In Style - 1999 - Beauty Talk

From InStyle Magazine, March 2000

"I love giving foot massages [but] not getting them," says Kelly. "I'm real ticklish, so getting near my feet is difficult"

"The West Wing's Moira Kelly and her low-key tomboy appeal"

She has played her fair share of drama queens, including a tantrum-throwing ice-princess figure skater in The Cutting Edge, a loyal Venetian wife in Dangerous Beauty, and a rebellious daughter in Unhook the Stars. But in real life Moira Kelly is decidedly more low-key. She thinks nothing of leaving the house without makeup, and insists that her current role on NBC's The West Wing as Madeline Hampton, a take-no-prisoners political consultant to the President who uses "politics as an aphrodisiac," is a stretch. One of six children raised on suburban Long Island by Irish immigrants, the 32-year-old actress confides that her family feels her turn as a White House politico is an appropriate match for her own passionate views. "My family says that I have my own soapbox I get up on every now and then," Kelly says. Consider her fresh, no-nonsense style, that soapbox might as well be labeled "Ivory."

Did growing up on Long Island influence your look?

We grew up in a different type of household than the rest of the neighborhood, because my parents had a lot of old Irish traditions. I think it made me very conservative about makeup and hair; I've always eventually gone back to that keep-it-simple, keep-it-clean look.

So you never had a wild phase?

Sure. In college I had a very rocker look -- like a stretchy catsuit with tux tails past my knees and my hair all wild and teased. Back in high school I experimented with the Madonna look one day: socks and heels.

Were you into makeup as a teenager?

Oh, very much so. There was probably a two-year period in high school that I experimented with makeup. I had this case with, you know, 50 different eye shadows, and I'd try all of them and different combinations so my lids looked like rainbows half the time. I loved colored mascara: the blue, the purple. Yeah, I was a big fan. I used mascara to make my eyes lashes so long that my mom called me Eye Brushes. Long Island is known for big hair, flashy nails, and a lot of makeup, but in my family we were never allowed to deive into that. Aside from the eye makeup, of course.

How do you feel about makeup now?

I'm all thumbs with it. But I really love what people can do with makeup. I find I'm always amazed. I come to a photo shoot looking like myself and they transform me. Makeup is like art, when you think about it, the colors and the tools that you have to use. But I can't apply it for the life of me, so I keep it to a minimum.

What's in your makeup bag?

Here, I'll just show you. When it comes to every day, I'm usually don't wear makeup at all. When I'm stepping out, I'll use this brown eye pencil by MAC, Lancome cncealer under the eyes, a little bit of MAC rose blush, black mascara -- whatever brand I happen to pick up. And for lips, I really love this Clinique currant-colored lipstick, a big favorite for a long time. But if I want to be a really sort of naughty, I'll use Vinyl by MAC. Otherwise I go with something clear, like Chapstick.

Do you have a skin-care ritual?

Wash, steam, and then apply Nivea moisturizer. I use vitamin E oil under my eyes, an apricot scrub every other day, and a mineral mask once a month.

Tell me about your hairstyle.

I usually wear it longer. On a whim one day I went and cut it all off -- real short, as short as possible. I was depressed and wanted a change. Women go through that. Want something different in you life? Cut your hair.

Do people react in your differently with the short cut?

Yes, very much so. I've always been something of a tomboy, but I get more of the [reaction] with short hair than with long. I get "cute" with short and I get "sexy" with long.

So are you keeping your hair short or growing it out?

I'll grow it out, yeah.

-Honor Brodie