Let's talk a little more about skincare. On days when you’re not working or you’re just staying in, what does your skin routine look like both morning and night?
Well, okay,
Morning is pretty much the same thing. Once I’ve showered and my face is washed and is feeling clean, I'll use a water-based moisturizer, which is less sticky and shiny. Dr. Barbara Sturm has this Face Cream Light ($205), which I like for the daytime. Sunblock! People think that if you have darker skin, you don’t really need sunblock, but every skin tone needs sunblock when you’re going outside.
Do you have any bodycare rituals or product staples you swear by?
I love moisturizing my body. I do it religiously twice a day. If I’m feeling really adventurous and crazy, I’ll do coconut oil, which my skin responds really well to. So it's that, or I'll do a body butter. I’ve been using one from Diptyque, and oh my god, it smells amazing. I do really like my body moisturizers to smell good. Then I brush my teeth, I spray a little perfume on, and I’m off to bed!
Oh, I’m also in the perfume-before-bed camp. It’s just a nice little extra touch.
It is! You know, it doesn't even have to be when Nick’s around. It’s just a habit. I like to feel fresh when I go to bed. I also keep some lavender oil by my bedside. I use it to moisturize my hands and feet when I’m in bed. Then, if you touch your nose, you smell it, and it’s just really calming.
You just launched your own haircare brand, Anomaly. What was the driving force behind that, and why did you choose haircare versus other popular categories like skincare, fragrance, or makeup?
Well, I always knew that I wanted to get into beauty, and as a businessperson, I was really looking for the gap in the market, the white space, in a way. I knew it had to be something that was clean, vegan, cruelty-free—that was important to me. Sustainability was important to me. And then I went and did my research, and I realized when you want to create a sustainable, clean product, it’s just so expensive. So my quest became wanting to democratize beauty, especially when it comes to hair. I mean, we have it with skincare! We have great clean skincare brands that aren’t so expensive, but when it comes to haircare, so many of the high-quality, clean brands are extremely expensive.
I think the beauty industry of our generation really needs to take responsibility for our plastic footprint. All of our packaging at Anomaly is made with 100% recycled trash from oceans and landfills, so we’re not contributing to new plastic that exists on this earth. We’re taking the plastic that already existed and recycling it and hoping our customers also recycle it, and, you know, end that cycle.
The line is beautiful. I've tried it, and every product is really so amazing. Looking at it, you'd never think it was made from recycled trash.
Aw, thank you. I think our bottles look really beautiful and look really chic. They don’t scream gender, which is something that really annoys me within the haircare genre. You know, if it’s for a woman, then it has flowers! And if it’s for a man, then it’s black or navy. I don’t like those labels, which was why I was very clear about making the brand unisex, inclusive of every kind of person and every kind of hair. And because we spent so little on the packaging, we had the budget to make a really clean, superior formula. The trifecta just works, and I’m really glad to be one of the very few people in the market who have done it. I mean, each product is just $6.
If you had to choose three favorite products, what would you choose and why?
Hmmm, I love the Clarifying Shampoo ($6). Whenever I have lots of product in my hair or my hair feels oily, it’s just amazing. It gives you this super-squeaky-clean feeling without stripping or drying out your hair. I also love the Deep Conditioning Treatment Mask ($6). I like to use it at least twice a week, especially on the ends of my hair for about 10 or 15 minutes max. It's really done wonders for my hair. And because I’m always on the go, my third favorite would probably be the Dry Shampoo ($6). It smells divine, and it just gives your hair that extra bit of va-va-voom.