Tres Jolie, Naturally

ACTOR, DIRECTOR, AND HUMANITARIAN ANGELINA JOLIE TALKS MAKE-UP, HER PUNK HAIR MOMENT, AND WHY SHE’LL NEVER BE A GIRLIE GIRL

- Angelique Serrano

On a chilly evening, Angelina Jolie nestles into a couch inside the highly fragrant Guerlain boutique on Paris’ Champs-Élysées. We’re meeting to toast the launch of Mon Guerlain Eau de Parfum Florale ($205/100ml; at davidjones.com.au), for which she is the face. Her look, apart from softly smoky eyes, is pared back. “We’re all pretty natural,” she says of her family. She takes her time as she discusses her make-up skills (they’re good, but daughter Zahara is more the enthusiast), her skin (cared for by a dermatologist since she was 11), and her views on what it’s like to age when you’re known as one of the world’s most beautiful women.

How beauty-aware were you growing up? Did you experiment with your hair and make-up? “I’m sure I had my moments when I was little, where I would put make-up all over my face, but I was a bit of a tomboy. And then I was a bit of a punk. Nowadays it’s very popular to dye your hair blue, for example. In my day you bleached it and used a Sharpie [for colour].”

You did that? “Yeah! I suppose my early memories were more as a creative person—and then early on as an actor. It’s a mask; it’s a part of creating a character. I’ve never gone to a girlfriend’s house and played make-up. I’m not one of those women who say, ‘Hey, let’s have a night in and do each other’s hair.’ I’ve never been [like] that, but I find that really sweet. I buy a lot, especially for Z [Zahara]. She went through a period of trying different things, but she’s pretty natural. I remember she had a girlfriend over one night, and they said they were going to [play] dress-up and [asked if ] I [had] any make-up.”