When Celine Dion was pronounced a style icon by Vogue a couple of years ago, it timed with a rethink of the French-Canadian diva's persona and musical contributions.
Emerging from the grief of the death of her much older husband/manager René Angelil – they met when she was 12 and began a relationship seven years later – Celine is relishing her independence and experimenting more with her look.
"No one ever told me I wasn't cool," she has been quoted as saying. "René always said that I was the coolest. I believed him."
Now others agree. L'Oréal Paris has just signed her up as beauty ambassador and she’s dating again.
The woman with the most lucrative performing deal in Las Vegas, has also announced her long running residency at Caesar's Palace will come to an end in June. A new album and a tour with follow. Bringing up her children (nine-year-old twins and an 18-year-old son) is a focus, but the Power of Love and My Heart Will Go On singer says she still loves making music.
With five Grammy Awards and decades of hit records in English and French behind her, it’s not like she has much left to prove, but with age has come more self- confidence.
Here, Celine talks about this and where fashion and beauty fits in.
What makes you feel empowered?
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Advertise with NZME.What does fashion mean to you?
Fashion excites me, it allows me to express myself and to be creative in a way that’s different from music. From one outfit to another, I can change my style, my persona every day. I love to play with fashion and I love to take risks. I have the strong belief that you can never go too big.
Have you ever wanted to go back in time?
I feel so good now that I don’t even want to think about my 20s or 30s, when I was still discovering myself. For the last couple of years, I have grown in a very strong and happy way through my passions, my work, friendship, motherhood. I am now embracing myself and feel free to do what I want, where I want, when I want. I am thankful to keep going, I’ve never felt so beautiful, strong, and I feel that the best is yet to come.
What is your secret to reinventing yourself, even at 51?
What was your process to feel stronger?
Losing my husband [to cancer], seeing him suffer was extremely hard. I knew that I had to let him go in peace, and not be selfish trying to make him stay a little longer. I now see him in the eyes of my kids, and that makes me stronger. It helped me to keep going and to go back on stage. So I continue to work hard, I have found new passions such as dance and, made new friends and I’m very well surrounded.
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What has been the defining moment?
What makes you still feel good to go on stage?
I bring my energy. That is why the performance is different every night. Whether I bring happiness, sadness or tiredness because my kids were sick all night.
You do your own beauty prep for your shows, is that true?
I love doing my makeup, I love to play. I always start my beauty routine making sure my face is clean and well prepared. That is very important. Then I like to put a light concealer under the eyes to open up my gaze, a little bit of powder to fix it and a touch of a brow pencil to balance my face. When you do your hair or put your makeup on, you’re feeling your best. You feel confident, whatever your achievement is. You feel feminine and empowered, expressing your inner strength. As for the hair, I like the L'Oréal Professionel Excellence [hair colour] range and often use it for retouches. Actually my first ever beauty campaign with the brand will be about this product, so stay tuned!
What did you feel about the L'Oréal Paris approach and what do you want to contribute in the beauty ambassador role?
I never saw that coming, especially at 51 years old. I thought seriously about it because, if my name was on it, I wanted to truly believe in it. I want everyone to feel that they have the right to express themselves, whether it is through fashion and beauty, by using their voice or through something else that’s important to them. As a society, I think we need to embrace that even further. I hope that I can elevate this conversation. I feel that at this stage in my life, I now have a voice. I’m excited to use my voice to empower everyone to feel beautiful, confident and to learn to embrace themselves.
