Cate Blanchett did a long, somewhat interesting interview with NY Magazine’s The Cut to promote her work with SK-II, the Japanese beauty brand which has been employing her as their “face” for 13 years now. I’ve always felt like this is a good fit – Cate is known for having great skin and for taking great care of her skin, so I feel like more people should probably listen to what she has to say. You can read the full piece here – she namechecks different products and brands, some of which is sort of interesting. But I liked this piece for what she says about women judging other women. And she talks about Ocean’s Eight too!

On Ocean’s Eight: “It’s a great, great bunch of women. I’ve been in the same movie with Helena [Bonham Carter], but never acted with her. I’ve never worked with Anne [Hathaway], but she’s gorgeous. And it was great to finally work with Sandy [Bullock]. We wanted to make sure everyone in the film had a distinct look… For me, my character is a nightclub owner, so I looked punk into the ’80s. In the film, you’ll see I’m very, very blonde and bleached. My character moved through the punk, but we used that as an initial starting point. I’m very visually stimulated, and sometimes it can be a gallery image or piece of music that will inspired me. I’d been listening to a lot of Siouxsie Sioux during Thor and thought about that period, so that was influential to me.

The evolving idea of beauty: “People talk about the idea of perfection, but I love that the Japanese idea about beauty involves flaws. Like, if you got a beautiful ceramic pot there would be a flaw in it. And the flaw in it is beautiful. A beautiful flower arrangement is always slightly asymmetric. It allows for a greater sense of people’s individuality. I always find people attractive when they are comfortable with their own skin and not trying to be someone else, but their best selves. They might have a slightly big nose or asymmetric eyes or interesting hair, but there’s a naturalness to them.

Beauty/skincare advice: “The best piece of advice is to wear sunscreen and not go out in the harsh Australian sun. You could say that’s looking after your skin. From a vanity perspective, you don’t want to be old and wrinkly. But it’s also protected my skin. It’s very different from makeup. Your skin is the biggest organ in our body. Exfoliate, moisturize, and wear sunscreen. That’s it. That’s fine. I’m very conscious of sun damage in my children.

Accepting imperfection: “As a woman, it takes a lot of strength. There’s so much pressure. I really long for a time when women aren’t mean to other women about it, and aren’t judgmental about what other women do. I don’t expect everyone to subscribe to the same type of beauty I’m interested in. Everyone is different, but it would be good to take that pressure off ourselves. There’s so much pressure on women to look a certain way, or be a certain thing, or to think that their outward appearance is the most important part of their personality or character. It’s certainly a part of it, but not the most important thing…. The obsession on one’s looks can make you a bit crazy. And I thought, I don’t want to go crazy.

Anti-aging in Hollywood: “People talk about it a lot. Being consistent with the one skin-care line and not giving into the professional fear about it, has made me feel a lot more at peace with whatever age I am. I think my skin is a lot more resilient. I have fewer breakouts than I did in my 20s, which you can say is partially hormonal, but also because I’m not changing it up. I’m not anxious about my skin. Strangely, the more people are talking about anti-aging, the less I feel anxious about it. When I was in my teens and 20s, it was what you put on top of your skin. Certainly since having children, I realized it was all about skin care. When people are having issues with their skin, that’s when they don’t feel as confident, and they start to retreat. All that other stuff you layer on top — or we inject into our faces, or other things people are into — are ways to try and hide. It becomes less significant or less important. But for me, it’s about looking the best you can at whatever age.

Women judging women: “There’s a big difference between altering your appearance and trying to work with what you got. My philosophy is to work with what you got. It’s about feeling comfortable in your own skin. But it’s easy to form judgment on other people. For me, I’ve just grown up that way. My mother is not someone who has surgically enhanced herself. It doesn’t seem natural to me. But that’s just me — ultimately, I believe women have judged other women too long.”

[From NY Magazine]

I’m sure some people will look at these photos and claim that Cate has tried some surgical or non-surgical remedies to aging. While I’ve seen a few photos of her, here and there, where I thought maybe she was getting some fillers, I actually believe that she’s pretty close to all-natural. Part of that is good genes – something she doesn’t really acknowledge, but it’s true – and part of it is that she’s taken care of herself for many, many years. Still, I like what she says about “that’s just me” – she’s not trying to throw shade on, say, the Nicole Kidmans of the celebrity world.

Photos courtesy of WENN.