You know those skin-care and beauty products that you use until the very last drop? The ones that you’ve spent entire brunches/text threads/email chains, telling your friends about? They’re the best of the best…so amazing that you’d never risk putting them in a piece of checked luggage. At Well+Good, we call those our Beauty VIPs (you know, Very Important Products). In this series, we ask women in wellness and the public eye what beauty products they use every single day and why—with an entire Internet of options to choose from—these items stand out.
As a business mogul, busy mother, Tracy Anderson devotee, and (oh yeah!) Victoria’s Secret model, Alessandra Ambrosio is often on the road, walking runways, posing for editorials, leading meetings, and visiting her family in Brazil. I catch her just one week before she’s due to fly to Shanghai for her 17th (and final!) appearance in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, and from the way she’s glowing—casually stunning in black leather pants and a chic, sleek ponytail—I can tell she’s ready to rock her wings. I want to know everything the 36-year-old does to stay balanced and, well, beautiful, with so many demands on her time, so we find a space in the crowded (and noisy!) West Hollywood restaurant, Norah, to cozy up for a chat.
No matter where her jet-setting takes her, Ambrosio tells me, her first order of business is to get into the tub. “Every time I get off a plane, home or not home, I take a bath,” she says. “I put Epsom salts [which are super-rich in magnesium] and aromatherapy oils in the water to turn wherever I am into a little spa.” Then, she might reconnect with her family by playing the game Words With Friends 2 before hitting the sack for whatever the next day brings. Here, the other beauty products she turns to to get her through the day…
Keep reading for all of Ambrosio’s Beauty VIPs and how they lead to that angel glow.
Kiehl’s Cactus Flower & Tibetan Ginseng Hydrating Mist, $27
“I love the cactus spray from Kiehl’s for my face,” she says of the hydrating spritz with geranium, rosemary and lavender. “I always travel with it and have it in my bag for when I need to freshen up or wake up a little.”
Kora Organics Heart Chakra Aromatherapy Oil, $48
“I have a little oil that I always bring with me from my friend Miranda Kerr’s line,” she says, referencing the roller ball. “I put it on my chakra points.” It contains essential oils of cedarwood, guaiacwood, and rose, a petal that’s known to have a calming, centering effect that sets the mood for meditation on a long haul flight.
Marajo Hair Care Essentials Kit, $44
Ambrosio reaches for a cleansing cream (as opposed to something with a higher dose of surfactants, such as a chelating shampoo) to keep her hair clean, yet conditioned in the dry winter months. “I love Marajo, which I just launched—I am a spokesperson for the brand. It’s really nourishing for your hair,” she says of the cleansing creme and treatment butter duo, which de-gunk while leaving strands soft and silky.
Beautycounter Citrus Mimosa Hand Wash & Hand Cream Set, $48
Ambrosio likes to keep a mood-boosting hand wash and hand cream duo around her house. “My friend Cristy Coleman is the head of creative design at Beautycounter and she’s an amazing makeup artist,” Ambrosio says. (Likely with super soft hands, to boot).
Dior Addict Lip Sugar Scrub, $33
To deal with lipsticks that dry her lips out and cause flakes, Ambrosio uses a “delicious” balm from Dior. “It looks like a lipstick, but it’s a scrub,” she says. “You just put it all over your lips and it has a little sugar in it, so it tastes really yummy.” After she wipes it off with a towel, her lipstick glides on effortlessly, helpful when applying it on the go—something she knows a thing or two about.
It’s officially supermodel season. Snag the healthy brownie recipe Blanca Padilla swears by, steal the smoothie Candice Swanepoel can’t live without, and find out why Gracie Carvalho fights hard for her fitness.
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