Elle Strauss
“We moved to NYC in February 2007 – maybe the worst month ever. It was freezing! I was working as fashion editor at UK-based Company Magazine and was looking for a new challenge. My boyfriend (now husband), James Dimmock, is a photographer and was working in the US a lot so he was really the catalyst for the move, but New York had always been on the list!”
Elle wears:
“I clean my face morning and evening with La Mer or Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel, then apply a eye cream and serum and moisturiser all by La Mer (it’s an indulgence, but totally worth it. Looking after your skin is so important!). I also love Dermalogica products. The Skin Smoothing Cream is one I always carry with me if I need something a little lighter.”
On maintaining her hair:
“When you dye your hair as often as I do you need to pull out the big guns. I’ve used Kerastase since I was a teenager and used to my spend pocket money on it! What a loser ha! But I’ve always been a beauty product addict”.
On her favourite foundation:
“I love CK One Liquid 3 in 1 Face Make-Up Foundation in Sand. It’s fantastic, not too heavy and yet still gives great coverage. Aussie makeup artist Jodie Boland is the spokesperson and introduced me to the line. I’ve been hooked ever since.”
On how she pulls together a face in 5 minutes or less:
“Use 3 minutes to prime your skin. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser is fantastic. Mixing in a little CK One Skin Illumination adds a lovely rosy glow. With no time for liquid eyeliner, I use a brown M.A.C eyeliner and wiggle it between my eyelashes to give definition to my eyes. Last but definitely not least, curl lashes and add as much mascara as you physically have time for!”
Shop similar styles on Shopbop.
“I like Benefit Hoola (applied with a Tom Ford brush). It doesn’t have any sparkle in it which is a rarity.”
On her first impressions of NYC:
“New Yorkers definitely felt more glam when I first arrived, but now I see them more as fearless. They wear and dress exactly as they want to, it’s quite liberating.”
Elle wears:
“Skin is my top priority and then liquid eyeliner. I love how a winged eye can add an edge to a prettier look.”
On her personal style:
“Feminine chic (I hope!) with a hint of rock n’ roll.”
Elle wears:
On her one make-up product she can’t live without:
“Mascara. That would be my desert island product. M.A.C or really any drug store brand that promises thick, full lashes!”
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On her career:
“It’s always been fashion. But I went to a super academic school, so it wasn’t really something I was exposed to and plus there was also no internet in those days! Work experience was where it all clicked. I had the opportunity to work for my cousin, a set designer in Los Angeles. During that time, I worked along side costume designers on film sets and commercials and I really realized my love for fashion. Everything took off from there.”
Her dirty little beauty secret:
“Rubbing alcohol to dry out zits – it’s fierce, but effective!”
“I love to add a red lip. I use a M.A.C Lip Liner in Red Cherry to fill my whole lip then layer with Dragon Girl by NARS or Giorgio Armani.”
Product pictured: Lover Vee Vee Splice Dress
On how she spends her Sundays:
“Sundays are typically spent with my family in our house in upstate New York, probably with a lot of coffee and a paintbrush in my hand as we’re renovating!”
Elle wears:
On her beauty routine:
“Typically it’s a very fast beauty routine as I’m trying to hustle a 4 year old out of the house and make it to school on time! It also includes a lot of dry shampoo!”
Product pictured:
On her signature beauty look:
“Winged liquid eyeliner and lots of mascara. I also love a red lip for evening.”
Her words to live by:
“Work hard and you’ll be remembered.”
Elle wears:
On her earliest beauty memory:
“Blue eyeshadow! Me and my sister invading my mums makeup – it was the 80s!”
On her most treasured item of clothing:
“My Chanel bags – that counts as clothing right?”
Product pictured:
Ray-Ban Outsiders Wayfarer sunglasses
On her NYC skin-saving product:
“It’s so so dry in NYC – particularly at the moment! I’m always on the hunt for oils that will help combat chapped lips or dry spots caused by this tricky climate.”
Product pictured: Lover Vee Vee Splice Dress
On what’s most important to her in life:
“My family. Once you have a little one in your life everything has perspective.”
On her words to live by:
“Work hard and you’ll be remembered”
Pictured:
Pamela Love Astral Cuff Bracelet
Elle Strauss looks like a smaller, blonder version of Heather Graham circa Swingers. Head-turningly pretty yet completely approachable, she has that kind of warm, down to earth manner that you look for in a good friend. Her Brit-infused charm is totally infectious and spending the morning with her is as much fun we’ve had since teenage slumber parties.
With a resume that reads like the who’s who of publishing (we’re talking ELLE UK, i-D and cult British fashion title The Face), the native Londoner made the move to New York City in 2007 with then-boyfriend and now-husband, photographer James Dimmock.
So how does a gritty Londoner dive into the ultra-groomed, fast-paced NYC set? “Londoners are definitely more casual and low key – less blow outs and mani/pedis, more like chipped nails and messy bed hair but in a cool way. New Yorkers definitely felt more glam when I first arrived, but now I see them more as fearless. They wear and dress exactly as they want to, it’s quite liberating.”
Elle’s own sense of personal style falls somewhere in the middle. Feminine with a rock ‘n roll edge, her fashion oeuvre reads as Isabel Marant by way of New York City. Think ankle boots, skinny jeans and immaculately tailored blazers paired with feminine textures and delicate fabrics (lace is a standout favourite), bold prints and ladylike silhouettes.
And she’s as much a sucker for beauty as she is for clothes, revealing an encyclopedic product obsession that she’s had to rein in slightly now her gorgeous daughter, Honor, is four and leaves her mum with minimal time for hardcore preening. “Typically it’s a very fast beauty routine as I’m trying to hustle a 4 year old out of the house and make it to school on time! It also includes a lot of dry shampoo!”
As for her big skincare tip?
“I clean my face morning and evening with La Mer or Dermalogica cleansing wash, [then] apply an eye cream and serum and moisturiser all by La Mer.” She admits that the notoriously extravagant beauty brand is “an indulgence, but totally worth it.”
As advocates go, La Mer could do worse: Elle has the flawless skin that normal mortals crave. Despite this lack of visible flaws she doesn’t take herself too seriously.
She’s fun, hilarious and more than happy to wax indelicate on any topic – from the insanity of New York dating to pregnancy to Mariah Carey – nothing is off limits. And she doesn’t hesitate when asked what’s most important to her in life:
“My family. Once you have a little one in your life everything has perspective.”
There’s a mythical archetype in fashion that isn’t exactly inaccurate: the editor-type who carries around an air of superiority with their armfuls of gifted couture. We’re not saying they’re everywhere but they definitely exist.
Elle Strauss couldn’t veer further from that trope.
Photographed by Rudy Zverina.
Words by Susannah Tucker.
