“All the things that you worried about, certainly all the criticisms I had of myself, all fall by the wayside.”
According to Leighton, she’s also all too aware of the power of hindsight. “I always give a lot of grace to my young self,” she says. “I look at that person and I’m like, ‘Oh, you did okay.’ All the things that you worried about, certainly all the criticisms I had of myself, all fall by the wayside. And then hindsight gives you so much grace.”
That’s not to say that she wouldn’t put certain things in a time capsule from that time, including her glasses – “my whole life until I was 24, I wore glasses” – and Artichoke Pizza. “I used to live right next to a place called Artichoke Pizza when I was in New York. It was literally artichoke dip in a pizza, but to me, it was a weekly, if not an every-other-day kind of situation where I’d be like, ‘What’s for dinner? Artichoke Pizza’.”
But mostly music. “When I was 16 years old, and I was working in Canada, I went to a music store to buy CDs. There were a few different musicians that sort of got my wheels turning. I discovered Joni Mitchell and I was like, ‘Wait, do other people know about her?’ And Kate Bush.
“And so I remember taking these CDs home and having them in my little booklet, which yes, was glow in the dark, and it really helped me to understand how to express feelings. I could relate to this artist and someone somehow understood how I felt. I mean, I guess that’s what good music does. I’m thinking lately, ‘Should I get CDs again?’ That would be kind of nice to have a Walkman so that if you’re walking around, you don’t have a phone, you just have a CD.”
“I’m only more and more proud and secure of how I look when I’m fresh-faced and when I wake up in the morning.”
Unsurprising for a busy mum of two, Leighton’s beauty regime is pared back. “I’m aware of the beauty industry and products and advertising, and yet I still feel so sure of what works for me and what doesn’t,” she says. “There have been waves of time where I’ve experimented, but I still feel how I’ve always felt, which is I always go back to the same handful of things that work for me, that make me feel good.”
These include Ursa Major Fantastic Face Wash, Elta MD Mineral Sunscreen, Josie Maran Body Butter and a “good serum” like the Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence. “I travel a lot, days are busy, nights are even more tired and busy, so I need very few products in my regimen. I have to be simple with it.”
Makeup-wise things are just as stripped back. “I do feel good with a coat of mascara, something on my lips, and then occasionally I’ll put some blush on just to sort of feel alive.” She name checks Ilia Limitless Lash Mascara as her favourite mascara and Charlotte Tilbury’s Beautiful Skin Island Glow Lip & Cheek in Pinched Cheek Glow for a healthy flush.