Principal Ballet Dancer Lauren Cuthbertson on the Importance of Scent

We sit down with Principal Ballet Dancer Lauren Cuthbertson, the new muse of luxury fragrance brand Creed, to talk scent, beauty must-haves and performance rituals.

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Q&A with Principal Ballet Dancer Lauren Cuthbertson

Lauren Cuthbertson

What is your ‘can’t live without’ beauty product?

I mean, it would have to be moisturiser wouldn’t it? I would go with tinted moisturiser, as you get the best of both worlds – slight coverage, moisturises and some SPF for good measure. There’s one I particularly like by MDSolarSciences, the Mineral Tinted Creme SPF 30. It’s quite niche, but I do really like it.

Do you have an accessory, outfit or product that you go to when you want to feel like you can conquer the world?

My outfit today actually did just that! I had an afternoon wedding, so I had training in the morning then spent half an hour getting ready. The weather turned out to be amazing, and it was a rather smart wedding. I pulled on this beautifully ornate Erdem jacket, coat and dress piece – and it turned out to be a good talking point for the wedding. So, tried and tested, I felt like I conquered the world today.

What does an average morning look like for you?

Quite different now, with Peggy. I never really know when she’s going to wake up – it could be 6.15, 7.15, 5.45 – but I usually have cosy Peggy time in the morning, and we could do anything from playing to having breakfast to going for a coffee. We usually like to go out for a quick coffee together. When her nanny arrives, then I get ready for work and I head over to the Opera House where I do my training and morning classes.

Image courtesy of Creed

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in your career?

You can only control the controllables and you can’t cheat biology.

You’re the muse for Creed’s newest fragrance, Wind Flowers. How important is scent for you on stage and in daily life?

It’s hugely important to me. I’ve been a sort of scent geek my whole life and even as a child I loved scent, so it’s been a passion of mine forever. I discovered how much it could help me in terms of preparing for a role and getting into character, so that I could bring that role to life on stage with the power of scent. It helps me amplify those feelings and thoughts, so it’s been a huge help and inspiration to me when I work.

Describe Wind Flowers in three words.

Feminine. Sensual. Floral.

What stands out in the Wind Flowers fragrance?

It’s a really lovely scent, and my favourite note in there is definitely the praline – which gives it that slight creaminess. Adding to the iris, which I feel has more synergy with dance, the praline brings the fragrance more into the feminine, womanly world.

Creed Wind Flowers, £260, creedfragrances.co.uk

Do you have a favourite bit of choreography from the Wind Flowers launch performance?

There was three sequential lifts, which got bigger and bigger. On the last one, Reece Clarke flipped me up and I turned in the air. As I came down I caught these chiffon wings – I call them the ‘wing flowers’ – and then the wings were sort of spiralling around as I unravelled down onto Reece’s knees. I actually sprayed the costume with the Wind Flowers scent, so I felt it wafting around me as I danced. I love that moment especially, as it felt like all of the ideas behind the dance and fragrance came together.

The Wind Flowers piece was quite wonderful in itself, as you don’t always get to choreograph or create something new and specific when you’re working with a brand – so this was a really amazing chance to create a beautiful piece of dance.

Do you have any upcoming projects you can tell us about?

I do actually! I’m about to make a standalone dance piece about motherhood with a female choreographer – we’re just deciding at the moment if Peggy should feature in it. I’m working with a film director, Andy Margetson, and hopefully we’ll create something really lovely. I think that’s going to be shown when I do the live relay of Odette in the Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake in May, which will go live in cinemas on the 19th.

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Creed Wind Flowers, £260, creedfragrances.co.uk

Imagery courtesy of Creed

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