Iconic Supermodel Linda Evangelista Admits the Unthinkable: ‘I Like Wrinkles’

Linda Evangelista in 2015. (Photo: Getty Images)
Linda Evangelista in 2015. (Photo: Getty Images)

Given that she remains one of the world’s most iconic supermodels, Linda Evangelista knows a few things about looking good.

She admits to using injectables as needed. “I don’t do Botox around my eyes. I just do my 11s and call it a day,” she tells Yahoo Beauty, referring to the space between the eyebrows.

Evangelista, 52, is raising son Augustin, 10, as a single parent, and says her goal isn’t to look great in the short-term.

“Because I have a child, I want to see grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Kevyn Aucoin, who was a dear, dear friend of mine, was terrified of wrinkles and it’s so sad he never got them. I like wrinkles. I don’t like them when they’re really deep,” she says.

Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista at the Fall-Winter 2007/2008 Christian Dior show. (Photo: Getty Images)
Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista at the Fall-Winter 2007/2008 Christian Dior show. (Photo: Getty Images)
Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista in 1996. (Photo: Getty Images)
Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista in 1996. (Photo: Getty Images)

Aucoin, of course, was a groundbreaking makeup artist who died at age 40, in 2002, from complications resulting from long-term drug use. She worked with him as one of the original supermodels, along with fellow cat-walking glamazons Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell. As one of the world’s highest-paid models, she once joked that she wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.

But for her, says Evangelista, youth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

“Wrinkles tell a whole story. They’re trophies. They make you feel beautiful. I just don’t like when the whole face falls apart. I don’t like uneven skin tone. I don’t like sagging. I just like to look good, no matter what age you are,” she says.

To that end, Evangelista is now the vice president and creative director of the skin care line ERASA, which she swears by — she says using it got rid of her melasma, something she struggled with for years. “I just want to do things where I can be sincere. I believe in it. It makes my job so much easier,” she says, of her enthusiasm while discussing the line.

Linda Evangelista with George Michael in 1992. (Photo: Getty Images)
Linda Evangelista with George Michael in 1992. (Photo: Getty Images)

Before she discovered ERASA through her aesthetician and signed on with the brand, she said her house was filled with more than 200 beauty products; she even has a refrigerator where she stores her lotions and potions. She says she’s experimented with high-end brands, drugstore brands, and things available only overseas. Nothing clicked.

“I buy them, I get them given to me. I love products. I’ve tried every line out there. I’d use things for a month or six weeks or whatever,” she says. “Now I’m just down to this. It is incredible — I just miss the excitement of the newness and the promise and the hope that it gives you and then nothing happens. I’m an addict, a junkie, for sure, but it’s certainly simplified my life.”

In general, says Evangelista, her beauty philosophy is also about simplicity.

“I’m so confused. I always thought less was more. But now when I see the layers and the layers and the layers of stuff people put on — it’s such devotion and looks so incredible,” she says. “I don’t think I look good with a lot of makeup.”

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