Inside Noomi Rapace s Cannes Glam Session: An Ice Bath, Cult French Fragrance, and More
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A 5 a.m. wakeup call, a heart-pumping workout, and a face-first plunge into a bucket of ice are a few of Noomi Rapace’s favorite steps toward the Cannes Red Carpet. Earlier this week, the Prometheus star prepped for the French film festival’s Lamb premiere with an early bedtime and back-to-back morning hydrotherapy rituals, the latter consisting of a cold shower followed by a freezing facial dip. Ultimately, the actor’s natural instincts reflected the cooled-lava-rock look of her Fendi Haute Couture gown by Kim Jones. “The dress feels very much like it’s bursting out of a volcano,” Rapace tells Vogue of the “iconic and powerful” silky lengths that draped against her XXL hair extensions.
After a breakfast she calls her “recipe to happiness” including coffee, eggs, avocado, and truffle salt, Rapace psyched herself up for her return to the spotlight in ever so relatable fashion. “I can get quite nervous sometimes,” she admits. “I want to get out of my own little bubble and embrace everything around me more.” For hair and makeup, she called up Lois McIntosh (their friendship blossomed shooting Lamb in Iceland), who knows to keep it a bit classic, though “never restrained,” for Rapace. A long ponytail braid offered “something quite strong,” and skin—not makeup—was prioritized. For this kind of stripped-back canvas, McIntosh “won’t go anywhere without” Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream. “We always use it—on every look,” says McIntosh. “It’s so versatile for red carpet or filming—it’s a barrier to things like sweat.” There’s something else that Rapace won’t go anywhere without, though: “I always carry a little perfume with me when I hit the carpet,” she says of leaving a trail of her signature scent. “I m very much in love with Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540.” In a sea of stars, the power of one cult-favorite French perfume is 2021’s freshest take on an invisible force.
Photo: Courtesy of Noomi Rapace1/9"I have a very strict routine when I m filming that I stick to, and it goes for red carpets and press as well," says Rapace. "I always start with sweating and working out."
Photo: Courtesy of Noomi Rapace2/9"I came back up to my room and did my ice bath," says Rapace of her hydrotherapy ritual that begins "face down in a bowl of ice" and ends with a cold shower.
Photo: Courtesy of Noomi Rapace3/9"I did a face mask from Mesoestetic and [got] a face massage from Lois," says Rapace.
Photo: Courtesy of Noomi Rapace4/9"I always bring various options with me," she admits of experimenting with McIntosh for red carpet hairpieces. "I’ll start putting in a hairpiece and we’ll decide if we want to do a braid, or if we’ll do it loose, or put it up. We’re quite organic, but we both think very similar thoughts and visions and it just comes together."
Photo: Courtesy of Noomi Rapace5/9"Noomi is never restrained," says McIntosh. "I think most looks start with some sort of classic base and she gets a bit zany of what she wears. She just kind of melts into that look and it makes my job easy."
