As Benefit cosmetics’ co-founders, which other cosmetic brands do you respect?
Jane (above, right): “Chanel. Fabulous brand. Lancôme. Wonderful.”
Jean: “I think Dior. Dior is great, really great.”
Are there Benefit products that took off with such wildfire that you could barely catch your breath?
Jane: “We’ve had several products do that. I would say our Bad Gal Lash. I think Kitten, the original Kitten—you remember Kitten? Powder and a puff, that was over the moon.”
What are your must-have Benefit products?
Jean: “Benetint. Love it, ’cause I wear it all the time. It’s my little girl. When I’m dating someone— in the first six months, before I really take off my makeup and put a few rollers in my hair—I even wear Benetint on my cheeks to bed.”
Jane: “Bad Gal Lash mascara, and the other is Dandelion box-o-powder, because I use it as an all-over face powder after I do my colouring, and it just sets everything so soft.”
What’s your favourite benefit product based on name only?
Jane: “I think Touch Me Then Try to Leave…Cream is a riot. People come in because they’ve heard of it: ‘What is that Touch Me Then Try to Leave…Cream?’”
Jean: “I think it is Dr. Feelgood. I just think it’s absolutely brilliant.”
Dogs or cats?
Jane: “My kitty cat, Maggie Annie. She’s a 14-lb long hair tortie. She’s two years old and I recently adopted her from the humane society—two days from the glue factory, this was her last chance. She’d been behind bars for seven months and was in an isolated cage with a sign that read: ‘Take a chance on me.’ We did. She’s one of my very best friends.”
Jean: “Two cats, named Cosey and Angus.”
Favourite movie?
Jane: “The Sound of Music. It’s just everything; happy, happy, happy.”
Jean: “Two for the Road. I think it’s romantic and it’s clever. It’s got Audrey Hepburn in it, but she’s not quite as much of a gamine, she’s more of a tomboy. She’s got this romance with Albert Finney.”
You were both in Asia recently for business, but where do you travel for downtime?
Jean: “I love renting a beach house in North Carolina. And because I’ve been so busy with work and raising kids and stuff like that, I’ve had little opportunity to travel outside of the U.S.”
Jane: “Someplace I haven’t been.”
What book are you reading right now?
Jane: “John Adams. It’s a real thick one, and they did an HBO series on it.”
Favourite restaurant?
Jean: “Slanted Door.”
Jane: “Room service— anywhere, any hotel.”
Lipgloss or lipstick?
Jean: “Lipstick. I’ve always liked lipstick because it stays on longer and I don’t want stuff to get in my hair.”
Jean and Jane Ford talk about Benefit's new fragrance, B Spot, in our August issue.
First published in FASHION Magazine November 2008
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