'People must choose to do what they want, and find a way that makes them feel better when they walk out of the door,' says Sarah Jessica Parker. Photo / Supplied
The star, 58, discusses skincare, keeping fit and her passion for all things literary
Five minutes before I meet Sarah Jessica Parker in a hotel suite in Covent Garden, her PR pulls me aside in the lobby saying, “Please can you not ask her about ageing. She’s had enough of talking about it.”
This is definitely a first for me as a beauty journalist. Most celebrities I meet are the face of a skincare brand or are extolling the merits of a certain cosmetic tweakment and are there to talk about how they’re combatting the signs of ageing. What will we discuss, then, I wonder as I ascend in the lift, as all acting questions are also not allowed due to the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike. I was grateful I’ve taken up a few of the book suggestions she posts on Instagram.
I’m ushered into her room and the diminutive star, in a charcoal grey A-line pinafore dress and hot-pink satin heels instantly stands up and greets me warmly. Her long hair is tonged into her trademark artfully undone waves – “Serge Normant [the stylist who did the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding-day hair] was here first thing,” she laughs. “The only style I can do myself is a bun.” And her make-up is a lesson in “less is more”, with a barely-there glowy tan, pale pink lip and just enough mascara and eyeliner to look good in a photograph.
After pleasantries and mutual handbag compliments, we do, of course, get on to the subject of ageing. “I am so confused by the fact that the majority of men my age are simply never asked about ageing,” she tells me. “We all wake up, have a million things going on, and just need to get on with our days – I just don’t understand the emphasis that is placed on the pondering of ageing.”
Synonymous with playing Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City and its follow-up, And Just Like That…, Parker has tried Sofwave (the ultrasound skin-tightening treatment that became popular this year) and used to do glycolic peels at the dermatologist, but Botox is a definite no.
“I can’t speak for other people, and I’m not opposed to anyone doing anything. It’s just not something I choose to do. Also, I’m an actor – I have to move my eyebrows. I’m meant to be sharing emotion and communicating with my face, which, for me, needs to move. Also, my husband would be like, ‘Huh?’ This is just how I feel for me, and absolutely doesn’t mean the same applies for someone else. We are all different and I love that about women. People must choose to do what they want, and find a way that makes them feel better when they walk out of the door,” concedes the 58-year-old star.
It’s skincare over tweakments, then, for SJP. “It has to be basic and effective. My regime is literally a day cream with SPF, maybe a serum and a night cream. That’s it. And even better if it doesn’t cost lots of dollars,” she says. Her favourite is Roc Multi Correxion Hydrate & Plump SPF30, which is small enough to fit in a handbag and good for lunchtime top-ups.
Parker has a similarly streamlined approach to keeping in shape. “I used to do lots of ballet, which I still love going to see, but I find the best way to exercise is to fit it into your day, so I try to walk wherever I can and take the stairs a lot. Also, the best place to be inspired by fashion is walking or on public transport.”
Maybe her pared-back approach to skincare and exercise is a reflection of her upbringing with her seven siblings in Nelsonville, Ohio. “We all shared one bathroom. And there were no tips passed down from my mother getting ready,” she remembers. “She was in there with the door locked as it was the only time she had to herself. I didn’t ever see her even washing her face or putting on lotion.
“She did influence my perfume choices though. I can remember her wafting down the corridor on her way out, leaving a beautiful trail of White Linen by Estée Lauder. My first perfume was Lauder’s Aliage, which was quite peppery.” Today she’s wearing a mix of Guerlain’s old-school Vétiver (also a little peppery) and Dyptique’s Eau Rihla (a spicy floral).
The other thing Parker’s mother Barbra influenced was her love of books. “Reading was her version of self-care. If she would be driving us to dance lessons or school, she always had a book in her lap and would stop at a red light, look down and be reading, and we’d say, ‘Mommy, the light is green’. I have the same thing, I always have a book with me.” she says, as we leaf through Fintan O’Toole’s hefty book on Irish history, We Don’t Know Ourselves, next to her on the sofa, alongside an exquisite charcoal Sonia Rykiel grey blazer.
Her book recommendations are as on-point as her blazers. “Good Neighbours by Sarah Langan is one of the best books I’ve read, and is a brilliant take on the picture-perfect illusion of suburban Long Island living. I also loved Lauren Groff’s Matrix and Chris Bohjalian’s Hour of the Witch, about one of the first real-life witch hunts in 17th-century Massachusetts. Whenever someone asks me for a book recommendation, my tip is always to look at the Booker shortlists and you can’t go wrong,” she says.
I ask if she has passed on her love of reading to her own children, James, 20, and 14-year-old twins Marion and Tabitha, who she shares with husband of 26 years, Matthew Broderick.
“Yes, one of the twins is always walking around with a book in her hand; the other has trouble finding a book to engage with, but loves sweeping historical fiction. My son has always been a great reader, but now that he is in university (studying Classics) he has to read so much for his syllabus he’s not reading so much for pleasure. But yes, I’m happy they all love books.’
What about her love of clothes and shoes? “Well, the girls and I do share some tops, but most of my good stuff is all in storage. My closet is way smaller than all of my friends’ ones, by the way. And there are no doors to it, just curtains. I have a lot of grey sweatshirts in there,” she laughs.
Surely the girls must be dipping into her handbags and shoes? “It’s a disaster, as their shoe size is already bigger than mine, so they can’t borrow any. And honestly, they’re welcome to any handbag, but they aren’t really handbag or purse girls yet. We went to a wedding last week and they just asked me to carry their lip balm – and phones now they have them. One of them has a Samsonite crossbody bag and the other has a bum bag.”
The same goes for her jewellery collection. I notice she is wearing a pearl and gold necklace from New York jewellery designer Marla Aaron, whose designs I have long admired for their vintage appeal, some with beautiful poetry inscriptions inside rings or lockets. “Marla is so hugely talented. There’s somebody who knows how to use Instagram in a graceful and elegant way,” she enthuses.
Graceful and elegant, indeed. I conclude I want to be a bit more SJP in my approach to beauty, books and, well, everything. We embrace goodbye and for the first time as a beauty editor, I consider if my relationship with Botox may be finally over.