It was my birthday last week, but while wild horses wouldn’t normally get me to work on my birthday (I told you, flexi-time), something else could:  a call from Jo Fox-Tutchener at BeautySeen, inviting me to take tea with Eve Lom. 

I first met the facialist Eve Lom about seven years ago.  I interviewed her for my book, How to Be Beautiful, the Thinking Woman’s Guide.  I have it on good authority that the beauty editor at French Vogue used to keep it by her desk as her beauty bible, so I’m still proud of it, if you’ll forgive me for blowing my own trumpet for two seconds (in my experience it’s rarely blown for you, so you might as well puff the odd blast of hot air yourself).  

In that book, I talked with about 40 different experts on all things beauty - I wanted to convey what they thought, pass on their knowledge, have it straight from the horse’s mouth. Invariably they were all passionate people with something to say - so refreshing!   But Eve definitely stood out.  She is feisty!   I tried to get her to talk about skincare, but she was much more interested in talking about other things, like her holistic approach to life, diet, Pilates, breathing and… wait a second, you guessed it, all those things do in fact constitute skincare.  

She’s always been about more than just slapping on creams even though her cleanser is world-famous, a best seller in all the best beauty stores, a classic that many have emulated with mixed success.   Today, at the Sanderson hotel, in a white room filled with pink roses, Eve is introducing her new cream, TLC Radiance,  a moisturiser aimed at those who need something a bit lighter than her original moisturiser TLC, which texturally has a weight a little similar to a cold cream, if you’re not familiar with it. 

And as usual, with her bright smile and glowing skin, Eve is the best advertisement for radiance.  But I’m suspicious.  She never used to believe in miracle creams.  Please don’t tell me she’s selling out now? 

“I’m not going to give you any miracles,” she says, reassuring me instantly.  ”I’m just going to give you another tool.  I wanted to call it “Moonlight” but I wasn’t allowed.  This is for skin that’s in its second season - I won’t talk about age.  I’ve never made empty promises, so I’m not going to tell you it’s going to eradicate your wrinkles.  I haven’t lied since I was at school, and even then it was for a friend.”  She smiles, she has a great smile and I’m reminded how much looking young is about smiling. 

She’s obsessed with using ingredients that are pure and natural, that if they enter the pores of the skin, won’t harm us.  She’s not organic, but she’s safe. 

“Less is more,” she explains.  ”I saw a little girl recently, crossing the road with her Mummy, tugging at her handbag.  She was trying to get to a perfume, which the mother then pulled out of the bag and sprayed all over her.  I was so horrified, I got down to her level and gently explained that she was poisoning herself.”

We’re laughing at this point, at the thought of how terrifying Eve must have appeared to the mother and the child.  Who is this mad woman talking about poison?  But Eve doesn’t care. 

“In the last few years I’ve done a few dissections of the body. The first thing women tell me is that their skin is very sensitive, but I always say to them, “If you see how we treat our skin, it’s no surprise!”"

“The Radiance Cream had to be something that if you applied it around the eyes, the mouth, it can be applied safely,” she continues.  ”You can even put it on your nipples and it won’t irritate.  You know, you have to be careful about applying anything near a body’s opening.  The only perfume this cream has is natural Bulgarian Rose Otto.” 

“But Eve,” I venture, “You can also get irritations and skin sensitivities from natural fragrances, no?”  

“Oh yes,” she agrees.  ”Lavender oil makes me really red and irritated.  I once went to see a top facialist years ago, and she asked me what I was sensitive to - then went ahead and used it anyway!”

“But you know… I haven’t told anyone about the nipples before.”  I start scribbling in my notebook furiously, slightly embarrassed at where the conversation is heading, because I can’t get my head around putting cream on my nipples.  Sexual practices notwithstanding… why do I need a nipple-cream?   If only I keep my head down for a few more seconds I won’t have to look her in the eyes when she says “nipples”. 

“Honestly, it’s like Victorian times here, you just can’t talk about nipples,” says Eve, so I stop scribbling,look up again, and try to be at one with the nipple-factor.   I blush. 

“But really,” she continues, “it is quite essential from time to time to have a little cream on the nipples.” 

I don’t know what to say.  My poor nipples have clearly been neglected.  Aside from post and during breast-feeding, I don’t think I have ever applied cream to my nipples.   Clearly they are missing out. 

I do what all wise journalists would do in this situation and change the subject.  ”If we’re not believing in miracle creams, what ultimately is the one thing we should be doing for our skin?” I ask. 

She smiles, there is a small sigh.  ”When women tell me they cleanse, tone and moisturise, I think to myself, “Have I taught you nothing in the last 25 years?”  All I’m after is that you cleanse.  You exfoliate with your cleanser, loosen up the dead cells, and your  skin is instantly improved.  Otherwise, if your skin is not prepped properly, if it’s not exfoliated, the moisturiser can’t work, the skin looks dull.  Think of it as tiles on a roof. They need loosening.  So use the oil-cleanser to soften, hot water to open up the pores, and scrub with the cloth.”

Radiance, the moisturiser, is only meant to be used where needed.  I try it later, dabbing it around my eyes, in dry patches, and instantly it tightens, lifts and I swear, I look more radiant.  It will be the moisturiser  I carry in my bag when I go out for a long night, to touch up over make-up if my skin starts looking a bit dry.  It smells uplifting too, the natural rose oil is beautiful, and I like the idea that when my I hug and kiss my children, this will be what they smell, not something horribly chemical and artificial.  

And who knows, if I feel so inclined, it might even make it to my nipples. 

Eve Lom TLC RADIANCE costs from £40 for 50ml, available from Space NK, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and selected John Lewis.