Four decades in the business and the multi-award winning performer Tina Arena still looks fresh and energetic as ever. We asked her the secret of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
“Discipline, a lot of water, really good food and most essentially – a lot of sleep” – these are the factors 47-year-old singer/songwriter and actress Tina Arena credits for her ability to keep up her energy levels in her busy life. She tells Beauty Expert Leanne Taylor that her beauty regime includes staying hydrated and wearing no make-up, or at least as little as possible when not on-stage and how she has an organic approach to skin-care products.
The release of her first English-language album in over a decade, Reset, reflects her approach to celebrating her 40th year in show business next year. Determined not to over-analyse the milestone, the performer says it needs to be celebrated naturally while she remains true to herself. “It’s about keeping it honest. I’m not good at playing games. I never have been.”
Leanne: Tina, how do you maintain your energy levels?
Tina: Good question. I maintain it with a lot of discipline; a lot of sleep; a lot of water; really good food and for me as a vocalist, the most important thing is sleep. If I don’t sleep, vocally I can’t really recover. So I think sleeping is really important and looking after my skin; staying hydrated because there’s so much flying involved; very little make-up, the only make-up I really wear is on stage. Otherwise I’m very natural, I only wear a bit of gloss, a bit of mascara if I really need to. That’s it- I keep the face really clean and just free of being clogged up.
Leanne: What kind of skincare regime do you have because your skin does look very flawless and beautiful even when you have been on the road for a long time.
Tina: It is tiring, and the skin gets really tired. I’ve always varied my creams and my brands and never really stuck to one thing. Many great beauticians over the years have said it’s really important to change otherwise the habits of that product and the skin over a certain time stops working and stops stimulating collagen, the little collagen you have left when you get older. Thick creams, things that are really non-toxic.
Leanne: So you’d say you go for a more organic approach to skincare?
Tina: I have a much more organic approach today definitely. I find French brands really have an incredible blend of things that are bio-clean and the expertise of cosmetology, which they’re very good at. So yes, particularly organic today, lots of sunscreen and basic too, not going berserk on different things.
Leanne: Keeping it simple…
Tina: Yes, keeping it simple because if you don’t, you complicate and confuse everything.
Leanne: Has being a mum changed your regime?
Tina: With being a mum, I think again sleep is really important and keeping things very, very natural and eat well and sleep well. I can’t advocate that enough really. You can’t possibly get through a routine like that vocally, physically or spiritually without really taking care, it’s so important. And because I’m in my forties now too, you can no longer have that nonchalant attitude of she’ll be ok, everything will be fine, I’ll wake up tomorrow and I’ll still look the same because that ain’t the truth! You do have to take care.
Leanne: Very true, do you think you have become more spiritual being a mother?
Tina: I think it’s important to keep things basic and honest. I think I’ve always been like that even before my son arrived. We live in such a complicated world, the only thing that I can do is try and keep my world as peaceful and complication-free and try and pass that onto the next generation. Because the next generation have got complications.
Leanne: So you’re coming up to your 40th year of show business. How do you think you’re going to approach that? Will you use your look, play it down?
Tina: I don’t know, I try not to think too much! I think if you over-analyse it, it’s not really a good thing. I think you need to leave a bit to spontaneity, of course you have to plan certain things. Events need to be planned, records need to be planned if you’re making one or planning to make one. If you’re touring there’s certainly a lot of work to be done but I think it’s important to celebrate individuality and not necessarily what society expects what you would do for something like that. I think for me getting to 40 years is a celebration for myself first and foremost and to finally say to myself congratulations for having gotten this far and to still be a relatively sane human being. I think that is something worth celebrating in a very, I don’t know, a world that’s not everything people would like to think it is.
Leanne: It’s a great achievement, lots of people don’t get to 40 years in the entertainment business.
Tina: That’s why I think it needs to be celebrated, it needs to be celebrated very naturally, not to feel the pressure or expectation of others. I need to fulfill what I want to fulfill and how I view those 40 years.
Leanne: Being true to you and making sure it’s your journey…
Tina: Yes, and that it’s not about somebody else’s journey or somebody else’s ego. It’s really about what I want to do in my life. I’m so lucky to have a team of people, a small team of people around me and we all collectively think the same way. We’re all about bringing honesty and beauty to the forefront and not smoke and mirrors.
Leanne: Keeping it honest, not playing games…
Tina: I don’t play games, I’m not very good at it, never have been but I think people know that. I don’t like to do what’s expected of me, because that’s someone else’s ideal, it’s not necessarily mine.
Tina Arena’s Reset album is out now. Here is a link to her website
What’s your secret behind your beauty regime and maintaing a healthy lifestyle? Tell us below…
