There's perhaps no movie star with more anticipated projects on her plate than Reese Witherspoon. From the upcoming second season of Big Little Lies to Legally Blonde 3, the 43-year-old actor-producer-CEO just keeps giving us one gift after the other. But there’s one project she has yet to announce, and it would be fascinating if she did: the story of Elizabeth Arden.
Witherspoon has been the face of the iconic beauty brand (or its storyteller-in-chief, as they call her) for the past two years. Although Arden passed away years before Witherspoon was born, you get the feeling this was a woman the Oscar winner was born to play. “I love her story,” Witherspoon tells Glamour, which was the inspiration behind the Broadway hit War Paint. “She started a beauty brand [in 1910] before women even had the right to vote. We stand here because of women like her, who were bold enough and headstrong enough to start their own businesses and pave the way for the rest of us.”
So while we wait for a Witherspoon-Arden movie to materialize, the actor found another way to honor the former nurse turned business owner—an intimate garden party to celebrate the launch of two new fragrances from the White Tea Collection and the brand’s most innovative sunscreen to date. Here she tells Glamour about the essential beauty lesson she’s passed down to her daughter, Ava; the city that inspires her look; and the makeup secret that her BLL character, Madeline Martha Mackenzie, relies on.
Glamour: What's one beauty rule you swear by?
Reese Witherspoon: Great skin care. As you get older and start seeing wrinkles and fine lines, it's so important to moisturize and use great products that really hydrate and take care of your skin. I clean my skin every night.
What's one beauty rule you think is B.S.?
RW: I don’t think beauty has to be prohibitively expensive. There are great products that are very affordable. You might invest in a more expensive skin care routine, but then also buy a Revlon eyelash curler.
Speaking of, if you had $20 and free rein in a drugstore, what would you pick up?
RW: Probably that Revlon eyelash curler! I like browsing and looking at colors and new developments from different brands. I’m just very curious about beauty.
Fill in the blank: I love my hair when...
RW: I love when I get my highlights. My colorist, Lorri Goddard, is the best. I've gone to her for 15 years, and she’s taken me from brown to blond to red and back to blond. I just feel better getting my hair done.
You travel a ton. What city or country inspires you the most?
RW: I love going to Rio de Janeiro. I love beautiful bronze skin with gorgeous bronze eyes. The women are so beautiful there, and the men are so handsome. There’s such a joyful attitude there. There’s music and food, and it’s about really living your life to the fullest.
You’re about to be stranded on a deserted island. What three products do you bring?
RW: Definitely sunscreen. I love the new Elizabeth Arden Great 8 Sunscreen. It's part of the eight-hour product line, and it goes on clear, so you don't have that white ghost face. After that, I'd bring the Elizabeth Arden serum eye capsules, which I use every day, as well as the night cream, which is really good and smells delicious.
What's one beauty lesson you’ve passed down to your daughter, Ava?
RW: Sunscreen and taking care of your skin. Hydrating and drinking a lot of water.
Young people don't often understand the importance of sunscreen. How do you get that message across?
RW: I just explain to her that the tone and the coloration of your skin changes as you get older, and after you have kids, sometimes you get brown spots. I mean, I definitely got brown spots on my face. So anything that helps even out skin tone is really important. That way you don’t have to wear a lot of makeup and cover your skin if you take care of it from the time you’re young.
If you could change one thing about beauty perceptions, what would it be?
RW: Just that beauty is one thing and one kind of look. I think women are kind of fed up with that idea. It’s why you see so much incredible user-generated content on social platforms and why bloggers are so important nowadays. Beauty comes in all different kinds of ways, and women want to see themselves represented. It’s great to see these big brands really embracing that.
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How did you unwind after a stressful day of filming Big Little Lies?
RW: Well, usually after Big Little Lies, we’d go have a drink with the girls.
And you had to pay for it, right?
RW: [Laughs.] No, we rotate the bill, but I like to tease them that I always pay for it.
Nicole Kidman said that she likes Celeste to have a very porcelain look to show her vulnerabilities on BLL. Are there any surprising Easter eggs or facts about Madeline’s look or makeup this season?
RW: I would say that she always has a bright-color lip—she’s optimistic—but it’s also her persona and what she puts on to face the world. It doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s feeling great, but she always has a way of presenting something bright and sunny.
Who are the women inspiring you the most right now?
RW: I’m really inspired by so many young female activists like Yara Shahidi, or the kids from Parkland, who are amazing. I think there are a lot of women who are talking about body positivity like Jameela Jamil, and I’m excited to hear new voices in this space. Women have really walked us through their own experiences and come through with the wisdom and the strength to tell their stories, and that’s really inspiring.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Jessica Radloff is the West Coast editor at Glamour. Follow her @jessicaradloff14 on Instagram.
