Within five minutes of arriving at Trinny Woodall’s London offices, I’m in the make-up chair.
My foundation is off – removed by the woman herself – and she’s busy telling me I should chop four inches off my dress (“that’s not a flattering place to cut off the leg”), showing me how to apply my eyeshadow differently (“lift and swipe to stop your eyelids looking droopy”) and telling me why mom jeans and kitten heels have no place in anyone’s wardrobe (eek, I love a kitten heel).
Trinny, 58, is a whirlwind, as I quickly discover when we chat about beauty, make-up, fashion, social media, empowerment and a whole lot of other stuff.
She’s as upfront and honest as she was in her What Not To Wear days in the early noughties, alongside partner-in-crime Susannah Constantine.
The duo became famous for their forthright approach as they doled out style advice and makeovers up and down the country. On the show, Trinny had a gift for getting inside women’s heads, helping them believe that with the right outfit, they could take on the world.
Fast-forward nearly 20 years and it’s clear one of her biggest gifts is this natural ability to sum people up in seconds.
She genuinely wants to help people – in fact, she can’t stop herself. This is because she knows how powerful change can be in her own life. “I had acne, and felt really ugly for many years,” she says. “I hated dating. After I got rid of it I had a new confidence.
“When I did makeovers, I could see how much the women shifted. I like seeing that shift.”
So it’s no surprise the makeover queen has now turned her attention to the transformative power of make-up with her range Trinny London. It has been a labour of love from the start.
After raising £150,000 from investors, Trinny ran out of money during the research and development phase. Her solution? To sell a sizeable chunk of her wardrobe.
“This raised £80,000, which enabled me to work for another year,” she says. And her hard work paid off. Her brand, Trinny London, is one of Europe’s fastest-growing direct-to-consumer startups, valued at £180 million [$250 million]. One of Britain's most successful beauty entrepreneurs, newly filed documents reveal her brand Trinny London more than tripled its turnover in a year to a huge £44.2million.
When it comes to make-up, Trinny says less is definitely more. She recalls seeing Kylie Jenner in a restaurant in Portofino, Italy, over the summer.
“She was sitting in this beautiful restaurant wearing so much make-up. She just didn’t need it.
“I’ve just started this new thing where I go up to people in the street and re-do their make-up.
“Women tend to use foundation as armour. I want to give them the opportunity to see something different, which will empower them.”
She is just as opinionated about fashion as ever and admits to being something of a control freak about her own look.
“Some stylists over the years may have had some not very nice things to say about me,” she laughs. “It’s hard when I go on a shoot, and someone thinks they know how to dress me. I can’t let go of what I know really works.” But she is more than happy to laugh at her own style mistakes. Yes, she regrets the too-short short skirts, the orange fake tan and the poker-straight ironed hair of her younger years.
Throughout our chat, Trinny has been busy directing her make-up artist telling him exactly what to do. It’s weird because he doesn’t really feel like he’s putting much make-up on me at all. At one point I’ reprimanded, “What’s going on with your eyes Amber? Looking dry…just here…” I feel like I’ve let her down, and I really don’t want to let Trinny down…
The end result is undeniably good – she really has knocked years off me.
I ask Trinny how she feels about getting older, saying a lot of my friends say they now feel invisible. She tackles this subject in her typical no-nonsense style. “Feeling old is about what’s going on inside your head,” she says.
“If one week you suddenly don’t feel good in something, or no longer feel attractive, it’s not real. Nothing has changed outwardly in seven days. “Rather than worrying, ask yourself how you can shift gear. I use guided meditation. It’s about resetting yourself internally.”
For Trinny, it’s all about confidence. “Walking into a room with real presence is something we should all be able to do until we die,” she says.
“And what do you need to get that? Well, the right clothes are a good start. It’s about that that first impression. And finding your style allows you to do that.”
And with that, she’s done. I take one last look at myself in the mirror and head for the door, determined to take my new found sense of Trinny-ness with me.