Supermom Elle Macpherson on family, beauty and business

George Pimentel

Age: 48
Height: Six feet
Claim to fame: She's been on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition a record six times, a feat that earned her the nickname "the Body."
Where to find her: On the small screen this summer as host of Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model.
On her iPod: Bob Marley, Santana and Rihanna.

Elle's beauty outlook: "I think it's about having a French perspective, instead of an American one. If a woman has beautiful skin and hands and a great haircut, she's halfway there. Personally, I want to look natural. Of course I can't do natural like a teenager would — I have to do it in a polished way. So I wear a foundation, lipstick and some colour around my eyes and cheeks. But never too much!"

The power of play: "I prefer to play sports for my fitness and not always go to the gym. It's a good thing I have two boys, because we do fun things like skiing, water skiing, paddleboarding, surfing, swimming and hiking. And when we go on vacation, we go somewhere adventurous like the Moapa Valley in Nevada with quad bikes and surfing. I like to do some fitness every day, so it works really well for me."

Finding me time: "Even if it means I don't get enough sleep, I like waking up at 5 a.m. to meditate and get ready for the day. I work more now, if that's possible, than I ever did when I was younger, and that morning me time is important."

Words of wisdom: "I wish I'd had more respect for the damage that the sun causes to your body, skin and hair. When I was younger, I was in the sun all the time and never wore sunblock, even into my mid-30s. The standard was the darker the better, the more fried my hair the better, the more tanned my skin the better... the thinner the better, the sportier the better. But as I've gotten older, I've realized that I can become too thin or too dark. It's not great for the skin, or for the face or for life. It's not healthy."

Fashion philosophy: "I feel like, come on, let's have a laugh about it all. You can't take any of it too seriously. Whenever I experiment with fashion, it's always with a sense of humour. If you can't believe what I'm wearing, I'm probably thinking the same thing!"

Crowd control: "I don't know what I did before I had kids. Now I'm super-organized. It's one of the things people make fun of me for. I wouldn't call it a dictatorship, but a schedule exists. I just want to do — and am inspired to do — so many things. If I don't make the time to really schedule them in, I won't get them done."

Elle Macpherson is a brand ambassador for Revlon and creator of Elle Macpherson Intimates and Elle Macpherson The Body, a line of bath and beauty products. She has two sons.