Beauty Bytes: Dermot O'Leary on serums, spinning and Instagram stalking

Our Derm knows his grooming products. Chaps, take note.

This week's Beauty Bytes is a Father's Day special. I chatted with the super friendly TV and radio host Dermot O'Leary, who has just released his third men's fragrance for M&S. He was more clued up on grooming than any man I've ever met. I wish my boyfriend was like Derm...

DO: Congratulations on your engagement.

KT: OH THANK YOU SO MUCH.

DO: When are you getting married?

KT: SEPTEMBER.

DO: Great month to get married in. I got married in September. Whereabouts?

KT: AT MY PARENT'S HOUSE IN WILTSHIRE.

DO: Oh perfect. What date?

KT: 15^th.

DO: I got married on the 14^th!

KT: WHAT WAS THE WEATHER LIKE?

DO: Oh it was lovely.

KT: OK GOOD. A LOT OF OUR WEDDING IS OUTSIDE.

DO: Oh yes September is the perfect month.

KT: YES WE REALLY WANTED IT TO GET DARK IN THE EVENING TO CREATE ATMOSPHERE. 

DO: You want dusk at a wedding. Congratulations.

KT: THANK YOU! WHAT IS THE WORST GROOMING TREND YOU'VE EVER ATTEMPTED?

DO: Oh, well I work very closely with a guy called Will, who has left M&S now sadly and I’m bereft. But he is like the Indiana Jones of men’s grooming. He will go travelling, like to some obscure Japanese mountain, and come back with lumps of charcoal. He once came back with this weird shaving product. I want my collection to be as authentic as possible, I’ve learnt from the ground up, I will readily admit that, but it has to be in my image. I don’t wet shave, so I don’t want to do shaving foam. So he found this weird beard powder that comes in a stick, and you rub it into your beard, then shave it off. I tried it, I put it on but it disappeared because half of it ended up in the sink, the other half was all over the cat. It was really thick and it kind of crumbled off. My bathroom was covered in the stuff; it’s like I had torn down a wall or something. It was an abject disaster.

KT: WHAT'S THE BEST GROOMING ADVICE YOU'VE EVER BEEN GIVEN? 

DO: Serum before moisturiser.

KT: YES, WELL DONE.

DO: It’s a game changer!

KT: YES IT IS - I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET MY BOYFRIEND TO ADOPT THIS RULE FOR AGES AND HE JUST WON'T. 

DO: Why not?!

KT: I DON'T KNOW AND HE ALWAYS COMPLAINS ABOUT HIS SKIN!

Do: Then he should use a serum! We don’t actually do a serum, because serums are actually really expensive. But the Boots serum is like £20 and it’s really good.

KT: WHAT'S THE BEST GROOMING PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED? 

DO: Oh sea salt spray definitely. Wait hold on.

*Dermot runs and grabs his gym kit and wash bag. Spills it out onto the table and starts going through the products.*

DO: I love Mitchum deodorant. It’s the only deodorant that stops me sweating and doesn’t leave any marks on your clothes. This is the sea salt spray – Kevin Murphy Hair Resort Spray. I love it. I used to put wax in my hair. No way, man, not anymore. This is so good. This is a great serum too - Beauty Lab Skinfirming Daily Complexion Serum. I also really love my fragrances, they’re Eau de Toilettes, so really light, so I need carry them around with me so that I can reapply later in the day. I really like to have day fragrances and evening ones.

KT: WHAT IS YOUR THE-HOUSE-IS-BURNING-GRAB-ONE-GROOMING-PRODUCT? 

DO: Oh ok well I would first grab my cats. So they’re under each arm and then I would probably grab my moisturiser, All in One Day Cream, as I use it every single day. And I imagine I’m getting burnt quite a lot so hopefully it would help…

KT: WHAT ARE YOUR TOP THREE GROOMING BRANDS? 

DO: Including mine?

KT: DOESN'T HAVE TO BE. YOU CAN CHOOSE ANYTHING.

DO: Well let’s not be classless about it. Le Labo, Hermes and No7, because of their serum.

KT: YOU'VE ALREADY TOLD US THAT YOU USE SERUMS, WHICH IS EXCELLENT. BUT HOW ELSE DO YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR SKIN? DO YOU EXFOLIATE? 

DO: Yeah I do.

KT: DO YOU GET FACIALS?

DO: No, I don’t get facials and I don’t like to wet shave as it takes too much off. I think technology has gone too far. My dad used to wet shave in the morning and, yes he would have to do it again in the evening, but he wouldn’t wake up in the morning to a shaving rash, because it never got that close.

KT: MY BOYFRIEND STOPPED SHAVING FOR THAT VERY REASON, AS HE KEPT GETTING THESE BIG SPOTS ON HIS NECK. 

DO: It’s horrible. But he needs to exfoliate, because he’s getting ingrown hairs.

KT: HOW OFTEN DO YOU WORK OUT? WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FORM OF EXERCISE? 

DO: About four times a week. I see my trainer twice a week in the park and I’d say that’s my favourite way to work out.

KT: AND YOU LOVE PSYCLE...

DO: Yes I do that every Saturday and I play football on Thursdays.

KT: GOD THAT'S AMAZING.

DO: Well I do my radio show on a Saturday morning, which finishes at 10am and then I head to Psycle for 11am with the lovely Anya.

KT: DO YOU HAVE A SIGNATURE FRAGRANCE?

DO: Well let’s go with the new one - Earl Grey & Sandalwood during the day and Le Labo Santal 33 in the evening.

KT: WHAT ARE YOUR THREE MOST USED EMOJIS?

DO: Oh I don’t use emojis.

KT: NONE?!

DO: I’m having a turf war with my niece at the moment on our family’s Whatsapp group. She loves them and I keep changing the group’s name to ‘Josie hates emojis’. She’s getting really pissed off.

KT: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DON'T USE ANY. 

DO: Occasionally I’ll use the thinking face emoji…

KT: WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK? 

DO: So we spend a lot of time in Italy and they have a beer called Dreher - you can’t get it over here - and it’s really light, not heavy at all.

KT: IS IT LAGER?

DO: Yes, but it comes in a little stubby can that stays cold. I’m not a massive beer drinker, but where we go on holiday, the Italians love it. They don’t drink red wine with pizza, they’ll drink these all night. Carbs and carbs.

KT: WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK? 

DO: Oh god, where do we start?! My favourite book of recent times is a book by a guy called Don Winslow, called the Power of the Dog. It’s unbelievable. One of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s been described as ‘the War of Peace of drug novels’. The author is an expert on drug law enforcement and private investigation, and he’s a lawyer as well. He’s an incredible writer. I picked it up in the airport and loved it. It’s like 600 pages long and it’s a story of two guys, one who gets involved with drug gangs in Mexico, and the other, who’s a cop. They become sworn enemies over 30 years. The dialogue is machine gun fast. It’s a bit like James Ellroy. The second one is by Colson Whitehead, called The Underground Railroad. The real underground railroad was a network of safe routes during the American Civil War, and freed blacks and liberal whites would help slaves get up to the north of America, because if you were caught without your documentation you would be send straight back. He’s extrapolated the story and turned it into an actual railroad and it follows the main character, Cora’s, journey to freedom.

KT: WHAT IS YOUR CHEAT MEAL?

DO: Noodle soup.

KT: I WOULDN'T REALLY CLASS THAT AS A CHEAT MEAL. THAT'S STILL PRETTY LOW CAL...

DO: Oh chicken wings then. I make them myself.

KT: AGAIN, IF YOU'RE MAKING IT YOURSELF, YOU'RE NOT REALLY CHEATING. I WANT AN ANSWER LIKE KFC...

DO: Ohhh ok, Poppies Fish & Chips or Nando’s Wing Roulette.

KT: WHAT'S THAT?

DO: You get a bag of chicken wings and you don’t know how spicy each one is. So you might have one that’s super spicy and then another that’s like Mango & Lime.

KT: THAT'S MUCH BETTER. WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE TV SHOW TO BINGE WATCH? 

DO: Handmaid’s Tail and The Bridge. Oh and The Crown, because my wife works on it. Oh I’ve really enjoyed A Very British Scandal.

KT: DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING! I HAVEN'T FINISHED IT! 

DO: The final episode just aired. It’s brilliant. Hugh Grant is great.

KT: FAVOURITE INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT TO STALK? 

DO: Such a good question. I think it might be my friend, Mr Ben Winston. He’s the show runner of The Late Late Show with James Corden. James is a good mate as well, but Ben always puts good stuff up.

KT: Thank you so much!

DO: Thank you Katie