We Meet… Jo Fairley, the Queen of green beauty
2 February 2012
What do you love about the English countryside? I go completely tonto when that ‘spring green’ shade starts to appear on the trees, as the leaves unfurl; it always looks to me like a reverse-striptease in lime-green Agent Provocateur undies! It’s the trees that I love, probably because I used to spend a lot of time in one, with a book, as a child.
Any favourite country bolt holes? There’s a marvellous country pub called The Queen’s Head in Icklesham that’s a hearty yomp from our house – far enough to build a great appetite (and not feel guilty eating pudding).
How would you spend the perfect weekend? In the summerhouse I built last summer (well, my brother did) at the top of my garden, with a sea view (photo below).
It’s far enough away that I can’t hear the phone. I’d break off only to hit the beach for a dip, and pick up lunch at Judges Bakery, my artisan organic bakery and one-stop organic store. Why go away when you have that on your doorstep? ‘Jo’s Shed’ is the perfect weekend retreat for someone who works at home. We never, ever go away in summer – that’s why we live in Hastings!
Where did you last go on holiday? To Dubai. Not very green, but warm and sunny in January, and when my normally holiday-phobic husband actually suggests a plan, I just go with it.
What’s you favourite city worldwide, and why? Gotta be New York. It never ceases to excite me: the retail, the restaurants, the go-for-it vibe. My grown-up adopted daughter lives there which is a great excuse to visit; she lives in Greenpoint in Brooklyn so I am now officially hip by association.
From where does your passion for natural and organic beauty products stem? I’ve eaten natural and organic foods since I met my husband Craig Sams (founder of Whole Earth Foods and for many years chairman of the Soil Association), in 1988, and it always seemed to me that if you cared about what you put in your mouth, the next logical step is to think about what you put on your body. And I would always rather that ingredients – whether we eat or slather them – are grown with respect for the earth.
What will be the next ‘big thing’ in the beauty world? I think we’re going to see a real ‘less-is-more’ trend. The market has become so overcrowded, everyone’s shelves are like those games at the funfair where you roll in a penny and cash falls off… I see a return to simplicity and values, in all sorts of things. Less, but better.
Which item of clothing or accessory could you not do without? My spotty Boden halter-neck swimming cossie (below). Hilariously three of my friends have the same ones, in different colours, and we are thinking of setting up the Hastings Synchronised Swimming Team, as we already have the kit.
What’s your simple pleasure? Warm Hanro pants on a radiator, on a cold day. Er, if that won’t do, then a new cake of soap. I’m like an old miser with soap – getting every last bubble out of a doll-sized sliver – so a new one is a real joy.
And your ultimate luxury? Vintage linen sheets, which (without wanting to sound like Debo Devonshire) I have professionally laundered.
What are you reading? Just finished Rules of Civility by Amor Towles – like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing put through a Sodastream. Just brilliant.
Sleep and water aside, what’s your beauty secret? A large hat. Far better to avoid sun damage than seek to repair it.
Finally, what’s your favourite Mitchell and Peach product? Mitchell and Peach Bath Oil, which is seriously luxurious and skin-silkifying, and smells just divine.
Jo is a respected Beauty editor and champion of environmentally conscious consumerism. To visit Jo’s Beauty Bible website, click here.