If you want to know about the beauty and wellness rituals that really work, ask an actor. Between spending hours per day in on-set makeup trailers, sitting for countless glam sessions ahead of red carpet appearances and gaining exposure to edgy new treatments, Hollywood A-listers have tried just about everything in the beauty and wellness space.
Which is why when we came face-to-face with Dame Helen Mirren (Barbie, 1923) and Aja Naomi King (How to Get Away With Murder, Grosse Pointe Garden Society) at the L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth event in Los Angeles, we had to ask: which beauty and wellness products and practices are most—and least—worth it?
Helen Mirren on Her Must-Have Multitasker
“This is slightly off the wall, but the beauty product most worth it for me has been castor oil. It’s a good thing for hair, lashes, skin, everything. You don’t want to go overboard with it by using too much, but it’s rather magical.
Helen Mirren on the Lash Product She Swears By
I also have to say Latisse works. Not all products do what they say they’re going to do—and I’m not a proselytizer in that way— but it really works! Otherwise, a great L’Oréal moisturizer is fabulous.”
Aja Naomi King on Her Must-Do Beauty-Meets-Self-Care Practice
“The beauty practice that’s most worth it for me is taking a moment for myself in the morning. One of my favorite daily moments is when I take my hyaluronic acid and massage my face thoroughly because it’s my moment to myself—even though I’m not always alone. Sometimes my child is with me, but I allow him to observe me loving on myself, and that will always be worth it. The thing that is not worth it? Negative self-talk. Diminishing yourself is never worth it.”
Aja Naomi King on Her Unexpected Beauty Ritual
“Therapy should be a beauty ritual for everyone. It makes me feel more like myself. It gets rid of all of the noise and clutter. And it helps me be more grounded—and when I’m more grounded, then I can fully appreciate everything I’m bringing into the world and into my own life.
We have the ability to catastrophe everything—things that are petty and small that we make so large—but when I talk to my therapist, [I realize] all of this is manageable and I don’t have to be in control of everything. Just releasing that to the universe and allowing whatever is going to come to come to me is a moment of grace for myself that makes me feel really beautiful.”