Amanda Shadforth Talks Us Through Low Maintenance Beauty And Her Silky Aliangé Collab

Amanda Shadforth knows whats good when it comes to visuals. As head of Oracle Fox, she’s a visual artist, photographer and creative director. In life, she’s a woman we admire. Her most recent venture, developing a silky serum with super cool skincare brand Aliangé that fights ageing, pigmentation and smells like a coconut, gave us the best excuse to talk to her about beauty — what it means, how much energy we should spend on it, and what her approach is. Here goes:

I know that you focus lots on fashion, and that beauty is not a big deal in terms of your content. So what lead you to create something with new fave skincare brand Aliangé?
I have always approached beauty in a slightly different way as I feel I’m a bit of a tomboy at heart, so I love a low maintenance beauty routine. The collaboration between OF and Aliangé is a real passion project as Dr Alison Jamieson has been my skin doctor for many years. Ali and I go way back to a time when I owned my art gallery, before starting Oracle Fox and over the years she has done wonders for my skin with her magic touch and beauty range.

And how did you develop this product together — I want to know the science stuff!
When it comes to the science you are definitely in much better hands with Ali as she is the brains behind the formula! I worked alongside her and her beautiful team with ideas and input into ideally what I wanted the serum to be and what benefits it would carry, fragrance, design and the feel of the end product. It was such a great experience to see the Aliangé team at work like that.

And what does it do?
The OF serum is an anti-ageing serum that hydrates and stimulates the skins natural DNA repairs process, reducing cell ageing and UV damage which is really important to me as I live at the beach and am in the sun everyday.

Is this the product you’ve always dreamed of? I mean, was it tailored to what you really needed for yourself?
Yes it really is the product I’ve always dreamt of and exactly what I was hoping we would be able to create together. The OF serum is perfect for my skin type as I need something super hydrating which will attract and retain water. Also I needed to have a skin care product which has a high vitamin C content to reduce some pigmentation from some sun damage I have had over the years. This serum also has the added bonus of being an amazing primer which is something I really appreciate as my job requires lots of time in makeup chair and full coverage for photoshoots.

I think all of our readers will collectively internally yell “same” when we talk about wanting a low maintenance beauty routine, so can walk me through yours?
Haha yes same! For me it’s all about simplicity, really clean skin and good coverage. Ali has really taught be over the years that the best tool you can have in your makeup bag is healthy skin so that really is my daily focus. I have the same two products on high rotation for my day and night routine and I swear by Aliangé Daily Devotion Cleanser (which I have been using for years now) followed by the hydrating OF serum. The next step is make up and I just got for the basics with a full coverage foundation, black eyeliner, mascara and highlighter on my cheeks.

What does beauty mean to you?
I think beauty means something totally different to everyone. To me beauty is confidence, the way you feel and perceive yourself rather than just the visual aspect. I think my upbringing and where I live have really influenced how I perceive beauty as I’ve always been drawn towards the more natural look, the more minimal the better.

When do you feel the most beautiful?
I think that there is something quite special about that natural beauty that comes with being immersed in nature, fresh skin after a swim at the beach or the rosey blush you get from being in the cold.

And at what age, or moment, did you finally really feel beautiful inside your body?
This is such a tough question, only because I guess it’s hard to pin point a moment but as you learn to get to know what works for you personally and how to highlight your best traits that it’s something that happens over time. I think it’s also something that I still work on and will always continue to enjoy working on.

Finally — if you could go back in time and give your teen-self some beauty advice, what would it be?
More SPF, more water! Also, protect your décolletage which is really important too. But mostly, just love what you have at every stage, things will change overtime and that’s okay, but do what you can to be kind to your skin.