Ally McLean: Carrie Fisher's The Princess Diarist is charming, devastating and relatable | Life and style
She’s the creator of Eve Beauregard, her cosplay alter ego with more than 300,000 Facebook followers and the basis for the character of Yennefer of Vengerberg character in Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. Ally McLean is also the project lead at independent gaming studio Robot House and is launching a mentor program with the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association(IGEA) for women who want to work in the gaming industry. Here, she discusses the delights of indulgent skincare and why a copy of Amy Poehler’s book Yes Please is always nearby.
What’s thrilling
I’ve always been in love with makeup; my first job was working in a cosmetics store. Ever since I was 13, I’ve been obsessed with every type of makeup product under the sun but lately I’ve been falling in love with super-indulgent skincare products. Because I spent such a long time on the road and travelling, I was always terrified to try anything new when it came to skincare. I was worried about breaking out right before I had to perform or be at a convention.
But now I’ve been able to put my roots down, I’ve been having fun, particularly with face masks, things that require a chunk of time to dedicate to just one thing. One of my favourites at the moment is Swisse manuka honey detoxifying face mask($17.99). It sets like concrete on your face, which feels weird and is hilarious to watch because it changes colour. It also feels amazing when you take it off.
I’ve been listening to Carrie Fisher’s The Princess Diarist audiobook everywhere that I go. I’ve always been a really big Carrie Fisher fan, because I’m a massive Star Wars fan, but I’ve never really spent time getting into her writing until recently â€" and Princess Diarist has really stuck with me.
It’s a collection of diary entries from when she was working on Star Wars when she was quite young. It’s charming and devastating and super-relatable. Sometimes it feels like listening to your own subconscious, which is terrifying. She was struggling with her sense of self. She goes into quite a lot of detail in her entries, and when she’s reflecting on her experiences, about trying to find a sense of identity as a young person surrounded by people who are mostly older and more experienced than her, and also as a young woman.
She goes into detail about the affair she had with Harrison Ford and how that affected her sense of self and the inherent desire to please people but also recognising that as a weakness. It’s fascinating: so, so, so relatable, it’s particularly powerful as an audio experience because it’s read by Carrie and the diary entries are read by her daughter Billie. It’s beautiful, it adds that element of intimacy to it that’s really engrossing.
What’s nostalgia-inducing
I’m sentimental about so many beauty products, because my first job was in cosmetics. There are many things that either the smell or the texture or packaging reminds me of formative experiences. Probably one of the strongest ones is Witch Hazel toner ($6.59), which everyone would have seen on supermarket shelves. It has quite a particular packaging and a strong fragrance. I’ve been using it since I was 13, [and] every time I put it on or see it on a shelf, it reminds me of discovering the whole concept of beauty and having my own money to purchase beauty products. It’s also a really good product, it does wonders for me, it fixes breakouts.
I’m a very nostalgic person, and anything by Douglas Adams but particularly the entire Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe series is sentimental for me. I was raised on it, my dad used to play me the BBC radio play when I was a kid and we watched the movies together. The whole world of Hitchhiker’s Guide is burned into my psyche, it all feels very familiar.
There’s a group of [fantasy] books in my head that all exist in the same bubble despite being quite different: Terry Pratchett and David Eddings and Tolkien and Douglas Adams are in this same world for me. I discovered them at the same time and I associate them with family. They helped me carve out who I wanted to be when I was a kid. That age-old story of being a suburban nerd who finds something funny and engaging and challenging about sci-fi and fantasy that you don’t see in front of you at the time.
What I keep going back to
One of the beauty products is the St Ives green tea scrub($9.99), which I use as an exfoliant. I use it every few days, it feels like the only thing that gets rid of everything. I wear quite a bit of makeup so it gets rid of makeup and grime. When you work really long hours, it’s nice to have something you can quickly use and feel fresh and like you’ve peeled off that layer of grossness.
The other thing is rosehip oil, which I could just eat and drink and bathe in forever. I get really dry skin and it’s quite sensitive. Rosehip oil is really gentle and it’s a good all-rounder for everything.
My old faithful book is another awesome woman writing about her experiences: Yes Please by Amy Poehler. I’ve re-read it maybe eight times. She’s an awesome woman sharing her infinite wisdom and I have a real thirst for books that share the experiences of women who have already scaled the mountains I’m staring at. When Yes Please isn’t on my bedside table, it’s in my handbag or in my suitcase. It’s a hug from Mum, chicken soup and comfort food.
I particularly love the way she talks about making mistakes; she’s really, really candid about errors in judgement and messing up and learning how to apologise in a meaningful way. [She also talks about] learning how to live with the imperfection of yourself and life and creative process . The way she talks about all of that is so comforting and encouraging, I always go back to it.
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