Sharon Stone's Beauty Secrets

When you interview movie stars, it's always interesting to see which ones have obviously spent three hours in hair and makeup before the interview and which ones feel comfortable enough in their own skin to meet you sans makeup, styled hair, or borrowed shoes. This interview with Sharon Stone had its own brilliant beauty trajectory: When I arrived at Stone's suite at the Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan, she was fresh scrubbed and just settling in to get primped for a big event later that day. As we talked, she was slowly transformed from bedhead and Levi's to a bronzed glamazon in a Missoni dress.

SEE LOOKBOOK: SHARON STONE'S FAVORITES

The first thing you notice about Stone is that even without makeup, she appears preternaturally youthful for a woman about to hit the midcentury mark. Not in that I've-had-my-entire-head-Botoxed way that so many women in Hollywood do, but like someone with enviably good genes who doesn't smoke or drink coffee and probably does Pilates. (Guess what? Her parents are good-looking. She doesn't smoke. Rarely drinks alcohol or caffeine. And, yes, she has used Pilates equipment.)

When Stone stripped down to her Hanky Panky thong so the makeup artist could meticulously bronze her limbs ("Do you mind?" she asked me, already out of her jeans), it became clear that although she claims not to stick to any specific exercise regimen, she has a body that anyone half her age would be thrilled with. Trust me, I saw it up close. This is a woman who takes care of herself.

So it comes as no surprise that in addition to her work as an actress and activist, the perfect skin and nice bod landed Stone a contract in 2005 with a big-time beauty brand, Dior's Capture Totale skin care, reminding everyone that women over 40 have the tools to look fabulous, too.

How did it feel when you got the call from Dior? "I was like, 'Hello? Are you kidding me?' You don't normally think when you're 47 that you're going to have a cosmetics company calling you up. I said to my agent, 'They need to come over and take a look at me. I don't want to change. I don't want to be different than who I am and what I am.' The Dior executives came over, and I booked us a table at an outdoor restaurant. I didn't wear makeup because I wanted them to really look at my face. I wanted them to understand that I wasn't planning on any plastic surgery, and this was it."

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