As an actress, Cameron Diaz is instantly recognisable, with starring turns in critically-acclaimed films including There's Something About Mary and high-profile franchises such as Charlie's Angels and Shrek. Recently though, she has been absent from our screens, having retired from the movie business in 2018.
Now, in a rare appearance, Diaz is back giving us an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek into her lifestyle both as an actress and beyond, as she talks to her friend and make-up artist Gucci Westman on the latter's new Makeup and Friends Youtube series.
Looking relaxed, with her hair up in a short ponytail, the former actress appears as we have rarely seen her before. In this refreshing film it feels like we are sitting in on two friends reminiscing about old times rather than watching a scripted interview. Diaz's dog even makes an appearance.
The easy atmosphere is not surprising considering Westman refers to Diaz as "one of my oldest friends," and the pair's closeness leads to much laughter and various anecdotes, including the time they spent in New York, "shar[ing] a bed for two weeks in a sixth floor walk-up".
"Cameron is my oldest friend and one of my favourite people in the whole world," explains Westman exclusively to Bazaar. "We’ve shared so many special moments, so many laughs and so many growing pains. No one makes me laugh harder and feel more heard - she’s truly an exceptional friend. I was so honoured and shocked that she actually agreed to come out of hiding to appear on Makeup & Friends - I was like 'What? Really?'."
It's for that reason Westman probably gets closer than most to discovering whether Diaz will ever return to acting, although, the latter's answer is perhaps predictably cryptic:
"Look, I'm never going to say 'never' because I'm not a person who says never about anything."
Enjoyably, the video does shed more concrete light on Diaz's make-up routine, with skills she has gleaned from Westman over the years:
"My make-up is your make-up", Diaz says to her friend. "Everything I do to my make-up, I am copying you."
In fact, it's only on blusher that the friends seem to disagree.
"We have a difference in opinion as to where it goes," explains Diaz with a laugh, as Westman shows us her own technique; brushing on the product in short, sweeping motions, before defining the bottom of the apples of the cheeks using 'c' shaped motions.
The trick it seems is to use a small brush and to apply everything in tiny amounts before building it up, using multiple shades of Westman Atelier's Baby Cheeks Blush Sticks for a natural finish.
When it comes to lipstick - a bright fuchsia shade that Westman attests to being really flattering on olive skin - Diaz demonstrates her own little make-up hack. Once the colour is applied, she taps her fingers over her lips, blowing little air kisses, and then uses the excess that comes off on her fingertips to dot it on her cheeks.
In the course of the short video, we also discover that the Westman went further than just painting the actress' face on some occasions. For the 2002 Oscars ceremony, for example, Westman not only chose the beautiful tomato red lip colour Diaz wore, she also sourced her gown, only stopping short of doing her hair (although she was asked). It's another funny story but one that leads Diaz to make a more serious point:
"Red carpet is so different now. For my premieres, I would just go to Barneys and buy clothes. It wasn't a whole production where you got judged, rated or scored for how you looked. You weren't objectified."
On one occasion, Diaz even gets teary and her friend has to hand her a tissue. The cause is really rather sweet: she's discussing why she adores cooking for the people she loves:
"When I feed the people I love, I want them to have the experience of feeling like it hits their heart, that they can feel my love when they eat it," she says before trailing off. "My food is my love language."
It seems then that Diaz has found happiness and her true calling off our cinema screens, although it remains to be seen whether she will crop up on them again.
In the meantime, you can discover more famous faces in Westman's YouTube series very soon, including Demi Moore, Christy Turlington, Julianne Moore and Dakota Fanning.
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