Dame Helen Mirren thinks make-up gives her confidence.

Dame Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren

The 73-year-old actress has always enjoyed experimenting with cosmetics and loves the satisfying feeling she gets when she looks in the mirror after her face is finished.

She said: "I've always loved make-up. It can make you into a character. It can make you look better and, of course, it can make you look worse.

"I absolutely love make-up and it's my pleasure to wear it.

"I think it imbues a certain confidence.

"When you put your make-up on, you go out and then catch a reflection of yourself and think, 'Oh actually, I look OK. That's satisfying.' "

The 'Red' actress - who is married to director Taylor Hackford - urged people to be more experimental with their beauty look because if something doesn't work, it's easily removed.

She said: "People should always experiment with make-up and try different looks. And if it's terrible, it doesn't matter - you can scrub it all off."

While the 'Leisure Seeker' actress loves experimenting with make-up, she recently admitted she's more willing to go out bare-faced these days.

She said: "I never used to leave the house without a bit of make-up on. But the more you need it the less you care about it. And even though I know that I might be stopped and asked for a selfie, I just don't mind any more."

The 'Queen' actress thinks people have to be "brave" about getting older but she's accepted being able to deal with her advancing years.

She told Britain's Vogue magazine: "You do have to be brave. When people say, 'Getting old is not for p*****s,' there's a certain amount of truth to that.

"When I was in my late 30s, my mother gave me some fantastic advice. 'Never be afraid of getting old,' she said, 'because when you're 20 the idea of being 35 is horrific. When you're 35 the idea of being 55 is a nightmare, but as you get older you realise that you have the tools to deal with it."


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