax about your image. Since shooting without makeup, I’m starting, little by little, to try and look more natural, and I’m starting to agree with him that we actually look fine without makeup, or with only a little bit of makeup. So that can work in the daytime, and it doesn’t necessarily mean wearing absolutely nothing at all—it’s not that radical. So I’ll still be wearing a bit of foundation to tone down the redness, but I’ll only put it on where I need it. I’ll wear that with some Dior Crème de Rose lip balm, or sometimes Rouge Dior lipstick in 999.
HB: What is your skin care routine like?
MW: In the morning I use a floral water—either rosewater or orange blossom water—followed by a mist of thermal spring water. I pat my face dry with a tissue and then I put on Dior Hydra Life Serumand if it’s very dry, especially in winter, the Crème Sorbet and/or the Eye Crème. And that’s it. For the body, I love La Roche-Posay Lipikar Cleansing Oil. I have also discovered natural organic argan oil, which I brought back from a recent trip to Morocco. It’s an incredible moisturizer for the body. I put it on after a shower when my skin is still a bit damp so that it really sinks in and I add a bit of musk perfume oil from Dior Elixir Précieux collection to it, too.
HB: Is it true that French women don’t wash their face with the water here?
MW: For me, yes. Three or four years ago I used to use a rinse-off facial cleanser, but I was advised by a facialist not to use tap water on my face because it really dries the skin out.
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HB: Are you as concerned with aging and anti-aging products as much as we are in America?
MW: Yes I think so, but in a different, lighter, more natural way. We want to look good but we don’t want to be disfigured and look like everyone else. The last time I went for a facial I was saying to myself, “I’m starting to get a few lines on my forehead, and I’ve got a laughter line here, maybe I should get some hyaluronic acid or something.” But my dermatologist wouldn’t do anything on my skin—she said not yet. So you see, even someone in the industry isn’t pushing you into it. But I think it’s also more about radiance and your genetic capital. I feel that French woman are more into doing sport, getting enough sleep, drinking water, it’s more about prevention and taking care of what you’ve got than just heading straight to the plastic surgeon to see what you can change.
HB: Tell me about your hair.
MW: I don’t do much either. I don’t know how to. I wash it every two days otherwise it gets oily and has no texture. I’m in love with Oribe products that I discovered in the States—you can’t find them in France yet . I love the dry shampoo and the Apres Beach. I cut my hair every four months and the sun is my colorist! I’m not very good at doing my hair, so if I have to look good for an event or something, I use my friend John Nollet’s hair accessories.
HB: It seems like French women stay away from wild hair colors and makeup trends—have you ever tried anything crazy?
MW: When I was 14, I went to Ibiza where I discovered so-called semi-permanent hair dye, but it didn’t wash out! I had decided to try it in red, so my friend put red highlights in for me which were supposed to wash out after four shampoos, but on my blonde, very porous hair, it didn’t wash out, it just changed color and eventually went Barbie pink. When I got back to Paris, my mum sent me straight to the hairdresser to dye it back to its normal color.
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