My current favourite alternative beauty heroine is Lauren Ambrose, who plays Claire Fisher in Six Feet Under. Not only is she as cynical as I was when I was 17, she has a fantastic complexion — papery pale in the bright West Coast light — long, wavy auburn hair and ink-black eyes, like a subject for the Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. Lily Taylor, another of my favourite indie beauties (ever since her brilliant performance in Abel Ferrera’s The Addiction) is also in Six Feet Under. Again, what is striking about her is her pallor against dark features.
With these actresses in mind, I’ve resolved not to tan this summer. I am using Kevyn Aucoin’s Sensual Skin enhancer to cover blemishes and accentuate my paleness and taking La Prairie’s Cellular Protective Body Emulsion Factor 30 on holiday with me. The objective: to return paler than when I left.