As far as professional and personal arcs go, Lala Kent’s are substantial. Consider her journey on one of Bravo's most beloved reality shows, Vanderpump Rules. When she was introduced in 2015 as a recurring cast member, it was clear from her first frame that Kent was meant to be an agent of chaos in the form of the hot blonde newcomer charging in to stir up trouble within the insular group of servers at West Hollywood restaurant Sur, around whom the series revolved. After a hiatus from the show, Kent returned a new woman—she shed the predictable mean-girl role and emerged as one of reality TV’s most surprisingly authentic and outspoken feminists.
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Her real life—at least what’s publicly shared—has followed its own sweeping arc that included constant rumors about her relationship with her “man,” Hollywood producer Randall Emmett (with whom she’s now happily coupled up), her touching journeys both with sobriety and after losing her beloved father, and becoming a mom to the baby girl she had earlier this year with Emmett. Kent has taken to documenting several of these experiences in a new book of personal essays, Give Them Lala, which is out now.
As a devoted Vanderpump Rules fan, I was personally eager to talk to Kent about a topic I know we’re both passionate about, and I say this with love: vanity. In 2017 the reality star launched her own makeup line, Give Them Lala Beauty, and she’s always been admirably upfront about her journey with filler, which came up during our Zoom when I asked about her general philosophy on the aesthetics of aging.
“I so respect women who don’t need to inject anything, who say ‘I’m going full gray. I want my wrinkles to show.’ Unfortunately, I want my hair highlighted, and I want my fine lines and wrinkles to stay at a minimum.”
Still, she admits that her journey with filler has been another journey in itself.
“I’ve overdone it before with injections where I look crazy, just too much Botox. I already have a super-high arch so—above the brow—I’ve learned by mistake, not a good look. Too much filler in the cheekbones for me? Not a good look.”
Since injectables are generally a no-go while pregnant—and, often, postpartum—Kent’s been sticking to powerful products that work to treat her skin as-is. “I’ve started getting hormonal dark spots, and I thought they’d start fading once I gave birth and they haven’t,” she says. “So I’m finding a lot of comfort in using products rather than injections to keep my skin looking the way I want it to. And even though I do have these dark spots, I just had a baby, which is pretty amazing, so I’m okay with it.”
Read on for Lala Kent’s entire skin-care routine.
My Cleanser
The first step is my LHA cleanser gel by SkinCeuticals. I love it because I find a lot of my cleansers do not take my makeup off fully, and I have to use a good toner or I’m going through tons of makeup wipes to get it off. I have white bedding; I don’t want anything on it. It’s also decongesting. When I’m filming, I like a matte finish on camera, and my pores get clogged very quickly, so I need something that’s going to pull everything off my face.
My Exfoliators
I love Kate Somerville ExfoliKate. I actually use this morning and night since I had my baby, because I’ve found that my dark spots are actually lightening with it. I also love Goldfaden M.D. Doctor Scrub. You will not find a better face scrub than this. It’s super grainy—I feel you have to be careful with certain scrubs because some can tear your skin apart—but this one leaves my skin amazing. And whenever I go to my dermatologist, he says, “You don't have those scrape marks, which a lot of exfoliators can leave.”
My Allover Oil
I struggled with my skin when I was younger, and I find that even if you’re spending $400 on skin care, it’s not going to be a cure-all. It’s okay to venture into the drugstore and find something like Bio-Oil, which is my most favorite thing ever. I use it all over my face, all over my body. And this also for stretch marks, which it’s incredible for.
I’ve noticed on my face, it has helped lighten some of the dark spots that I’ve had and reduces the fine lines that I’m starting to get. And they’re appearing quickly because I haven’t been able to get any Botox, which is fine.
My SPF Moisturizer
This is the only SPF that I’ve found can go under my makeup and not look cakey. I put this all over the areas I normally put SPF because I’ve learned that these are the places that show age quickest: hands, neck, chest, shoulders, and obviously, face. I use SPF every day.
I remember my dad—I had to take him to get skin cancer taken off his finger. It was supposed to be in and out, the doctor comes in and says, “We had to put him under because we will most likely have to amputate the finger because the skin cancer.” And after that, I was, “Oh, my God, I’m not going in the sun, I don’t care if I’m orange, I’m only using a self-tanner and SPF every day.” I’m not someone who will get in a swimsuit just to lay out—that’s not my jam.
My Daytime Eye Cream
My eyes next: I like this Laura Mercier Illuminating Eye Cream for daytime. I dig this because I can put it on and then put my eye shadows on, and it doesn’t leave a film. This brightens up my eyes and makes me not look tired, and I can put makeup on over it.
My Nighttime Eye treatment
I never invest in any expensive eye creams for nighttime because I use my giant tub of Vaseline. My grandmother used this as an eye cream from the brow bone all the way around. It’s the best. I’ve know women from multiple generations who have used this, including my mom. She has some wrinkles because she’s older and that happens, but her eyes? Zero injections and she has no crow’s feet at all. And I think it’s the Vaseline.
My Acne Treatments
When I have little breakouts, I love SkinCeuticals’ Blemish and Age Defense. It doesn’t dry you out to the point where the next day you can’t wear any makeup because you can see all your dry marks. I actually got turned on to it through my dermatologist, and I usually use it all over my face, but you can also use it as a spot treatment.
I also love this Kate Somerville one, which is a spot treatment. I do a lot of [Instagram] posts with me in it because it’s like cute little pink spots.
My Body Wash
L’Occitane’s shower oil is amazing. I bought it in a little travel kit, and now I just keep it on hand because I’m so obsessed. And it smells so good, very subtly almond.
My Lip Savior
I can’t not self-promote right now, but this is the one product that I will say from Give Them Lala that is a must have. It’s the Lip Quencher and, even if it weren’t my product, I think it’s the most incredible lip gloss. It truly is a quencher—I sometimes put it on at night when my lips are super chapped, because it almost stays put. Even when it’s gone, there’s still something there. So Lip Quencher, morning, noon, and night. I’m obsessed.
Perrie Samotin is the Glamour’s digital director. Follow her on Instagram at @perriesamotin.
