Why Julianne Moore Never Fails On The Red Carpet
Updated: Sep. 11, 2017
Julianne Moore’s red carpet beauty and style is iconic – from her instantly recognizable red hair, standout dresses to her pretty makeup. The star breaks it down for us.
Julianne Moore Red Carpet Secrets
Julianne Moore looks like a natural beauty – even on the red carpet. But the Suburbicon star, who was in Toronto for its screening at the TIFF 2017, is the first to admit that it’s a team effort, name dropping designers, like Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, her makeup artist Elaine Offers and Marcus Francis, her mane man. And while we may not have access to a beauty entourage, we can steal some of her (and their) tricks. At a L’Oréal press conference The Adelaide Hotel in Toronto, Moore shared her beauty secrets, both for the red carpet and – in her words – “real life.”
Julianne Moore Red Carpet Secrets: Fight off oxidative stress
Sun damage causes premature aging, and at 56, Moore is all about preventing the side effects of sun exposure with SPF. “Since I was 23 I’ve worn a moisturizer with sunscreen in it,” she says. “I know it sounds so boring but it makes a difference. I feel that sunscreens by themselves can feel kind of thick or occlusive. Or sometimes they have that ‘powdery’ thing. I don’t like that. But if you have a moisturizer, like L’Oréal Paris Age Perfect Cell Renewal, or something, that has a sunscreen in it, it’s easy to put on every single day. That I do.” She does admit that her freckles do come through on her arms (often at TIFF because the festival happens at the end of summer). But you won’t see age spots on her face.
Julianne Moore Red Carpet Secrets: Treat your skin to a professional
Facials aren’t only fun and really relaxing, but for Moore, a skin treatment before hitting the red carpet is worth it. “There’s a woman in New York who I see for facials named Joanna Vargas,” Moore says at the conference. “And her techniques seem to work for my skin.” Vargas has a reputation for cutting-edge skin care technology, which includes radio frequency, microneedling and LED light beds and she encourages clients to regularly do moisturizing sheet masks.
Julianne Moore Red Carpet Secrets: Think about your feet
Choosing the right shoes are important, especially if the red carpet is a long one, like Cannes, says Moore. Referencing a red carpet look from Cannes, she says this about her heels: “Those shoes, you see, have a platform, and I’m wearing the same shoes today. I wear these shoes a lot. They’re Givenchy and I have them in every colour because I’ve worn so many of their dresses. And they are very stable. So, they don’t look stable – I know that – but they are. I’m not very tall. I’m just five-foot-five. I say I’m five-five and I think my family thinks I’m lying. They make me look tall. So that’s always a consideration.”
Julianne Moore Red Carpet Secrets: Decide on your hair after you choose your dress
“You pick the dress first,” says Moore after being asked about how a beauty look is chosen. “You fit the dress and you start to see how it looks on you. Obviously, things change with the day. You might have a day – like in Cannes, we’ve had a lot of days with the pouring rain. So, my hair can’t be down and straight, or else it will be all over the place.”
Julianne Moore Red Carpet Secrets: Let your glam look reflect your personality
Known for wearing either a dramatic eye or a bold red lip, Moore likes a simplified beauty look. “For the red carpet, you have a much more defined look than what you would have in everyday life, because you’re being photographed and you’re in front of the cameras,” she says admitting that the makeup can be heavy. But for dramatics, you’ll notice her beauty looks are easy on the eye. “In real life, I don’t wear a lot of makeup. I wear cheek colour that usually doubles as a lip colour, too. Some concealer and mascara.”
Julianne Moore Red Carpet Secrets: Sometimes you just go with the flow
Shocker: Formal dresses are not always the most comfortable. But every once in a while, Moore will opt for a more flowy dress. “In real life, this is what I like to wear,” says Moore referencing the above Lanvin dress she wore at a party for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 movie. “It’s much easier for me to wear something like this than something that’s really formal. This is a very easy dress [to wear]. It doesn’t have any structure. It’s beautifully made, and it’s a beautiful colour. I loved it.”
Julianne Moore Red Carpet Secrets: Be firm with your limits, but enjoy trying something new
When getting dressed up for a special occasion, it’s easy to get all swept up in the preparations. With friends, family and – in Moore’s case – a beauty and style team pushing their opinions on you. But Moore doesn’t bend when it comes to one particular colour. “I really don’t like blue very much,” she says. “There’s a bright blue that they put a lot on red heads. And I wore it a lot when I was starting out. And I was like, enough with that blue.”
Newsletter Unit
