In The File: Dina Asher-Smith

To have the title as the fastest woman in Britain is an enormous pressure to uphold. But for Dina Asher-Smith, who has consistently claimed her place as precisely this—being the fastest woman in the UK in both 100m and 200m spots—it’s incredible to note how she isn’t owned by her title, or the pressure.

The basis of Dina is to apply herself to whatever the task is, making sure she is giving her fullest version always, and looking after herself in all aspects—nutrition, sleep, lifestyle, and self-care. Being with Dina at her beautiful and calm South London home, I learnt more than anything that she really is a beauty guru. With an extensive knowledge of all things skin and makeup, it seems her pioneering and leading ways are not only reserved for the track, but are a way in which Dina consistently moves. Always leading, and always giving it 100%.

Behind closed doors, Dina’s excellence is even more tangible. As someone whose day-to-day is to compete and be put up against other women once the bang goes off, it was hugely powerful to feel that actually, the biggest love in her life is her friends, is women, and that off track, her foundation is not about competition, but more so, sisterhood.

About six or seven months ago, I had this huge allergic reaction. I was training in Texas during cedar pollen season — so many allergens in the air. I kind of looked like a tiger – all my skin was inflamed. It took me a while to work out that it was the cedar. Once I got it under control, I had to pare back everything. I changed my laundry detergent and all of my skincare because I was allergic to everything. I realised a lot of what I was putting on my skin was creating problems. So I went back to basics.

I don’t wear makeup every day, so I like to have great skin. The different types of skincare that I need depend on the climate I’m in.

My absolute number one skincare staple is just a good, solid cleanser. At the moment, I’m using the Cetaphil cleanser, which I love. Then I’ve got the E45 hydrating cleanser for when I’m double cleansing and taking off loads of makeup, sunscreen or anything like that.

Now and again, I would do a Dr Dennis Gross peel. I think this one sets you up for really glowing skin in a few days after you use it. So every two weeks or so – or if I’ve got something really big happening and want to just look nice – I do a peel.

Then I would move on to a serum. Because I spend so much time flying, travelling and changing climate, as well as running and exercising, I have to look after my skin because I put it through so much. I add more skin mists because I don’t always wear a moisturiser every single day. But I wear multiple hydrating serums if I’m in the sun. If I’m in the UK, as it’s a little bit more cloudy, I’ll bring this vitamin C back in. I have been a devotee of this for a very long time now. I think most skincare people love this one; it is definitely an incredible vitamin C. 

I love the dieux cream, it’s so nice. Again, it’s like a light gel, which I realise is the best thing for my skin when I spend so much time in the US. 

I wear SPF every day anyway, wherever I am. But if I’m in a drier climate, or I know that I’m going to be outside sweating a lot, I keep everything super light. So a lot of serums, a lot of hydration and then gallons of SPF.

For race day, my makeup has to stay on, and the only thing that has worked for me and still does is Milk of Magnesia – it’s one of those old-school, old wives’ tales, and it just keeps my makeup on. It’s probably not good for your skin, but I haven’t found it to be too bad for me. It completely dries out your skin and dries white, so you know exactly how to cover it. But I’m telling you, your makeup will not move, and it will look good as well. It won’t be too shiny. When I run, honestly, it’s the best thing, and I’ve tried loads of primers.  

So, (minus the Milk of Magnesia), I’m actually really big on looking after my skin. So anything that’s skincare-infused is great.  I’m a big SPF girl, and this Merit tint is amazing. I’m not a big foundation girl, but this has sun cream in it and is so glowy. I use it more like a light foundation. I still look like me, except that the blemishes are gone. It’s absolutely banging. 

Complexion-wise, I’m a big fan of the Isamaya range. This Isamaya colour corrector is really underrated. Normally, I just put it under my eyes. I also have her contour stick. I’m a big fan of this. I like to take it into my hairline because it just looks a bit more natural. I’m not a huge contour person because I like my natural features, but I like this one because it’s really movable. But it’s normally just for dimension.

Then I’ll do a little bit of concealer, and typically I love to do some of the Isamaya colour fix. I think this is meant to be for the eyes, but I feel like you can use it anywhere, and I use it like a concealer. I pair it with the Gucci concealer, which I bought because it had a really cute design, and it turned out to be one of my favourites. I like combining these two. 

Before I do my eyes, I always use this setting spray. If I forget this, sometimes I’ll use my hairspray or my face. Honestly, it’s got to stay on my face! 

This Chanel eyeshadow is by one of their makeup artists, Ammy Drammeh, whom I really love to work with – she did my Vogue cover. She created some palettes for Chanel and sent me this nude one, and I love it. If I’m doing a natural beauty look, this is 100% the eye colour that I go with. It’s just easy, nude and works like a base. Not too much, but enough.

Then eyeliner. I will always have a cat eye. You know when you think something suits your face? Cat eye. Victoria Beckham’s black eyeliner is smooth, buttery, stays on forever, but is still movable and gives you such a nice smoky eye.

Then I’ll calm everything down with Ben Nye powder. Again, my makeup is all heavy-duty for super oily, versatile skin. You could do ten hours in the office, hours on track, and you are going to look the same as when the day started. 

I wasn’t really a big mascara girl before I tried the Ilia Limitless Lash, but this mascara is phenomenal. I love it. It gives you false lashes without false lashes. I hate false lashes. If I’m racing, I’ll probably use a temporary press-on, but I’m not somebody who can get a full set. I don’t like the feeling of it.

And the Ilia lip wrap goes everywhere with me because it’s so moisturising, I apply this right after my skincare, it’s so pretty, and it’s cooling. I just think these two are some of the best lip and eye products out right now. 

Then blush and highlight. I really like the Haus Labs blush it’s kind of glassy. It’s fun. 

I don’t always use a highlighter, but sometimes, I might do a tiny bit on my nose—the Isamaya one. 

 And then, Lip liner, a nice brown, and the Isamaya Retrograde Lip Balm.

And then my fave, Patrick Ta gloss. It’s kind of plumping. I don’t really like a plumping gloss, but love this one. The tingles are kind of nice.

At first, when I saw women in sports, I didn’t necessarily relate to the prevailing image of a typical sportswoman but obviously, I knew I was fast, and I knew that I was very capable when it came to my body.

If you can run fast, you can run fast. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, or who you are. And that’s what I like. But in terms of what it means to be a sportsman, I always felt like a little bit of an outlier. I didn’t necessarily fit the narrative, especially in the UK, because I’ve always been interested in being super glam.

The only image and the big pervading narrative in sports was like Matilda’s Miss Trunchbull – it wasn’t something that resonated with me.

It’s definitely come a long way in the last five years, as well as in the media, because there’s a broader definition of what it means to be a woman, full stop. And then of course, that opened up conversations about sports and sportswomen and how we present ourselves both on and off track, whether it be race track and field, women’s football, boxing or weightlifting.

And, I do feel very proud to be in sport, where there are so many fierce and fabulous women. The narrative has changed.

I found over the years that I’m at my best when I’m my fullest self. I think in a sport that can be at times so puritan, like track and field, you presume; eat, sleep, train, and that’s the right way to do it. But ever since I was young, I’ve always had loads of hobbies.

When I was younger, I did more than one sport. I did a very rigorous degree at Kings, so I’ve always been somebody who did different things. I used to have a column I was writing, and my brain was always active, and I always found that when I was my fullest self and whatever that meant at that time, I always performed better. I’m not somebody who can go home and eat, sleep, and train. I’ve always lived a very diverse life.

I think that, ironically skincare, mainly makeup, factors in to race day, because for me running is about committing to a performance, committing to being seen and committing to excellence. And for me, that means that I’m not half assing. If that means we’re full glam, then we are absolutely full glam, and we are giving 100% of effort. It’s that commitment to being seen and commitment to excellence that I like to make all-encompassing, because I express myself not just by running fast, but by being a multifaceted human and woman.

I like doing my makeup, it’s fun! I spend so much time in hotels, and if I’m running, I can’t just go and explore because I need to save my energy. I find that sometimes the best thing you can do is sit down and do nothing. But sometimes I got really bored, so I would like to put on a movie and just play with eyeshadow, and play with eyeliner.

I think that’s actually how I became quite good at my own makeup because I was killing time. I didn’t want to be talking to loads of people, taking in other people’s energy, which can be great, but also not so great sometimes.

If I were at major competitions, I would just play with my makeup. It keeps me entertained, it’s creative, and there are different parts of your brain being used, and you’re not just sitting there thinking about the race or overthinking stuff.

I try not to overthink, because I’ve learned over the years that I just need to run. I just need to relax and run. The more I think about something, the worse I’m going to run. So if I’ve not had such a good day on track, chances are I’ve been overthinking, or I’ve just been in a space where I couldn’t focus on what I was doing. Normally, when something hasn’t gone so well, you can boil it down to a lot of things, but for me, it’s usually that.

It’s about having the self-awareness and honesty to stop yourself. And also just recognising that in wanting it so much, sometimes you need to chill out. If you’re trying to analyse and overanalyse, you just need to stop — that’s not helping anything. You need to be relaxed and fluid and go with the flow.

That’s honestly when a lot of my best performances have happened — when I’m calm. It doesn’t work for everybody, but it works for me. And also, just give yourself something to do.

I don’t really think too much about the people watching when I’m running. At the end of the day, I just always need to focus on the task in front of me — and the task in front of me is me, the track, and the clock. So I always keep things very simple.

Honestly, when I’m running, I’m just trying to be my fullest and most vibrant self and have a fabulous day. Feeling glam helps with that. I went through a phase where I thought, “Oh, it’s not important,” but then I realised it is.

I think it’s the process of sitting down and the intention of getting ready to go. I think there’s something to be said about the commitment to performance, the commitment to excellence, and the commitment to being seen and being your best self. I think that’s why I’ve developed a very deep love of beauty.

I think when you get to a certain level, there are so many more layers to performance than you realise, especially being consistently great.

Doing it again and again for a decade, you go through trials, tribulations, and different seasons of life — and sometimes you just need to talk to other women about it.

I know a lot of people who’ve had children — there was a whole group of them giving each other advice, especially if they were coming back to the same event group: speed and power, jumps, distance, whatever.

Even though these women might compete with you, they’ve gone through this life-changing process and returned to the pinnacle of sport. If they’ve done it successfully, you want to know what worked. You never know how pregnancy will affect your body, so if someone’s done it, you want to ask, What did you do? What helped? Any regrets?

And I think, as you keep going — and when you see the same people five, six, seven seasons — you get to know them.

Then one year, someone’s not quite themselves, and you realise: their mum passed away. They’re grieving. And maybe you’ve been through something similar, and you talk about it. You realise you’re not just athletes — you’re people, you’re women.

I had a really interesting theory on dating and relationships — like, I’m dating, whatever — but being away from home for so long, maybe a year or two in Texas, made me realise how much my female friends are such a bedrock in my life.

I actually think the love of my life is my female friendships and relationships — both from track and from home. I’ve got friends I’ve known since forever, like my friend Sophie, who’s been my best friend since we were four. Then there are all the girls I met through track — we’ve been friends since I was 16.

I realised that the big love of my life is my female friendships — and everything else is just a big plus.