Helen Mirren explains why she wore makeup and got dressed every day in lockdown

Oscar winner says it ‘felt like I was living my life properly’

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Thursday 15 July 2021 16:41 EDT
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Helen Mirren says she wore makeup every day in lockdown
Helen Mirren says she wore makeup every day in lockdown (AFP via Getty Images)

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Helen Mirren has opened up about her life in quarantine, with the actress revealing that she wore makeup every day in lockdown.

The 75-year-old, who quarantined with her husband, director Taylor Hackford, amid the pandemic, discussed her unwavering beauty routine while speaking with People, explaining why the daily makeup application benefitted her.

“Every day I put on makeup,” the Oscar-winner told the outlet, before clarifying that it wasn’t for her husband. “I didn’t do it for Taylor because Taylor never notices. He asks if I’ve got makeup on or not and doesn’t really care, but he certainly doesn’t notice.

“He’ll sometimes say in a rather puzzled way, ‘Oh, you look really nice,’” Mirren continued, adding that she tells her husband “you just associate the fact that I look nice with the fact I’ve just spent an hour doing my makeup!”

According to Mirren, the reason she chose to get dressed and apply her makeup every day amid the pandemic, even when she wasn’t leaving the house, was because she “enjoys” it.

In addition to enjoying the process of getting dressed up each day, the routine was also reassuring, Mirren said, noting that it made it feel like she was “living my life properly”.

“So, it was actually a good experience for me,” she added.

While speaking with People, The Good Liar star also revealed that her affinity for dressing up means she loves events such as her recent appearance on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, as it means she can “wear incredibly beautiful clothes”.

However, according to Mirren, by the end of the night, she is “perfectly happy to give it all away” and “go back to my scruffy, Bohemian outfits”.

Mirren is not the only celebrity to follow a beauty routine despite the pandemic, as Keira Knightley previously revealed that she wore Chanel and red lipstick every day during lockdown.

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