When Carmen Montero Mundt pops up on my screen, she’s on a boat in the South of France. I’m joining our call from the rather less glamorous Norfolk, but location envy aside, as a skincare obsessive with a soft spot for all things Formula One, I’m delighted to see her. Not only is Montero Mundt the co-founder of skincare brand Barriers, her fiancé happens to be the British Mercedes driver, George Russell.
Born and raised in Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain (fun fact, the home of flamenco), the 28-year-old’s attitude to beauty is a very Spanish one, she says, passed down from her mother and grandmother: keep it simple. “I’m very lazy and practical when it comes to self-care,” she adds, laughing. “I don’t want to use my time to do a one-hour morning routine. For me, I want it to be efficient, I want it to be good, and I want it to be backed by science.”
Spoken like a woman who did not grow up obsessed with sheet masks and make-up. Rather, she studied business management and finance in London before working in investment management and investor relations. Her Barriers co-founder, Óscar Valls Bartolomé, a close friend of her brother, hit on the idea for the brand after working in vertical farming for years, and approached Montero Mundt about getting involved in 2024. She was resistant at first, but agreed to try the early product samples and was impressed by the results. She says it was being pulled aside at the Australian Grand Prix in March 2025 and asked if she’d gotten Botox that finally persuaded her to get on board. “I was like, ‘What? Dude I’ve never done Botox.. I haven’t had anything done to my face, ever.’” She and Valls Bartolomé launched Barriers in June with a three-piece line-up – The Cleanser, The Serum and The Day Cream – complemented by an SPF and a lip balm.
Supporting the skin barrier is central to the brand, although the use of the plural is deliberate – the name also refers to the gut barrier, and how the gut, brain and skin interact. For Montero Mundt, addressing the needs of the skin as part of a holistic approach to overall wellbeing is a key part of the appeal. She has rosacea, describing her skin as “very reactive”, and says aggressive formulas can quickly cause redness or breakouts. Throwing the intense calendar of the F1 circuit – which means a lot of flying and jumping between time zones – into the mix doesn’t make things any easier to manage. Her dermatologist in Barcelona advised her not to bother with sheet masks on planes, she says, encouraging her to simply moisturise and protect the skin, rather than piling on masks or treatments at 35,000ft. Since following that advice, she’s had fewer travel-related breakouts, and her general approach now – which her mum and grandma would no doubt approve of – is to do less. “I just listen to [my skin]. And it’s the simplest routine that I’ve ever had.”
She keeps her morning routine uncomplicated: a glass of water and a probiotic, followed by cleansing, moisturising and applying SPF. Breakfast, typically avocado and jamón, comes before coffee – Montero Mundt avoids caffeine on an empty stomach. Otherwise, “I think as long as you have a balanced diet and you move, you’re active, you train, it’s absolutely fine.” Though she’s a co-founder of Barriers – and beyond her own brand, swears by Weleda Skin Food, organic argan oil and Chanel’s Lip & Cheek Balm – how you live matters as much as what’s on your bathroom shelf, she insists. “You can buy all the products you want,” she says. “If your stress levels are through the roof, you’re not sleeping, your immune system is low… your skin is the last thing that will be fine.”
Montero Mundt says she’s wary of how much skincare is being targeted at young girls these days, and returns again to the sensible lessons bestowed by the women in her family, who taught her the importance of fresh produce, cooking from scratch, getting outside and spending time with other people. “I feel like that’s something we’re losing a bit with time,” she says. Beauty, for her, is tied up with those women, too. (She’s used the same hairspray all her life because the scent reminds her of her mum.) “There is not a better compliment than someone telling you that you look healthy,” she says. “That, for me, is the pinnacle of beauty in a way.”
She has no intention of changing her less is more ethos now that she’s a bride-to-be, she says. No dramatic treatments ahead of the big day, then? “I’m of the opinion that the bigger the event, the less you want to risk it!” Years of attending events have taught her that she tends to prefer doing her make-up herself. “I don’t recognise myself,” she explains. “Honestly, I will keep it very, very basic. I think for me, when I feel the most comfortable is when I look and feel like myself.”
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