How I get ready: Emilia Fox

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/jan/17/emilia-fox-how-i-get-ready

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I’ve got two very different ways of getting ready to go out. If it’s for a work event, I usually work with a stylist and choose an outfit a couple of days beforehand, but sometimes I’ll go to a designer such as Kate Halfpenny, who will make me something bespoke in about two weeks. She often puts me in a corset, which I know gives me a better silhouette and posture, and that makes me feel more confident. As does covering up: I don’t like to expose too much.

On top of that, I usually have an oxygen facial on the day of an event – it instantly brightens my complexion. I will then get my hair and makeup done, which can take about an hour and half, during which I will drink a peppermint tea and light a candle to create a sense a calm. I never drink at work events – I am there to work, so I always treat it like work.

But if I am just getting ready for a night out with friends, I tend to throw on the outfit that’s closest to the top of the pile of clothes in my bedroom and, if I can find someone to make one for me, drink a dry martini. Then I do my makeup in the back of the taxi.

My handbag is a total disaster. I have all these bits of makeup in those little plastic bags that you get given when you fly, and I generally put on whatever first comes to hand – a bit of foundation, some eye makeup and some lipgloss – but that’s about it.

I have a complete lack of talent and skill when it comes to doing my hair and makeup, which I put down to my job.

• Emilia Fox stars in Silent Witness, Mondays and Tuesdays at 9pm on BBC1.