Nylon (April 2010)
The Sweet Life
When beauty icon and perennial Nylon favorite Gwen Stefani came to New York recently – husband Gavin Rossdale and sons Kingston and Zuma in tow – we figured it was a good opportunity for a chat about her makeup memories, her harajuku lovers fragrance franchise, and her preteen deodorant preference. By Holly Siegel.
When you were on our cover in June/July 2000, you desribed your courtship with Gavin as fairy-tale like. It doesn’t seem like much has changed.
We’ve been married seven years. It’s crazy, there’s no itch. The [seven-year] itch, right? Maybe because we’ve been together for 13 years.
The last time we talked about Harajuku Lovers, you said that you would do a makeup line.
I’ve always wanted to. I feel like my plate’s a little bit full right now, [but] I love makeup. I used to run home from school, and my girlfriend’s mom had so much Mary Kay it was insane. I didn’t understand how this woman had so much makeup. We’d be like, “Let’s go ask your mom if we can go and do makeup.” I’d be like, burning everyone’s neck with a curling iron. I was always giving somebody a makeover.
What was the first concert you attended?
Emmylou Harris at the Palomino. My parents took me. She had to take a break because she was going to nurse her baby in the back during the concert, I will always remember that. I actually got to do the cover of Vanity Fair with her and told her the story. She’s like, “Oh! Now my daughter’s, like, 30 years old.”
Are there any musicians whom you would love to work with now?
I feel like music is in a really weird place right now. I judge it all by [if] I would be jealous, like, “I wish I wrote that song.” I like that Ting Tings song. I love the Killers. There’s not much great stuff right now that I’m super inspired by, to be honest. Is that rude? I think everything feels the same way. Is there anything that’s great. There’s no Beatles. I think there’s a lot of interesting people out there, not, like The Cure, where you have an amazing sexy guy who wrote a thousand good songs that the whole world wants to listen to over and over again.
Is there anyone who could make you starstuck?
I love Joni Mitchell. I actually got to meet her and have dinner with her. The only person I haven’t met who is one of my idols — and I don’t want to meet — Julie Andrews. At a certain point, it’s like, come on, let me have one fantasy.
What was the first perfume you wore?
I didn’t really–my parents were pretty strict about that stuff. But I think probably Love’s Baby Soft or something. I can’t remember. There’s this one [deodorant] brand that used to be called Tickle. I used to always want to get it.
Why?
Because it was on TV, and it looked really cool. When you’re a preteen, you just want everything they put on TV, and you just go to Sav-On and you are like, “Pleeeeeeease!!”