http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1706147_1,00.htmlJuly 24 2005 Sunday Times
It’s enough to make a PM blush
David Cracknell, Political EditorTHE foundation of Tony Blair’s healthy glow, often in defiance of the elements, has been revealed. The truth would redden the cheeks of Narcissus: the prime minister uses blusher.
The phenomenon has been the subject of speculation at Westminster for months. Now Downing Street has confirmed that the reason for his wholesome sheen was not only his historic third general election victory in May.
A parliamentary answer slipped out on Thursday before MPs left for their long summer break reveals that No 10 has spent more than £1,800 of taxpayers’ money on cosmetics and make-up artists for his television and Commons appearances since coming to power.
It has always been thought that Alastair Campbell and Peter Mandelson were behind Blair’s refined public image, but it now appears that much of it was masterminded by the cosmetics industry.
The detailed figures show that spending on Blair’s appearance peaked between 2003 and 2004, when he was commanding the Iraq war and then shuttling between television studios to fend off accusations that he had massaged flawed intelligence on weapons of mass destruction.
Of late he has had something else to conceal, as Carole Caplin, the Blairs’ former lifestyle guru, recently let slip: “He’s in dire straits, he’s put on weight. I can’t believe the change in him since I’ve not been there.”
Caplin added: “I got him off coffee, alcohol and he’s gone into all those things again.”
Lord Bassam of Brighton, a government whip, disclosed that a total of £815.67 had been spent during that difficult year when Blair was under particular stress and getting too many late nights.
He claimed that no records were available for Blair’s early years in Downing Street. But in 1998, when Blair appeared on a Sunday morning television programme to defend himself over the Formula 1 sleaze row, commentators remarked how thin and sick he looked.
No comparative figures are available for cabinet colleagues such as John Prescott or Charles Clarke, but they are not thought to be big fans of wearing cosmetics, even for television appearances.
During the election campaign it was strongly rumoured that Blair was wearing a “spray-on” tan because he looked so healthy despite days of grey weather.
Even members of his own family helped to fuel the rumours, privately speculating that Blair’s tan was “too good to be true”.
On one of the dullest days of the campaign in April, the prime minister had to fend off accusations that he had slapped on fake tan. He had not taken a foreign holiday since he spent a week at the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after Christmas.
Fielding questions on the NHS, Blair looked startled when one reporter asked: “Where did you get that tan?” A startled but glowing Blair replied: “Sitting out yesterday, working. You might have noticed it was a sunny day.”
Claudia Croft, fashion editor of The Sunday Times, said: “So much of our political information comes from TV that politicians are like movie stars now — image is everything. Blair takes it really seriously, he’s like the Tom Cruise of politics.
“He’d be using a lot of foundation. You’ve got to look good under the lights so he needs a lot because if you’re sweaty and stressed, you look untrustworthy. It’s about creating the glowing self-confident image.
“Blair can’t look pasty and knackered, so he’d need fake tan, a bit of blusher, lots of hair gel and some foundation. Maybe he might use a bit of lip gloss.”
Male grooming experts said yesterday that Blair’s use of cosmetics reflected a growing interest among British men in their appearance. Peter York, the style commentator, said: “Having eyebrows shaped, getting ‘browned up’, depilation, having your hair straightened — these are now unembarrassing and it’s often the most successful men who do it.”
York said it would be advisable for Blair to wear face powder even when outside television studios, in case he found himself being photographed or close to hot lights that could make him look sweaty.
But Blair has yet to rival the vanity of Silvio Berlusconi, the appearance-conscious Italian prime minister, who has in the past two years had a facelift and a hair transplant, and in May announced that he was going on a diet.
The parliamentary answer to a question from Lord Hanningfield, a Tory peer, does not reveal which brands and products Blair prefers. Clinique, which was one of the first brands to launch men’s cosmetics 20 years ago, has now been joined by others such as Clarins and Lancôme.
Recent advertising campaigns illustrate just how lucrative this market has become. Ben Affleck, the Hollywood actor, has appeared in commercials for cosmetics giant L’Oréal, David Beckham advertises Gillette and Jonny Wilkinson, the England rugby star, has signed a deal with Boots to promote its new range of male grooming products.