Five-time Grammy award-winning artist Celine Dion has given us an insight into the beauty prep she does before her sell-out performances and revealed her favourite workout routine, which she likes to do after a show. In the latest issue of HELLO! magazine, the singer also speaks of her new role with L'Oreal and how at 51 she feels more beautiful than ever. Celine says: “I never thought L’Oréal Paris would ask me to be an ambassador." Recalling being bullied growing up, she reveals: “I was skinny and had problems with my teeth – I could go on and on. I never saw this coming, especially at 51.”
The first L’Oréal Paris campaign Celine is fronting is for Excellence hair colour, which she insists leaves her hair feeling incredibly soft. “It really works, it’s amazing! No one can say that it’s just hair; hair colour, make-up, the creams we put on make us feel confident, beautiful and sexy. Feeling like that makes you strong – and feeling strong makes you succeed.”
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Celine the entertainer has spent a lot of time in the make-up chair over the years: “I’ve picked up a lot of tricks and now I do my own make-up before a performance,” she says. “I just know my own face so well, and I actually really enjoy doing it.” Her approach is quite utilitarian: “The most important thing is to make sure your brushes and sponges are clean – you can use soap and water.”
And she’s perfected her “canvas”: “That’s foundation, concealer, contouring and powder. I don’t actually sweat that much on stage. Tina Turner would be drenched when she was going for it, and Whitney would carry a handkerchief – I am working hard up there too, you know, but I don’t sweat off my make-up.”
A mother of three, Celine has been on a journey since losing her beloved husband of more than 20 years, René Angélil, who died of throat cancer in 2016 at the age of 73.
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“Seeing him suffer was extremely hard. I knew I had to let him go in peace, and not be selfish trying to make him stay a little longer. But I have learnt to love him like there is no tomorrow. I see him in the eyes of my kids, and that makes me stronger. It’s helped me to keep going, to go back on stage and find new passions.”
One of these is ballet, which Celine says she’s become “addicted” to. “It’s hard but romantic and sensual. At night, after a show, I go to the studio to train with a dancer. We stretch, do barre work and improv – I do this four times a week.”
Experimenting with fashion has also become more than a sideline for the singer. “I love to play with fashion and take risks. And I feel so good now that I don’t even want to think about my 20s or 30s, when I was still discovering myself. I’ve never felt so beautiful or strong – it gives me inner confidence.”
The self-proclaimed “perfectionist” also speaks about growing “in a strong and happy way” through relationships. She is often photographed with her “best friend” Pepe Muñoz, a 34-year-old dancer whom she described as an “angel from the sky” when he stepped in at the last minute to help with choreography for her show.
“We did this number together and it was just so fun. This is when I started to feel passionately about dance.” Celine credits Pepe, who accompanies her to Paris for the shows, as her stylist too: “His talents go beyond dancing; you will be interviewing him one day.”
Celine Dion is the face of L’Oréal Paris Excellence hair colour, available nationwide.
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