as told to Rachel Sharp
Australia’s favourite interior designer, 43, shares his look-good, feel-good secrets
My friend [celebrity trainer] Michelle Bridges once told me, “You can’t out-train your diet,” and never a truer word has been spoken. My husband, Olivier [Duvillard], and I realised this best when he started an eight-week F45 challenge. I wasn’t able to do the exercise part, but I joined him with the eating program, and we went from having as much healthy food as much as we wanted, whenever we wanted, to eating five times a day, with portion control and paying attention to macro intake (proteins, carbohydrates and fats). The results were amazing. My lean body mass increased, my belt size decreased, and it’s still the basis of how we eat to this day.
We still eat food from restaurants and enjoy the things we like, but we’re aware that not drinking calories and eating a portion-controlled meal is key to the way we live and like to feel in our clothes and ourselves. We drink alcohol but usually not during the week, and we try to avoid drinking calories, which means we got through the COVID lockdowns with vodka lime and sodas or gin and diet tonics.
During my twenties and thirties, I trained pretty much just for aesthetics by lifting heavy things. Then for several years, I worked hard with a physiotherapist, exercise physiologist and sports physician to rehabilitate my back as I have a weakness in one of my discs. Now I’m in my forties and back at the gym, but I don’t push my body; I work with it. I feel good and strong, and my clothes fit me well, and training regularly gives me a great mental benefit every time, too.
When it comes to skincare, I do whatever Olivier tells me because he’s been the managing director of Elizabeth Arden, the CEO of Ultraceuticals and is an industry expert’s expert. I love La Prairie for its opulence and SkinCeuticals for its efficacy and science. My favourite sunscreen so far was one developed when he was at Ultraceuticals that we refer to as PDM mattifying SPF50+ (the real name is much longer). For the past few years, though, I’ve helped test Olivier’s latest venture: a cosmetic range with 19 products developed with [leading Sydney cosmetic physician] Dr Naomi, called Dr Naomi Skin. It’s focused on brightening and is science-based, vegan and cruelty-free, as well as Australian-made.
Olivier always suggests when it comes to your face, you have a canvas and a frame. Your canvas is your skin, so using products that protect against sun damage, correct fine lines and pigmentation, and generally make skin brighter is a focus for us both. The frame is what sits under the skin, and I take care so things that look and feel how I want them to. That means injectables and really anything that makes me see what I like in the mirror. I have a shorter list of things I haven’t done than things I have.
I’m not afraid to say I’ve tried plenty of clinic-based treatments. After all, I married a cosmetics industry expert!
I’m not afraid to say I’ve tried plenty of clinic-based treatments. After all, I married a cosmetics industry expert! I usually go for the more clinical, results-based experiences rather than the relaxation-oriented spa ones. I’ve tried injectables, laser therapies, peels and platelet-rich plasma facials, skin tightening, LED light therapy, and all sorts of other treatments. I believe everyone, including men, should do what makes them feel good and vital. I have a TV career, so it’s easy for people to think they can judge and comment, and they frequently do, but ultimately, I’m an advocate for personal choice, without shame.
I believe in science and love how I am ageing. I love Dolly Parton’s ageless ethos. She has a poem I memorised:
I’ve had nips and tucks and trims and sucks
Boobs and waist and butt and such
Eyes and chin and back again
Pills and peels and other frills
And I’ll never graduate from Collagen.
If I see something sagging, dragging, and bagging
I’ll get it nip, tucked, sucked, or plucked.
It takes a whole lotta money to look as cheap as I look.
I don’t have the means or desire to take Dolly’s approach verbatim, but there’s strength, confidence, authenticity and honesty in what she says, and I admire all those characteristics in people, including when I’m fortunate enough to see them in myself.
Palmer and I work when I need to work, but I take time for my family [Palmer and Duvillard have a 12-year-old son] as a priority. I think we have a great healthy balance. Every once in a while, I need to be on my own, so I’ll take a night or two away, ideally in one of my favourite places like Byron Bay or Hyams Beach [on the New South Wales south coast]. I’m happiest when I’m in nature, especially with no demands or commitments, and when I return, I’m always a lighter, happier, more focused version of myself.
I have a shorter list of things I haven’t done than things I have
I’m not much for being among crowds as I’m an introvert, so I have the most fun catching up with just a small group of friends. I know that sounds weird as I work in the media and as a public speaker, but that’s apparently one of the signs of an introvert: preferring to be in front of a crowd than in the middle of one. Home is my favourite place, and Olivier is my favourite company, so my idea of fun is combining those things with some of my other favourite people.
Visit darrenpalmer.com
WHAT DARREN SWEARS BY
1. Dr Naomi Pore Relation, Power Essence, $89, helps to keep my skin clear and smooth, it is just brilliant for male skin.
2. Eating five portion-controlled meals a day that include complex carbs, fats and lean protein, such as grass-fed beef, salmon, white fish, chicken, or turkey.
3. Regular science-based clinical treatments such as lasers, injectables and LED light therapy.
4. Swapping high calorie alcoholic drinks for vodka lime and soda, or gin and diet tonic.
