Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and her beautiful face have so many jobs — so much so that it’s hard to put a finger on what she’s best known for these days. She’s a model, actress, and one half of the world’s most attractive doll couple. She’s designed her own underwear, been a Victoria’s Secret angel for VS underwear, and has also been known to look like a regular angel in her free time, too. She’s the unofficial poster child for tousled waves, editor-in-chief of her own beauty website, and has been dubbed a style icon.
She’s also currently a face of clean beauty brand bareMinerals and recently helped launch their new BAREPRO Longwear Lipstick. It’s a creamy, nourishing, long-wear, vegan lipstick that comes in 20 shades, but honestly, a quick scroll through Huntington-Whiteley’s Instagram account is probably the most convincing case for buying lipstick that ever existed. The Cut caught up with the brand ambassador to discuss puttering around her bathroom, crisps, and the weird hair changes that can come with giving birth.
What’s your nighttime beauty routine like?
I’m the kind of girl that likes to shower in the evening. Once my son’s down to bed and I’ve gotten to all my emails, I like to wash away the day’s work and grind with a long, hot shower. Then I like to light a candle and then I really love to putter around my bathroom — that’s one of my favorite things. “Masking and basking” I like to call it.
Next, I’ll get into the beauty routine. I’ve been, obviously really lucky, to get to delve into bareMinerals’s products over the last few months and try their SKINLONGEVITY products. I’ve loved using the Vital Power Sleeping Gel Cream. I use that a few nights a week. It’s full of hyaluronic acid that really locks in moisture and antioxidants that help my skin stay really radiant. It’s brilliant because when I wake up, I look like I’ve had eight or nine hours of sleep, and that’s not always the case. It’s a wonderful product that I take on the plane with me, especially red eyes whilst I’m flying to London or Paris from L.A. I usually get off the plane and immediately have a crazy schedule, so it helps me hit the ground running.
What time do you usually go to bed?
I really like to be in bed by 11:00 p.m., 11:30 p.m., and then I usually wake up around 7:00 a.m. or 7:30 a.m., when my son wakes up. My son is a brilliant sleeper unless he’s sick, so now he’s at 12 hours a night and that’s wonderful. I’m not typically a morning person, I always go back to sleep so an alarm is crucial. Now my little guy is like an alarm clock. He wakes us up in the morning and gets us going.
I do wish I was that person that could get up a few hours before, meditate, drink a liter of water and be at my desk reading something inspirational. But, yeah I like my sleep. I’m just miserable without proper sleep.
Speaking of water, a lot of famous people cite drinking it as one of their top beauty tips. Do you take your water in a certain, special way? Lukewarm? Warm?
I take my water intake very seriously. A few years ago I read a book called, You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty and for me, it really solidified the importance and benefits of drinking two to three liters of water a day. The benefits go beyond hydrated skin, so I fill up a lot of big glass bottles and keep them in my fridge. I don’t like the plastic waste from disposable bottles. Right now, I’m at my desk and I have two next to me and I plan on drinking them by the time I’m done with my calls.
I try to drink a large bottle of water first thing before I have my coffee and my matcha latte in the morning. Anytime anybody offers me a drink throughout the day I say, “Yes, could I have a glass of water?” I think people that don’t drink a lot of water don’t think they need it. The book underlines for me that even if you don’t feel thirst, if you’re not getting a certain amount of water a day you are dehydrated. Just start carrying a refillable bottle of water with you at all times. That’s my celebrity slash famous person quote on drinking water. I hope that it’s slightly more interesting than normal.
It was! Okay, if Marie Kondo were to survey all of your beauty products, what area do you think she’d say would need the most work?
Lipsticks. I have lip products out my ears. I open up my makeup drawers and it’s just endless lip products. Obviously, lately I’ve gotten really familiar with the BAREPRO lipsticks. I love to wear lipstick but I also don’t like to reapply it throughout the day. I like to do my makeup at the beginning of my day and not feel like I’ve got to touch it up throughout the day. This one is transfer-proof, kiss-proof, and smudge-proof and it also comes 20 shades. They each have a real reason for being there, you know?
You always have the perfect amount of tousled hair. Do you have a secret?
That would be thanks to my mother who has hair so thick it grows down onto her forehead. She has no forehead. I’m lucky to have been blessed with a full head of hair. After the birth of my son, my hair changed so much. For about a year, it went really red, it dried out and it broke off, it was a disaster. I always had really, really healthy hair, so I was like, What the fuck is happening to my hair? Lately it feels better. I’ve been using these shampoos by Rahua. My hair colorist in New York, Jenna Perry, put me onto them and they’ve been terrific.
I also love to be blonde. Being blonde is forever an upkeep, so purple shampoos are a must although they are called “silver shampoos,” which will forever baffle me. But those are good, and masking your hair. There’s also one diva thing I’ve been doing for my hair lately. I started to get concerned that the L.A. water was affecting my blonde. Now once I finish washing my hair, the last thing I do is run one bottle of mineral water over it. That’s how desperate I am to keep my blonde. I don’t know if it’s working but it sure feels good.
What’s your favorite snack?
Do you want the healthy answer or the not-so-healthy answer? Do you want the real answer or do you want the quote unquote “real” answer?
The real answer.
Okay, the real answer would be a packet of crisps, which I think in America you call “chips.” So a bag of Kettle chips would be my favorite snack. And cheese, I just absolutely love cheese. I’m like a mouse. We could go on about snacks for a long time.
Americans love snacks — you guys are big on snacking. I’m around a lot of other mums and babies and it’s all Snacks for the kids! I’m like, No! It’s three good meals a day, there’s no need to snack in between! He gets a lot of fruit. Sometimes, I’ll go into the fridge and hide with the door open and ram in whatever leftovers are in there without him watching. I’m a secret snacker.
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