11 ч 45 мин, 13 дек 2019 г. - ALLURE Why Amber Heard Believes Makeup Can Be Tools of Power ADVERTORIAL INTERVIEW

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Why Amber Heard Believes Makeup Can Be Tools of Power

The actress/activist sat down with Allure's Devon Abelman to chat about her connection to L'Oréal Paris' Women of Worth gala and how she finds power in beauty.

BY DEVON ABELMAN

Amber Heard could have ended our interview with "thank you for coming to my TED Talk," and I wouldn't have thought she was being sarcastic (or boastful) for a second. Even though it was just us sitting on a plush taupe velvet couch with her publicist in a chair beside us in the hotel room at The Pierre in New York City, I felt like I was sitting front row for the rehearsal for her speech at L'Oréal Paris' Women of Worth gala. But, for the record, Heard is too earnest to end an interview that way.

For the second year in a row, Heard presented an honoree at the big event on December 4. This year's was Samantha Gerson. In 2018, Gerson started UnBroken, an organization that provides resources to LGBTQ teens who undergo institutional abuse. As the Heard tells me about her personal connection to Gerson, I notice Heard emotes passion with her whole body. Even if her career didn't revolve around this exact skill, she would probably still do so.

"She is a survivor of conversion therapy, and she's committed to changing that and making their lives a little better by challenging those systems," Heard explains, making eye contact too engaging to look away.

"I think systematic abuse is one of the most egregious and insidious forms of injustice our world has," she continues. "It's opaque, it's hidden. When it's institutionalized, it's especially harmful because institutions are often supposed to be in place to protect you and help you. And that failing you is soul-crushing. I know how that feels, and it's especially lonely."

Depending on the words leaving her lips, which aren't painted with her signature red hue ("For later, baby," she remarks, "Save some for later."), Heard's nose scrunches up and her eyebrows knit together every so slightly. She's leaning one arm on the back of the couch, but she's still gently gesturing her hands in orchestra conductor-like motions. With each sweep of them, it's as if Heard is weaving her thoughts together before my very eyes.

Before this interview, I honestly had no idea it would get this poignant. When I first walked into the room to meet Heard, she was shimmying in her emerald velvet suit for a video her makeup artist posted on Instagram. I didn't anticipate this turning into a moving discussion about systematic abuse, but this shift encapsulates Heard and her presence in the world.

We go on to touch on how hard it is to stop this form of abuse as it takes more than just one survivor to speak up to before it's addressed. All the places where systematic abuse can exist come up, too. I name schools. She goes on to list athletics, politics, and religious institutions. Worlds that brought her to the public eye come up, as well: Hollywood ("protecting powerful men who abuse women and other survivors") and news organizations, which often fail to report something due to a predator in their ranks or backroom deals — both allude to the #MeToo movement.

Yes, Heard is a spokesperson for L'Oréal Paris and has been since 2018, but she doesn't necessarily have to talk about the gala in this way. A simple Google search will direct you to all the ways she truly means what she's saying. You'll quickly realize her nose and brows squinch with anger she's trying to hide.

Finding Power in Beauty
Segueing our conversation from institutional abuse to beauty seemed insensitive and awkward, but Heard reminds me that conversations about both aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, the way we style our hair and decorate our faces can be an expression of power.

Heard even points out she feels a sense of freedom in being able to put on glitter eyeliner whenever she wants. Joy sparks this part of our interview. I start wondering if my eyes twinkle in the same way hers does when I talk about the way makeup gives me strength.

"Makeup and all beauty products can be the tools that you make them," she says. "But they aren't what makes you a woman. That's not what makes you powerful. I think offering us more tools to express our identity is power. It's empowering women."

Over the past 10 years plus she's been in the industry, Heard notes she's learned to embrace being a "very" feminine person as a source of power, too, and "to not make excuses or apologies for being that way."

Building a Routine

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