Malin Akerman on the Beauty of Taking a Break During Stay-Home Orders

Published on Sep 16, 2020 at 2:10 PM

Courtesy of Sona Creative/Smallz+Raskind

The transition of running a mile a minute pre-COVID 19 and then, abruptly, stopping everything has been an adjustment for all of us. There was the initial feeling of freedom where all routines were thrown out the window, followed by the realization about a month or two in that maybe some structure is needed. For Malin Akerman, actor and brand ambassador for CoolSculpting and CoolTone, that meant discovering new ways to take care of herself and embracing self-care.

"[I've] been trying out different products that I haven't really had the time or the energy to take care of myself, as much as I do now," Akerman told POPSUGAR. "Usually I'm on set for 15 to 18 hours, so the last thing I want to do is go through another regimen. I just try to get home and get to sleep. It's been nice to fiddle around with different products and try them out."

That, and keeping up with regular DIY mani/pedis: "I had to keep up on that, especially being in California. We walk around barefoot a lot here," she said. Ahead, Akerman touches on her biggest beauty transformations — both for the movies she stars in, as well as during her time at home these last few months.

On Her Beauty Transformations For Certain Roles

Before the pandemic, Akerman's beauty routine was largely dependent on the movie she was working on at the time. "There's always a conversation that happens with the director or producers, or we decide together what the look is going to be," she said. "Whatever that decision is, then we go from there. Hair is always the biggest conversation because that's very character-driven. A lot of times I get hired for my hair color."

The movie Watchman, where she played the lead Silk Spectre II, was by far the most challenging to prep for physically and one of her more drastic beauty transformations: "I trained for nine months for that role with a former Navy Seal, and did all the stunt coordination and work," said Akerman. "We shot for six months out of those nine months. We had three months of prep, and then we continued to work out, and work really hard throughout the filming of it. So that was a big sort of transformation. I did wear a wig for most of Watchmen, but I also had times where we did flashbacks, so I dyed my hair really dark brown for that was well."

On Finding New Forms of Self-Care, and Returning to Old Favorites

Without work dictating such a big portion of her routine during stay at home orders, Akerman has been able to explore new beauty treatments, which is how she discovered CoolSculpting. "During quarantine, I had let a few things go to the wayside; I wasn't working out as much as I had been before," she said. "It was actually something that I been interested in and curious about for a while, and did some research on before getting into this partnership."

The body sculpting and contouring treatment using cool technology to add definition to muscles that can be hard to achieve through a workout regimen. "Especially now after quarantine, and deciding to indulge in lots of things that I don't normally indulge in on a regular basis, [CoolTone] was the cherry on top," said Akerman. "It just helped me get to the place I wanted to get to."

"When it comes to beauty treatments, my one go-to is massages. That is what calms me down."

Still, as much as she's been enjoying this downtime, there's one thing she can't wait to get back into when the time is right. "When it comes to beauty treatments, my one go-to is massages, and that I'm really looking forward to getting back into," said Akerman. "That is what calms me down. Being on set all the time, we get pampered and we get touched so much on our faces and hair. We go through all these regimens that it's almost a break for me to [not have that]. The one thing that I do that relaxes me is going off and getting massages, which I haven't really been able to do during this time. My husband's been wonderful in trying to help that along, but I look forward to getting out there again after everything is lifted."

On Her Latest Movie The Sleepover

And speaking of getting back into the swing of "normal life": Akerman's latest movie The Sleepover recently hit Netflix and is a must-watch, hilarious movie for the whole family. While the hair and makeup are based in everyday beauty, that doesn't stop Akerman from wanting to steal one of her cast member's beauty secrets. "Enuka — she has the most beautiful skin. I don't know what she does, but she's just a gorgeous woman. So yeah, I'd steal hers, thank you very much."