The Last Nude Photo Shoot?
“All I know is that they’re painting me gold and that I have to be naked,” said Gwyneth, slipping into a studio for a shoot with photographer Andrew Yee one morning several weeks ago. The Goldfinger-meets-2022 shoot was dreamed up to celebrate her 50th birthday—with birthday-suit vibes but about as elevated as it gets. “I feel so good turning 50, and this is about expressing that sense of energy and optimism that I’m experiencing,” she continued. “It’s more about the female gaze and just a sense of fun.”
The shoot itself was fun, involving piles of gold powder—and more skin (and hair) treatments than you might expect. “I was going to be painting GP gold, so I had to make sure the skin on her face and body was very, very moisturized,” says top makeup artist Lottie, who’s based in LA. Enter GOOPGENES, with the nourishing face cream, eye cream, and lip balm on Gwyneth’s face and the famous body butter everywhere else. “I have never felt so moisturized,” says Gwyneth. (Lottie herself fell in love with the face cream, and with the lip balm especially.)
THE SKIN AND BODY PREP
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“Rich and nourishing and with amazing clinical results,” says Gwyneth. “My skin tends to be dry, and this fixes the problem—and delivers all these youth-boosting ingredients at the same time.”
goop Beauty
GOOPGENES All-in-One
Nourishing Face Cream
goop, $98/$86 with subscriptionSHOP NOW -
“What’s in this little tube is miraculous, cushiony eye cream—I cannot live without this stuff. I’ve really noticed a difference in my little crow’s-feet with this, and it reduces puffiness—clinically proven—and circles,” says Gwyneth. “It’s my secret weapon.”
goop Beauty
GOOPGENES Nourishing Eye Cream
goop, $55/$50 with subscriptionSHOP NOW -
“Super cushy and nourishing,” says Gwyneth. “It’s got the perfect slip, the perfect finish, a subtle scent, just a whisper of a taste, the softest glide. It’s full of amazing botanical oils like coconut, argan, castor seed, jojoba, and sunflower, plus it’s got pomegranate extract and shea butter.”
goop Beauty
GOOPGENES Clean
Nourishing Lip Balm
goop, $20SHOP NOW -
“A head-to-toe miracle for your skin, made with clean ingredients with nourishing, groundbreaking results,” says Gwyneth. “It feels so good on skin, and it can address the signs of aging in a way that’s really potent.”
goop Beauty
GOOPGENES Nourishing
Repair Body Butter
goop, $65/$50 with subscriptionSHOP NOW
After letting all the moisture and skin nourishment sink in, Lottie went to work. “We were going for golden goddess,” she says. The key was a rich gold shimmer powder, built up to intensify shine. Everyone ended up covered in gold dust, including top hairstylist Mark Townsend.
“We had so much fun,” says Townsend. “And Gwyneth was such a sport. We started the day with less and built to more and more gold. So for the first look—gold details on the eye and a golden hand—I did a big ’90s supermodel blowout, pushed back.
“Her hair’s got so much volume—a lot of the time when we’re working together, it’s about taking it down, so in this case I just did a classic big, fat round-brush blowout to get the hair smooth and shiny. She came in with wet, just-washed hair, so I sprayed in a little heat protectant, but that’s it. We didn’t have to tease it or anything.”
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Philip B.
Large Round Brush
goop, $130SHOP NOW -
Ga.Ma. Italy Professional
IQ Perfetto
Hair Dryer
goop, $399SHOP NOW -
Innersense
Hair Love Prep Spray
goop, $28SHOP NOW
“To keep the volume, it helps to dry your hair in vertical sections, away from the face,” says Townsend. “Normally you’d blow-dry in horizontal sections, which is actually harder, so this is an easy look to do at home.”
As Lottie added more gold to Gwyneth’s face and body, gold also needed to be added to her hair. “We used these cute gold hairpins from Day Rate Beauty to create a simple bun to evolve the look,” says Townsend. “Then we got into the really fun bits. Lottie and I agreed it was important that the gold look the same on her skin and in her hair, so we used the same loose gold powder. But in her hair, it was harder to make it look like paint, not powder.”
The (Unexpected) Hair Star
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The solution, it turned out, was goop hair serum. “I really saturated her hair with it,” he says. “I used quite a bit—almost a quarter of a bottle—and it was perfect. And it was great—we squeezed in a hair treatment before she went back to work.”
“It’s kind of a miracle on my hair,” says Gwyneth. “Since I’ve started using this before I shampoo, my hair looks way shinier and healthier, with less frizz and absolutely amazing texture. It’s kind of hard to believe the difference it makes.”
A shower was unsurprisingly needed afterward. “We used the G.Tox scrub to get out all of that gold powder,” says Townsend.
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goop Beauty
GOOPGLOW Restore + Shine
Hair Serum
goop, $55/$44 with subscriptionSHOP NOW
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“Nothing feels as good as this whipped shampoo,” says Gwyneth. “The chunks of pink salt massage your scalp, and it foams into this beautiful cream, smells so good, and leaves your hair so soft.”
goop Beauty
G.Tox Himalayan Salt Scalp Scrub Shampoo
goop, $55/$38 with subscriptionSHOP NOW -
goop Beauty
G.Tox Himalayan Salt Scalp Scrub Shampoo
goop, $55/$38 with subscriptionSHOP NOW
So was this, in fact, the last nude photo shoot? Unclear. “I think aging is actually a beautiful thing. We just need to open our perceptions,” says Gwyneth. “As you become more yourself, in integrity, your life really opens up.”
FEELING A TOUCH OF GOLD?
Whether you’re craving a lot or a little, here are our favorite (clean) gold essentials.
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With four luminous shades, this chic palette is the ultimate effortlessly glamorous look.
RÓEN
75° Warm Eyeshadow Palette
goop, $49SHOP NOW -
Sheer, nourishing all-natural pigments create the most beautiful just-bitten flush.
Tata Harper
Vitamin-Infused Cream Blush
goop, $42SHOP NOW -
Smooth these creamy, gorgeously pigmented multiuse pencils onto lips, cheeks, or eyelids.
19/99
Precision Pencil Duo
goop, $42SHOP NOW -
Part eye gloss, part creamy shadow, this golden highlight is beautiful on your lids but works to highlight lips, cheeks, and anywhere else, too.
Jillian Dempsey
LID TINT
goop, $28SHOP NOW -
This creamy, dewy highlighter for eyes, cheeks, and face leaves a flattering natural glow.
Westman Atelier
Super Loaded Tinted Highlighter
goop, $75SHOP NOW -
In four buildable colors, these dewy, ultranourishing shadows are super flattering.
Beautycounter
Lid Glow Cream Shadow
goop, $27SHOP NOW -
Blend it over cheekbones, brow bones, the bridge of the nose, the bow of the lips, or even eyelids.
RMS Beauty
Master Mixer
goop, $38SHOP NOW -
Sweep this creamy matte tint over your cheeks (it also works for eyes, temples—anywhere) for a natural, just-back-from-the-beach glow.
Westman Atelier
Beauty Butter Powder Bronzer
goop, $75SHOP NOW -
Made with pure 24-karat gold leaf flakes from Kanazawa, Japan, plus seven powerful botanicals and essential oils, this serum delivers antioxidants and hydration for beautiful skin.
MAKANAI
Skin Jewel Oil Serum
goop, $50SHOP NOW
