Invasion Star Shioli Kutsuna Reveals the Skincare Step She Never Skips

Although the actress sports glowing skin nowadays, she admits that this wasn’t always the case. “I’ve been really lucky because I’ve been in this industry so long. It made me a

lot more careful and knowledgeable about makeup and skincare at a very young age. I was a kid who already had a lot of skin problems (like pimples) starting around the fifth grade. Your confidence level and everything just lowers, so I think I really take care of my skin so I won’t have to face those negative emotions again!” To her,  this is why skincare and self-care are absolutely critical. She feels like her best self when dives into a luxurious nightly ritual—and nothing says instantly lush quite like a good chemical exfoliant. “I have this peeling soap from Japan; it’s very mild. I started using it recently, and I think it takes off (not in a harsh or aggressive way) the top layer of dead skin. It has helped my skin so much. If I ever feel like my pores are clogging up a little bit, I’ll usually use that. Once I do that, I like to do a mask for extra moisture.”

In terms of her hair ventures, let’s just say Kutsuna never shies away from a bold hue. Case in point? Her character Mitsuki’s epic platinum look in Invasion.I couldn’t help but wonder if the ice blonde she sported for filming was more of a permanent fixture or simply a fleeting bit of fun. “I think I’ve been quite extreme in my hair color choices—I’ve only ever colored my hair black, super blonde, blue, or pink!” she says with a laugh. “I think [this latest shade] was really fun. I had that color blonde since our shoot was so long due to a half a year COVID break. I ended up having that hair color for two years. During that half-a-year break, I went to my hairdresser here and asked if there was any color I could try without leaving any leftover because I had to go back blonde. That’s when I was playing with pink. It’s a lot of effort to keep a nice blonde shade. You have to keep using those purple shampoos, so I don’t think I’ll be doing that again for a while!”

Since we’re on the topic of her Invasion character, Mitsuki, and her striking look, I had to know what else she loves about playing such a dynamic, challenging character. Mitsuki, an extremely intelligent woman who feels more comfortable delving into the world of patterns, codes, and cryptography, struggles to connect with others on an emotional level until she meets her partner, Hinata. “Emotionally, this has been one of the toughest roles I’ve had to play,” she shares. “Mitsuki loses the love of her life in the very early stages of the show. It was a whole season of grief and really trying to overcome that. I also felt really responsible playing this character because I feel like, in Japan, it’s still really rare for an LGBTQ character to be portrayed, especially in the world of engineering and space programs. It’s kind of something I haven’t really seen done here before, so that might have been a challenge for people in Japan to watch. Preparation was definitely key when taking on this role.”