Actress and activist Shailene Woodley at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Photo / Rozette Rago, The New York Times
The actress, who returns next month in Big Little Lies is into natural products but likes her cake, too.
Shailene Woodley, who has a full plate of projects, including the Big Little Lies Season 2 premiere on June 10 and two movies in the works, is as thoughtful with her beauty choices as she is with her career. Born in California, Woodley, 27, prefers her beauty products natural, meditates every day and practices wellness rituals even in her hotel room. Find out what she's into now.
Skin care
I travel so much that I don't have a routine that I follow every single day. What I absolutely do every day, though, is shower more than anyone should. When I wake up, I shower. This is even before I run or work out or anything. I shower again after.
When it comes to washing my face, I'm not a very fancy person. I keep the Juice Beauty facial wash in the shower. I bought it at a health food store years ago, and my skin seems to love it. But it doesn't do a great job taking off makeup. For that, I use body wash on my face first, which I'm sure is not dermatologist recommended, and follow up with the Juice Beauty.
On my body, I might use the Pure Fiji sugar scrub. I like the pineapple flavour because it reminds me of a man in my life, a delicious man. The scent is delicious, and he's delicious.
Right out of the shower, I use this body lotion called Nucifera. It feels good and smells nice.
Then I brush my teeth — I'm a creature of habit and use the Jason Powersmile toothpaste — and put on deodorant. I switch between Agent Nateur and Meow Meow Tweet, which is all natural. It's very hard to find natural deodorants that work well. But I find that if I rotate between these two, I smell less than with other natural deos.
I'm into natural products. I try to be mindful of what I put on my body but also how it impacts the environment. But I have other products. I think it's like saying you're into fruit because you eat a lot a fruit, but you enjoy cake, too.
If I have time, I have this African mud mask by Nyakio. It can take off a full face of makeup. I was staying at the Bowery Hotel years ago, and I sat down next to this woman at the bar, and we hit it off. We had drinks and everything. This is her line, and she sent me some of her products. I've been using them for years.
I switch between a few of my products depending on what time of the month it is. Let me tell you, during ovulation and on my cycle, my skin does very different things. Most days I use Skinceuticals C E Ferulic serum. It blasts your skin with antioxidants. And then I put on the Nyakio chamomile sleep mask — day and night, actually.
Makeup
I use this brand Ilia — their True Skin foundation. It's also the foundation I use on "Big Little Lies," so you know it can do the job to cover up breakouts. If I want it lighter, I use one of those makeup sponges, and it evens out my skin while letting it breathe.
I have a Chanel palette that I absolutely love. That's what I take with me in my purse when I'm out. It has a highlighter, a blush and a concealer.
I'm usually pretty chill when it comes to eye makeup. If I want a little definition, I use a black or brown eye pencil. At the moment I'm using this brand called W3ll People. I really dig the eyeliner because you can blend it easily. I do a chunky line and smudge it all around with my finger. I use mascara by Tarte — it's the one in the bamboo casing — in black or brown.
If I want to use eye shadow, I have a mix. I love the Dior palettes, the ones with five different colors, and Urban Decay. Efficiency is really important to me, so I like that the Dior and Chanel palettes are slim and easy to pack but also have a lot of colors.
Fragrance
Right now, I wear Lake & Skye 11 11. I use the roll-on instead of the spray. I also use Santal by Le Labo. I like their candles a lot, and I feel like my clothing takes on the scent.
Hair
My hair has been bleached, dyed black, bleached and dyed black, probably five times in the last year and a half. Luckily, I found this salon in Paris, David Mallett. He has this amazing treatment — it's called the Tokyo treatment — that is next-level incredible. Look, I've done a lot of treatments, and I have never done anything that actually restored my hair to where it was before I dyed it.
Otherwise, I use Kevin.Murphy Hydrate-Me line for my shampoo and conditioner. They leave my hair feeling soft. If I want to style it, I tend not to use any heat. I use Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Balm-to-Oil Pre-Shampoo Masque. I put it on my hair when it's dry, and it makes it look wet and oily in a good way. I have very thick hair. When I wear it in a ponytail, it's the size of a horse's tail. The masque tames it but also makes it easy to style.
Other Services
I meditate every single day without fail. Sometimes it's three minutes, sometimes it's an hour and a half. I can be in the center of the storm and watch everything in the tornado go around me.
Another thing I started doing recently has been helpful for my psyche, and that's cold plunges. If I have bathtub wherever I am, I get a bag of ice and fill it. I sit in the ice bath for two to three minutes or, really, as long as I can stand. I do that three times back and forth between a hot shower. It's more effective than vitamin C or echinacea for kicking a cold.
Diet and Fitness
I studied herbalism for a long time, which led me to studying nutrition. I care deeply about and am intellectually invested in what I consume. It's not just to protect my own longevity, it's recognising that my daily diet decisions have an impact on future generations.
I very much eat everything, though. I'm not gluten free or meat free. But I'm very conscious of what I choose. For example, I don't eat meat every day. If I eat fish, which is rarely, I make sure it's wild caught.
I'm also very routine oriented. My breakfast is porridge, and lunch and dinner is a combination of veggies, carbs and protein. But I try not to take things too seriously. It's very easy to feel guilty about your choices, and if it brings stress, then bye-bye.
I'm really into low-impact fitness. It just feels better for my body. I'm also a big class person because it's motivating. I'm a Scorpio, so I've got a lot of competition in my blood. But for me it's about feeling good. That and making sure I laugh a lot.
Written by: Bee Shapiro
Photographs by: Rozette Rago
© 2019 THE NEW YORK TIMES
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