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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.
Would it surprise you to learn that Julianne Hough swears by essentially the same beauty routine you did as a teenager? This is more or less what I discover while grilling the newly minted redhead for all the deets surrounding her forever-flawless face, which always seems to be gracing either the stage or screen.
To get that glow, the down-to-earth Hough relies heavily upon a teen-beloved skincare line (more on that below), drugstore makeup, and something my mom always nagged me about when I was younger: hydration. “Most people aren’t well hydrated, and drinking regular water isn’t enough,” she tells me from a Propel event in Los Angeles. “You really have to replenish the electrolytes you are losing—that’s my not-so-secret secret.”
This simple trick appears to be paying off in spades in terms of creating a natural glow, as Hough’s daily makeup routine is best described as minimal. “I just wear a little bit of concealer, some gel on my eyebrows, and I do a quick little contour on my cheeks,” she tells me as we talk more things makeup at a separate Fitbit event. “[For meetings], I amp it up a bit more by adding a bronze-y eyeshadow, a smudged eyeliner on the top so it’s not too perfect, and a coral-pink lip.”
Keep scrolling for the must-have beauty products that *make* her look.
La Mer Lip Balm, $60
“I love a good lip balm that I can put on my cheeks every day because it gives me a dewy, fresh-faced feel,” she says. “With La Mer’s yummy lip balm, I’ll do my lips, and then whatever is left on my finger, I’ll slather it on the high cheekbone area.”
L’Oreal Voluminous Original Mascara, $6
“I’ve been using this mascara since I was 15 years old,” Hough says. “I usually use the black-brown shade.”
Pure Argan Oil, $13
“I have good hair that listens, so sometimes when it’s dry I mix Unite’s 7Seconds, argan oil, and a beach-day spray in my palm and put it through my hair,” she tells me. “It creates a fun little texture.”
NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, $19
“For my lips, I love the NARS pencil chubs, so I usually use those,” she tells me. “I’m sort of a ‘less is more’ person and I want to see my lip coming through, although I really do love red lipstick, too.”
Proactiv Skin Purifying Mask, $38
“I definitely use Proactiv—my favorite product is their refining mask,” she tells me. “Also, Proactiv MD is the new luxury, medical version which contains Adapalene, an ingredient you used to not be able to get but now can.”
Can’t get enough of Ms. Hough? Check out her morning routine, steal her smoothie recipe or get inspired by how she overcame this major health crisis.
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