Rachel Brosnahan Skin Care Interview
Rachel Brosnahan Reveals the Lipstick Midge Wears on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
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Rachel Brosnahan's skin is like the eclipse: almost too beautiful, too otherworldly to behold, and can cause some serious damage (to, err, my own personal self-esteem) if you look too closely. You probably noticed her ethereal glow as she walked the countless red carpets this season. Or when, in her hit TV show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, she took off all her makeup after her husband fell asleep — and looked damn near perfect.
Cetaphil took note, too, and signed Brosnahan on to become the brand's first celebrity ambassador. The partnership makes sense, after all: "The question I get asked the most is, 'What do you do for your skin?'" she told POPSUGAR. What we want to know, however, is how she manages to — as someone might tell a housewife named Midge in the 1950s — "have it all," and make it all look so easy. She's spreading the news, ahead.
Rachel Brosnohan's Golden Rule of Skin Care
With every $3,000 skincare routine celebrities talk about comes the conclusion: the average person ain't ever getting that good of a glow. But Brosnahan assures that great skin doesn't have to come at a cost.
"I have used the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser ($14) for the better part of the last 10 years, since I was in high school. I've tried other products, but I think a key for me is keeping it simple. I have really sensitive skin and it's been a lifeline for me. When I'm working, I basically just use that, coupled with a treatment that you might use once or twice a week, like a face mask."
Rachel Brosnahan's Biggest Beauty Indulgence
Still, she makes a few exceptions: "I love facials — I'd go every other day if I could," Brosnahan laughed. "It's definitely a splurge, but it's been a part of my self-care routine that I have really enjoyed. It's so relaxing. I go to [facialist] Joanna Vargas every month while I'm working, and once every two or three months when I'm off. She's a skin savior. She has this Joanna Vargas Euphoria Face Mask ($75) that's also definitely an indulgence, but one that I am very reliant on when I am shooting really, really long hours and wearing a lot of makeup for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."
The 1 Beauty Tool Worth the Hype
Speaking of indulgences, there was perhaps no bigger geek-out during our entire interview than when Brosnahan started talking about the ReFa Caxa Ray Facial Roller Tool ($280).
"If I don't get enough sleep, my skin gets particularly sensitive and reactive," she said. "This roller from ReFa is amazing; my makeup artist Lisa Aharon introduced it to me. It has microcurrents in it, but you can't feel it. I got really nervous when she said that to me — I was like, 'Oh god, I'm going to get electrocuted.' You can turn it all kinds of ways, and all the sides do something different. How it works is, you just roll it five times outward along your jawbone, your cheekbones, your collarbone, or wherever — it really works. I'm obsessed with it because it completely depuffs everything, whether it's from no sleep or a few too many margaritas."
Rachel Brosnohan's Sunscreen of Choice
"People ask me what sunscreen I use, probably because I'm so, so fair," she said. "I've never been anything but this color, and I like it. I've never felt pressure to tan — I can't, I just burn in 30 seconds in the sun — and self tanning makes me nervous and so I just never have." Her everyday go-to? The Drunk Elephant Umbra Sheer Physical Daily Defense Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 30 ($34).
Rachel Brosnohan's Surprising Hair Color Preference
Brosnahan has gone from blond to brunette — and back again — a few times, but she does have a color preference. "I like them both, but when I look in the mirror with dark hair, I feel like I see myself, and when I look in the mirror with blond hair, I see a fun but slightly different version of myself," she said.
"Even though I'm a natural blonde — and normally I'm a huge advocate for being exactly who you are — but I really feel more myself with dark hair. I always have. I started dyeing my hair really dark when I was 16, and then I waited almost 10 years before I went back to blond."
The Hair Treatment That Keeps Rachel Brosnahan's Color Strong
Because Brosnahan dyes her hair quite a bit, Olaplex Hair Perfector No. 3 ($28) has been a saving grace. "I so rely on it, particularly as I'm going lighter," she said. "I'll use it two to three times a week before I shampoo and condition."
The Cheap Dry Shampoo Rachel Brosnahan Swears By
Brosnahan claims to have tried upward of "1,000" dry shampoos, and has yet to find anything better than the Pssssst! Dry Shampoo ($5). "I have color-treated hair that's naturally curly, so I try not to wash it very often. As a result, I try to use dry shampoo more than the full shampoo/conditioner thing. I'm obsessed with Pssssst! It doesn't leave a residue, which is less important for me right now because my hair is blond, but when I was a brunette, I had a really hard time finding a dry shampoo that didn't leave white powder in my hair. I've tried everything, and this one remains the best one for me. I have it all over my house."
The Lipstick Midge Wears on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The biggest beauty tip Brosnahan has taken from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is the power of a bold lip. "On Mondays, I get picked up as early as 3:45 in the morning to start shooting, and there's no way you're getting enough sleep from Sunday into Monday, so I'm not at my cutest when I arrive on set," she laughed. "I have a lot of help from the hair and makeup team, thankfully, but honestly I don't feel alive or awake until I put that bright red lipstick on. Even when you're so tired and don't feel like putting on a face, or doing anything with your hair, you can roll out of bed and look presentable if you throw on a bold lip. It works wonders."
As for which formula they keep on set, there are two. "We've been using one from YSL since the beginning, for the last three years, but then recently we've been experimenting with the Ilia Color Block High Impact Lipstick ($28). There are a couple different shades of Ilia reds that are really beautiful and organic. It stays all day — that's why we've been using it. You put it on in the morning, and we hardly have to touch it up."
Rachel Brosnahan's Makeup Remover Savior
Of course, there's only one minor downside to a lipstick that doesn't budge: "It's sometimes a little tough to get off at night," she said. "I'll be like, 'Cool, it's still on 16 hours later.' So the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloths ($10) are my life — A+ to them. We've got them all over the hair and makeup trailer on set now."
How Boardwalk Empire Led to Rachel Brosnahan's Biggest Beauty Regret
You're not a teenager unless you broke a few beauty rules, right? "When I was 18, I'd always wanted my nose pierced but my parents wouldn't let me get piercings or tattoos," Brosnahan said. "I had one ear piercing, and that was all I was allowed. And so when I went to college, I immediately pierced my nose — a tiny little diamond stud. My parents were horrified when I told them, but then when my dad saw it for the first time, he actually thought it was cute."
As for why she doesn't have the piercing in now, the answer is simple: "I took it out once for an audition. At the time, I was auditioning a lot for Boardwalk Empire. I was in college, like my freshman and sophomore year, and obviously they didn't have nose piercings in the 1920s, so I had to take it out. I guess I left it out too long because it closed up completely. I went back to my dorm room freaking out because I couldn't get my nose piercing back in — so I stuck a safety pin through it. That was dumb, and I still have a scar from it almost 10 years later."
Rachel Brosnahan's Favorite Fashion Trend Right Now
"I love an ear cuff because I can pretend to have piercings that I don't and look like I'm much cooler than I am," she laughed. (She likes daintier designs, like the Zoë Chicco Diamond Ear Cuff, $200.) "I love that cuffs are a thing now because we can pretend to be so much more edgy than we are. So I got rid of my nose piercing and got a fake ear piercing instead."
The 1 Beauty Move That Makes Her Feel More Empowered
"Leaving the house without makeup on is empowering to me," Brosnahan said. "I hope we reach a point where that doesn't feel powerful, where that feels very normal. But it does sometimes. Making a decision to look in the mirror and say, 'OK, I'm a little puffy and I might have some dark circles under my eyes, but that's OK, and I'm going to leave the house and get my shit done anyway.' That feels powerful to me, and it's an important part of self-care. I'm choosing to feel confident, and not the let the insecurities stop me from doing what I need to do."
Rachel Brosnahan on the Pressure to Look "Perfect"
Being a celebrity with a critically acclaimed TV show sounds glamorous, but there's also a level of critique and pressure that comes with the territory. Ironically, the similarities aren't so few and far between between 2019 and the 1950s, when The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is set.
"I wasn't around in the '50s, so I can't speak specifically to what it felt like to be a woman then, but I know that today, many of my female friends have dealt with real and deep-rooted insecurities surrounding the way that they look, and the way that they feel pressured to present to the world," Brosnahan said. "I think we still have some work to do there. Most women I know wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the house without makeup on, and that makes me sad. I enjoy makeup as it gives me the ability to transform the way that I look. But I've been lucky enough to have people around me that don't make me feel like I need to be reliant on it to feel better about myself."
"I hope that we can get to a place where we're focusing less on covering up, and more on experimentation and having fun with makeup, rather than changing who we are."
