“I didn’t come to Paris Fashion Week thinking, ‘I’m not going to wear any makeup.’ Something just kind of came over me.”

Eye of the Beholder

What’s a beauty-lover to do when the hottest trend at the Paris shows was—wait for it—not even a single swipe of concealer? As pioneered by Pamela Anderson, the barefaced look is the one that everybody is talking about. Our beauty-and-wellness columnist ponders what it really means to strip down

By Linda Wells

You wouldn’t have known it to look at me, but for the 25 years that I attended the fashion shows in Paris, I was primped every morning at dawn by a hair-and-makeup team, or what’s referred to today as—eye roll—“glam.” I was not glam.

My employer, who footed this not insignificant bill, believed that the role of editor should be performed in a particular costume: full glam, designer clothes with the tags freshly snipped off, sky-high heels, and a car and driver. No argument from me, let me assure you. I loved greeting the hair-and-makeup team in my robe every morning, chatting with them over room-service cappuccino, and clip-clopping out of the hotel door ready for anything. I loved looking my best in a city that always looks its best. It felt appropriate. Respectful. But it was also a complete time suck, and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from 25 years in stilettos.