If you've ever been lucky enough to experience (and it is an experience) Francesca Hayward dancing on stage in Swan Lake, on cinema screens as the elegant Victoria in Cats, or even simply on your Instagram feed in the hauntingly beautiful Where We Are short film, you'd understand why ballet dancers are often described as perfect.
It's a very real pressure that the actress, Royal Ballet principal dancer and friend of Chanel has felt over the years. ‘As a ballet student you’e definitely expected to look neat and tidy and presentable,' Hayward told ELLE UK while shooting our latest Beauty Truths episode. 'You don’t want to come in looking as tired as you feel! I’ve even had teachers that encouraged us to wear lipstick because they said it made you look more professional and more presentable. I had a teacher that wouldn’t let us start our ballet class until we had red lipstick on.’
Although Hayward laughs recalling the memory, the 29-year-old has a very different approach to wearing make-up as an adult. ‘The feminist inside me is always a bit like “If I don’t want to, I don’t have to”, but that’s why I think it’s so important that you wear make-up because it feels right for you. It’s my choice. I know that if I didn’t want to wear any that’s totally fine.’
Refreshingly, Hayward is as fascinated by her switch from elaborate stage make-up to bare-faced Sunday morning as we are. ‘At the end of the show I love to take off half my face of make-up to really see the difference between the two... it’s tempting to go and put more make-up on but I think it’s nice to try and remember who you are again and let my skin breathe.’
But, inevitably, growing up in a sport that's traditionally been dominated by Eurocentric culture and, in turn, white dancers, Kenyan-born Hayward has struggled to find make-up to match her skin tone. ‘For me it’s foundation that’s the hardest thing to match. My skin tone is darker than maybe a lot of my colleagues and friends in ballet. I’ve gone through so many different foundations and different shades and now I really understand more about it. I feel very lucky to have had help around me to do that.’
Watch Francesca's full Beauty Truths story in the video above.
Shop Francesca Hayward's Beauty Essentials
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