Selma Blair has described make-up as her "gorgeous war paint".

The 'Cruel Intentions' star has insisted that even before she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - a disease in which the immune system eats at the nerves, causing pain and numbness in the body - in 2018, having her glam done has never been "trivial" to her and is like a "superpower" that transforms her.

Selma told the May issue of Town & Country magazine - of which she is the cover star - that: “I’ve been made up by some of the most famous make-up artists since I started acting, and I’ve felt so transformed by their make-up that I really did become a different person.

“It was a superpower to me, and I mean this. Make-up is not trivial to me. If anything moves the needle for me in my life — even before my diagnosis or challenges — it is my gorgeous war paint.”

MS also impacts her speech, but the 48-year-old star admitted she doesn't care how her words come out, as long as they are spoken from "lips covered in Chanel gloss".

She added: “I don’t mind if my muscles get caught at the intersection of a slow brain signal. I just want those words to come from lips covered in Chanel gloss.”

Selma also requires a cane to help her walk, as well as having difficulty speaking.

But after undergoing treatments over the last few years - including a stem cell transplant and an "aggressive" course of chemotherapy to restart her immune system - she started to improve, and, earlier this year, she revealed she had started horse-riding again.

Selma – who has a horse named Nibbles – wrote on social media at the time: "I couldn't feel my bum or left leg on my horse. The proprioception issues, inability to sit still, spasms, twitches. Jerks. Dystonia increased. I just laughed and thought getting older is impossible! But it was MS and it got too big and I had to take a break until now.

“I am at the beginning. Still. And I cannot stop smiling. I cannot. When I am at the barn. I finally have the white unicorn I cannot believe is in my life and I want to rise to the occasion."