It was 2007.Raquel Welchhad just collaborated with MAC on a new makeup line.
This was the era of makeup, plain and simple.
No one wascontouringor filtering.
Hollywood legend Raquel Welch
We got on the phone, and her voice was deep, self-possessed.
The conversation was supposed to last for 30 minutes, but we ended up talking for hours.
In some ways an interview like this was part of the job.
“I had been shootingOne Million Years B.C.in the Canary Islands,” says Welch, seen here in 1966. “When I flew to London, there was a gaggle of press at Heathrow airport calling my name: ‘Raquel! Raquel!’ I had no idea what this picture had done. It had changed my life — everyone instantly knew who I was."
It sounds reductive in 2023: “sex symbol.”
Or offensive, dated, not particularly imaginative.
But for some reason calling Raquel Welch a sex symbol doesn’t feel wrong to me.
A year after her breakout role as a prehistoric warrior inOne Million Years B.C., Welch portrayed Lilian Lust — the human embodiment of the deadly sin — in the 1967 filmBedazzled.
Maybe because she couldn’t possibly be reduced to a stereotype when she helped create the archetype.
Calling Raquel Welch a sex symbol is like saying the sun makes a good space heater.
Calling Raquel Welch a sex symbol is like saying the sun makes a good space heater.
Welch appeared in the comedy seriesDate My Dadin 2017. “I’m pretty simple, but occasionally, I love tons of hair,” she toldAllurein 2007.
Love yourself was a big thing for her, so was: Embrace your flaws.
And she meant it.
It wasn’t a platitude.
But ultimately, she decided that was a very small part of her story.
I had been shootingOne Million Years B.C.in the Canary Islands, says Welch, seen here in 1966.
I had no idea what this picture had done.
It had changed my life everyone instantly knew who I was.”
Raquel Welch died on February 15.
I’ve thought a lot about our conversation over the years.
That was never the point, never what she wanted.
What she talked about was how she felt: athletic, powerful, completely authentic.
I couldn’t see her during our conversation.
There was no Zoom then, of course.
And it still is.
Below, a window into the beautiful mind of Raquel Welch, in her own words.
It made my whole career.
I didn’t get it at the time.
Sure, I had a nice figure, but there were so many beautiful girls in this business.
But now, I understand it was that particular pose in that particular loincloth.
That picture really set itself apart from the sex symbols that came before.
I was an active, outdoorsy girl.
That’s what real style is: It’s being yourself on purpose.
Love Your Flaws
Some of my defects are the most beautiful things about me.
And in the beginning, I thought, Oh, no, what does that mean?
Now, I kind of like it.
Perfection is really not the same as beauty.
My mom would keep these scrapbooks of all of my old photographs, old clippings.
And I used to use a lot moreeyeliner, layers of it.
When I see that I think, Whoa!
Now, I have a go at make it a little more subtle.
I still do something physical every day.
You absolutely have to have an exercise program.
Youre not going to look 19 again ever.
What is that old expression?
Use it or lose it.
The older you get, the more discipline you have to have.
I’m tougher on myself than most other people, because that’s my business.
I want to maintain my property, you know.
If I’m going to leave the house, I have to put myself together.
I will put on a little bit of eyeliner, a littleblusher, a littlelip gloss.
It means you made a little bit of effort to face the world.
You need a little armor or protection.
Part of the art of being a woman is to know makeup.
I suppose it’s a slightly politically incorrect concept.
To me, makeup is one of the basics.
I don’t see any shame in that.
Welch appeared in the comedy seriesDate My Dadin 2017.
“I’m pretty simple, but occasionally, I love tons of hair,” she toldAllurein 2007.
I used to watch how they ombre those colors out until I could do it myself.
I always protect myself.
I cleanse my skin every night, and I always put onmoisturizer.
Using moisturizer is like having money in the bank.
The more you add to your account, the more interest you’re going to gather.
