The first thing that leaps to the eye inside Marisa Berenson’s Left Bank apartment is the leopard print, swiftly followed by a red lacquer bookshelf laden with tomes, and a pair of gilded Egyptian armchairs—replicas of those found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb. “It is kind of Baroque in here,” Berenson smiles as she settles into an Empire daybed that’s also upholstered in leopard print and strewn with burgundy velvet and gold pillows. “My grandmother’s home was [decorated] the same way.” She’s referring, of course, to Elsa Schiaparelli, portraits of whom sit near the window amid a flurry of silver frames showing Berenson with family, friends and other familiar faces, including the architect Peter Marino, Pope John Paul II, and Liza Minnelli, her costar in Cabaret. Nearby, a hefty Taschen tome of Stanley Kubrick sits, shrine-like, on its own stand.
It’s a fitting backdrop for Berenson, who rose to fame on a wave of bohemian eclecticism in the ’70s, first as the free-spirited decade’s reigning supermodel and, later, as an actress and the star of Kubrick’s Oscar-winning 1975 film, Barry Lyndon. These days, her life retains a similarly cinematic quality: She splits her time dashing between Paris and Marrakech, and working on educational and cultural projects as a UNESCO ambassador. On this particular afternoon, however, Berenson has opened the doors of her Paris home to Vogue in celebration of a brand-new adventure: the arrival of her glamorous self-titled skincare line in the United States.
It all started two years ago, she recalls, around the time she met Jean-Michel Simonian, the luxury developer behind the La Mamounia spa in Marrakech. Not long after, the pair began collaborating on the new spa at the Marrakech Sofitel, for which Berenson designed the “Venetian Andalusian” decor, and, eventually, began working on a range of powerful serums, scrubs, and creams to be used in its storied treatment rooms. One cocktail in particular, the moisturizing and regenerating Huile Fabuleuse, became the keystone of the antiaging range: Fueled by the antioxidant- rich seeds from an organic, sustainable desert fruit known as prickly pear, which thrives in even the harshest desert climates, Berenson has produced it in small quantities and used for years.
The ingredient is now at the heart of all fifteen of her products, an undertaking that’s not without its challenges. The regenerative extract is so difficult to produce, says Berenson, only one company in France has the capacity to do it to organic standards, and one ton of seeds is required to yield a liter of extract.
Arriving in heavy, bright gold bottles and featuring lush unprocessed natural scents, the line certainly feels like the perfect merger of her opulent gypset style and commitment to holistic living. In fact, she admits, it has been incubating for nearly 40 years, starting with a journey to India for Vogue, at age 18, with photographer Arnaud de Rosnay. On that trip she wound up in an ashram alongside the Beatles and the Beach Boys, which became the point of departure for a lifelong spiritual journey built on meditation, clean eating, and customized herbal formulas prescribed by the same French naturopath she still visits to this day.
“Ever since I was very young, I was always looking for a spiritual path,” she says, toying with one of four serpent rings she is wearing for the day’s shoot. Snakes are one of Berenson’s favorite talismans—“they shed their old skin” she says with a knowing smile—along with butterflies. “Back then, I was a bit ahead of my time,” recalls the actress, who at 68 and dressed in vintage Galliano, still has the enviable figure of her modeling days. “But I knew it wasn’t enough to have a nice physique, so I chose to work from the inside as well. What you eat and how you treat yourself is really important. The aging part is unavoidable, but there’s beauty at every age.”
Asked to run through her daily skincare routine, which combines Chinese massage techniques with other secrets gathered over the years, she gamely obliges: There’s a gentle face scrub in the morning shower, followed by her Luminous toning water, Sublime serum, and one hundred brisk strokes of the hand moving toward each cheekbone. Then come the face cream, Eye Contour, and a few passes of her “magic wand” (a slim gold vial known as ‘the Filler’ that dispenses a concentrated form of hyaluronic acid and prickly pear extract over problem areas), finished by a little makeup. Ten minutes tops, all told, says Berenson, plus a few drops of Huile Fabuleuse at night and whenever she travels, and at least two red-clay masks per week.
After the day’s shoot wraps, Berenson resettles in the living room, her bare feet tucked beneath her. She wears little makeup beyond mascara and eyeliner; her skin actually appears translucent. To the obvious, inevitable question, the response is a spontaneous laugh: “No work!” she says. Then, quickly, “Not that I judge. I’ve just always chosen the natural way because that is what made me feel good, and that’s how I wanted to evolve.” Ultimately, says Berenson, this next chapter is about helping other women feel beautiful. “My products are just one way of putting a bit of light and love in the world the best way I know how.”
Marisa Berenson Sublime Care skincare is available at Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills and, starting in December, online at marisaberensonbeauty.com
Sittings Editor: Ondine Azoulay