queen-gets-makeup-done-once-per-year

Queen Elizabeth always looks polished and poised, with not a hair out of place during her official royal engagements in public.

And now the queen official stylist Angela Kelly has let royal fans in on some of the queen’s beauty secrets in her new book, The Other Side of the Coin: the Queen, the Dresser, and the Wardrobe.

Angela worked initially as the queen’s senior stylist and then later as her personal advisor and curator, and received the queen’s official blessing to write the book.

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Angela has worked with the queen for the past 25 years and revealed that the 93-year-old monarch always does her own makeup, even for formal royal events.

The queen’s signature look is a light dusting of powder, blush, and pink lipstick, which she always applies herself.

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But according to Angela, there is one special occasion each year where the queen calls on the help of the professionals and gets her makeup done by a makeup artist — the recording of her annual Christmas message at Buckingham Palace.

She arranges for makeup artist Marilyn Widdess to be present on the day of filming to ensure her makeup is perfect when she records the message.

“You might be surprised to know that this is the only occasion throughout the year when Her Majesty does not do her own makeup,” Angela wrote in her book.

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It makes total sense that the queen would want to look her best during filming, because her official Christmas message reaches seven million people in just the UK alone, along with millions of others.

We don’t know too much about which makeup products the queen loves to use herself, but iconic brands Clarins and Elizabeth Arden have official royal warrants, meaning these brands are allowed to promote the fact that the royals their products in their advertising.

In 2016, a representative for Elizabeth Arden said the brand frequently communicated with Angela to service the monarch.

“We work closely with Angela Kelly and her team to ensure we provide excellent service for whatever Her Majesty requires, or would like to try,” the rep told the UK’s Telegraph.

“We can reveal however that we are immensely proud.”

Clarins is also a favorite of the queen.

The queen famously commissioned the brand to create a lip color to match her ceremonial robes for her Coronation in 1953 and the brand was granted an official royal warrant in 2007.

This article originally appeared on our sister site, Now to Love.