Victoria Beckham is the latest cover girl for Glamour UK. She’s shilling her Victoria Beckham Beauty, and maybe half of the interview is just an infomercial for the products. As I keep saying… the beauty market is oversaturated. I wouldn’t buy Victoria Beckham Beauty products anyway, because I don’t really think she’s a good advertisement for makeup – her makeup usually looks kind of bad? So after I tossed out most of that stuff, the rest of the quotes were quite good. Victoria was in a chatty mood, possibly because the interviewer was a gay man and someone she seemed to know quite well. This is one of the best interviews I’ve ever read with her, probably because she felt so comfortable talking to this guy.
She’s not hiding behind her armor: “I want to be honest. In the past, I’ve probably hidden behind my armour – the not smiling publicly, for instance. There’s less of that now. There’s something really liberating about embracing who I am at 45 years old and owning it, feeling confident, feeling content. Doing beauty has really helped with that – it’s been very liberating. I want to spread the word that everybody should feel like the best version of themselves. To look after what you have. I want to tell people to own who you are. Yes, we – and I – have wrinkles, and that’s OK!”
She name-checks Duchess Meghan: “I have always been about embracing who you are, supporting others, not being judgemental, treating others how you want to be treated. Sometimes it’s just the fundamental basics. Women supporting women is key. I liked what Meghan Markle said at the [British] Fashion Awards, that it used to be cool to be cruel, and now it’s cool to be kind. Kindness was always at the core of Girl Power.”
She & David share products: “Myself and David share skincare. The Beckhams do sometimes lie in bed both wearing Sarah Chapman face masks. When we have the time, we like to do those things. It’s important that whatever I do works for men and women. Men and women all around the world of any age can enjoy this. It was the same message we had in the Spice Girls days and we’re saying it again now – it’s about inclusivity.”
She eats… and she works out: “The older I get, the more I realise what works for me and what doesn’t. How working out and eating healthy is key. When you have four children you accept your body changes. And when you have children, it also puts a lot into perspective. You realise they notice everything. I would never sit down with my kids and skip a meal – they need to see that their mum eats healthily – you need to show little people how to be healthy and happy with who they are.”
Her history of acne: “It does make you so self-conscious. As I got older, I realised it’s not just what you put on your skin, it’s about what you put into your body, being as healthy as you can and not getting too het up about it. When I was teenager, I wasted so much time worrying and feeling self-conscious, but it’s natural to be that way when you do have skin problems. Now I just embrace it.”
Healthy fats: “You know what I would tell my younger self? Not to be afraid of eating lots of healthy fats, as that was something I used to be scared to eat. Eating healthy fats doesn’t make you fat! It’s good for your skin, nails and hair, especially when you’re exercising, which I am, two hours a day in the gym. You just can’t build healthy muscle if you aren’t eating enough fat and you shouldn’t be scared of that.”
Skincare secrets: “I’ve never ever gone to bed with my makeup on. I used to be very proud to say, ‘I just use baby wipes.’ Don’t ever do that. You have to take off makeup properly!”
Two hours of gym-time/self-care. “That’s my gym time. I work out every morning with Tracy Anderson trainers – I do a lot on the treadmill and I dance, too. When I’m in the gym, I decompress, that’s where I get my ideas, think and look after myself. When you have children, you don’t have the luxury of lying in, so that’s my time and I don’t have much time for socialising.”
“I would never sit down with my kids and skip a meal – they need to see that their mum eats healthily…” That warmed my heart. That made me feel good about the Beckham kids and that little Harper (especially) isn’t learning that “mummy doesn’t eat so she can be skinny” as some kind of goal. I worry about so many daughters of famous women – like, I’m very concerned about what North and Chicago will learn from watching Kim Kardashian. And I so agree with her about spending too much time worrying about your skin when you’re young and pimply, and I too consider my gym-time my “self-care.” This was a good piece, right?
Covers courtesy of Glamour UK, additional photo courtesy of WENN.
Ugh. I’m all for healthy fats, but fats don’t contain amino acids that are required for muscle building- that’s why protein is an important macro.
(rolls eyes so far back into head, that they may get stuck)
She didn’t say that at all. I think she was just trying to note that through the last few decades, everyone has always been about protein, but healthy fats were villified when the are great for you. And she’s right. No need to eye roll. Getting all macronutrients are important. She’s just saying she’d tell her younger self to eat all macros- including fat.
Good piece. Two hours in the gym daily? Yikes!
I love how she fessed up to working out 2 hours everyday. Most celebrities don’t. They try to convince the public that they are thin and toned by running after their kids and eating anything they want.
RIGHT! I mean, I worked out two-three hours a day in the gym but I was a full-blown eating disordered nutcase. I don’t think that’s a great example to set the ‘little people’.
My affection for Posh remains intact. She seems sweet. I do love that makeup in shades of blue!
They seem to have really well adjusted kids, I’ll give her that. I think her mothering is better than her beauty products/clothing line. I like what she says about eating with your kids and her line about exclusivity with spice girls. They were definitely the something for everyone type when I was growing up. I never felt left out loving them because they were all so different. My husband also uses my beauty products lol more often than not we mask together.
I always like her. She seems to be hard working and family-oriented. But I will never understand the no smiling in public thing. I guess we all have our quirks but the woman was a pop star!
She doesn’t have a nice smile, so I can understand that she doesn’t want to do a whole grin. (I feel the same way about my smile, so I can honestly understand that). But a little smirk would do wonders, at least she would not look pissed off.
Sorry, but her hair loss shows she is not eating healthily. But I also know from real life that denial about disorders is strong.
I eat very healthfully and I suffer from hair loss/-:
Me too, D. Alopecia and hormone imbalances can absolutely have nothing to do with the way you eat. Rude.
Yes it took me a long time to realize that. For years I thought “well if I just change my diet or take this supplement…..” I always thought it was something I was doing to cause the hair loss and it caused so much anxiety for me. Once I learned that it’s androgenetic (meaning in my genetic makeup) it was a little bit of a relief. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck but I’m not blaming myself anymore.
I like her, always have. I really like that more people can see now that she has a great personality and is indeed super funny. Just one thing, she explained several times before that she doesn’t actually exercise for 2 hours in the gym, the whole routine (running, yoga, exercises, bathroom, makeup, etc.) takes that long. Also, her makeup is actually good, but it’s a little unusual, model-like, so I can understand that some people don’t like it. Personally, I think she would look awesome with a bolder lipstick.
I don’t hear people saying this a lot (maybe because of how inaccessible her public persona is), but I think Victoria Beckham is absolutely stunning–so much prettier now than when she was in Spice Girls.
I think she is a chain smoker. You can see it in her skin. And she certainly has a calorie restricted diet and has done for decades. Her hair thining started as soon as she has her first child and her eating disorder raged out of control. She used to have an utterly drool worthy figure in the early spice era. And a thick lustrious blunt bobbed hair to die for.