A couple of years ago, Emma Willis, 47, noticed the appearance of her skin had changed. “You take it all for granted in your 30s – you don’t think about how quickly your skin texture will change,” The Voice UK host tells HELLO! "The minute I turned 45, the skin on my neck changed. Your collagen is decreasing so it’s less plump – a bit stringy looking."
Ever positive, Emma added that she tries not to focus on the negatives. "I’m not the only one who is self-conscious," she laments. "The more you talk about it, the more people say, 'I know exactly what you mean.' Everyone is worrying about something. We’ve all got insecurities and that’s lovely because that makes us all feel human together."
That said, Emma admires makeup-free trailblazer Pamela Anderson for her recent decision to go barefaced at events. "The one thing I’ve learnt with getting older is that less is more," Emma says. "Look at Pamela Anderson at Paris Fashion Week. I thought that was amazing. Helen Mirren looks phenomenal. She is ageing beautifully and looks incredible."
Emma of course looks gorgeous all the time and attributes this to looking after her skin since a young age.
"My profession is about how you look, so my skin has always been a consideration. I’ve been lucky to learn about good products because if you look after it early on it will serve you later. I’ve always had pretty decent skin apart from puberty when I had what are considered normal breakouts."
Emma's skincare routine
“I always double cleanse. I start with the Dr Dennis Gross Marine cleanser. Then I use the Keren Bartov micellar water, just to make sure everything’s off. She’s an amazing facialist. I saw her recently and had some lovely treatments. I get quite bad pigmentation in the summer so she blitzed all of that for me. Then I put on the Absolute Collagen Deep Lift Night Cream. It makes my face look lovely and plump and nice.
“I also use SPF every single day. I use the Dermaceutic factor 50 on my face and I wear a hat on holiday – I don’t tan my face. I’ll sit there with my body [in the sun] for as long as possible and I just fake-tan my face to make it match. I add the Tan-Luxe oil to my moisturiser and slap it on.”
Of her husband, Matt Willis' love of skincare, Emma laughed: "Matt’s got more products than me! He will nick mine if he’s run out, but he’s quite particular. Matt has struggled with his skin from a really young age and he has had acne for years. It really flared up again in his 20s so he has to be super careful with products."
INSIDE: Emma and Matt Willis' £1.7m family home is a haven of fun
Feeling strong
Emma is known for her intense exercise regime, but she shared her strongest moments had nothing to do with lifting weights. "I think my strongest was actually at my most vulnerable and that was when I had my kids. There’s nothing like giving birth to teach you how you can achieve something that you absolutely do not want to do at that moment in time. You can grow, birth and raise a human. It makes you feel capable of absolutely anything."
READ: Emma Willis shares the collagen supplement she takes for smooth and plump skin
Of how she makes time for herself amid a stellar career and parenting three children, Emma says working out is key. “My favourite way to take a moment for myself is normally a form of exercise, which I used to feel like I didn’t have time for because there were other important priorities. But when I started prioritising that for myself, it made me turn up in a much better way for my family, rather than running around like a headless chicken, trying to achieve everything and feeling like I was going to combust. I learnt it from Matt – he’s really good at it.
“I love Pilates, boxing or getting a pedicure, but I only ever did them on holiday. Also, meeting a mate for lunch. I’ve realised that I don’t really do anything socially. There’s that guilt that I should be at home with my kids, putting them to bed, but actually, there’s nothing wrong with going out occasionally.”
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