If there’s anyone who knows the importance of good skin care, it’s Ruby Rose. The 35-year-old actor and model has logged thousands of hours on set and in the makeup chair, so she’s astutely aware of the difference a proper routine can make. “I’m not one of those people that ever goes to sleep without washing my face,” Rose tells Glamour. “I didn’t do that even when I was a teenager. I couldn’t even sleep if I had makeup on or if I haven’t properly exfoliated and feel super, super clean.”
While she has the basics down, Rose also sees the value in her routine as a moment of zen. “If I’m going to set and I have a long day with a lot of makeup on, I try to do as much skin care as I can in the morning,” she says. “It’s like my only kind of self-care for the day, so I’ll put the time into it. There are times obviously when I wake up and I’ve got 10 minutes to get ready, but I find that my skin definitely responds better when I give it a bit more TLC.”
As someone with rosacea and melasma, Rose understands that at the end of the day, your skin’s going to do what it’s going to do. “There’s not one right product for every person,” she says. “There’s no one right skin texture, one right skin tone. I think it’s a full lifestyle thing, and about appreciating whatever your skin is like.” She says instead of thinking about how her skin looks, she tries instead to focus on the way it feels. “I think as long as it feels nice and your skin feels like it’s enjoying what you’re doing, then your whole day will just feel better and your skin will start feeling better because you’re less stressed about it.”
That being said, she certainly knows her way around a skin-care shelf. “I very much believe in skin care. I believe it’s a great way to keep protecting and feeding your skin. And it makes you feel good to do it.”
So what are the products she reaches for again and again? We had Rose drop her routine ahead of her new film Vanquish, which is in theaters and on streaming now. Read on for the skin care she can’t live without.
My Cleanser
When I get up I’ll do a good cleanse and kind of wake up my face. I usually use the Drunk Elephant Beste No. 9. I like that I can travel with it, and it doesn’t have breakable packaging or anything like that. And it’s super easy. I’ll do a good cleanse and kind of wake up my face.
My Mist
Then, I have a hydrating mist that I use from Dr. Barbara Sturm. It has hyaluronic acid in it and aloe vera, it’s soothing. I just I like the feeling of it; I really love anything I can just spray on. I have a Tata Harper one and a bunch of different mists, and that’s like my favorite thing, especially on flights. You can just continue to mist throughout it. It just kind of wakes the skin up and allows it to get some instant kind of moisture. If I’m not wearing makeup, I’ll mist throughout the day just to get freshened up.
My Lip Balm
I’ll put on a thicker lip balm in the morning, and I use it like a mask. My lips get really dry because of flying or temperature and climate changes. So I’ll put the Drunk Elephant balm on as quite a thick mask while the mist is getting into my pores.
My Serum
I have a lot of serums; it’s what everyone wants to send me and what I want to try out! The one I have with me now that I’ve been using is the Tata Harper Resurfacing Serum. It has more hyaluronic acid in it, which is always nice, and it smells really good. It does have exfoliating ingredients, but it works like a serum as in it’s very soft and smooth and allows the moisturizer and makeup to go on really nicely.
My Moisturizers
The one that I’m using at the moment for the morning is the Tata Harper Illuminating Moisturizer. It also has hyaluronic acid in it, but obviously not a great deal. But I love it because, I mean it sounds good, “diamond illuminator,” but it’s kind of got a gold shimmer to it. So if I don’t want to put on makeup, it already get rids of some of the discoloration and it kind of evens the skin tone, and it’s just really nice. And hydrating, of course, which you want in a moisturizer.
I use a different moisturizer at night. I use Lord Jones. I don’t really know what’s in it or why it makes me feel so good. I get rosacea, so its super gentle and it has the kind of cream feel that I like, from the good old days, like it’s a thick cream. You feel like you’re putting an actual moisturizer on that’s going to last the whole night and really get into your pores, and you wake up feeling really dewy.
My Eye Creams
I have two eye creams that I use, but right now it’s the Tata Harper Elixir Vitae. I use that one because I do like to use the same brand of moisturizer and eye cream. It also has that gold look so it makes you look a little less tired.
Drunk Elephant also has a really good eye cream. I mean, there’s tons of eye creams I’ve tried, and I love all of them. I think it just feels really nice to apply it gently. It’s like the one super-feminine thing I actually do, is pat it in with my little finger! I feel like a 1920s movie star taking my skin-care steps very seriously and delicately.
My Sunscreen
And then obviously I use a sunscreen. I have the Drunk Elephant one, which isn’t tinted so it’s just white. So this is more like, if I’m going to wear some makeup or if I’m at a pool and I don’t really mind that you can see that it’s quite clearly sunscreen-y, but they have a tinted one as well that I like. That one kind of feels like you’re cheating and you’re wearing makeup.
Being Australian and our sun being so much stronger than the United States, or anywhere, because we have a hole in the ozone layer, means that the sun is so much more lethal and so much more damaging to the skin. I’ve been so used to always wearing serious sunscreen, but it often made me break out. It’s like, do I want to choose sun damage that’s going to change the texture of my skin and make it age quicker, plus skin cancer? I’d rather just have the breakouts. Now I’ve found ones that don’t break me out. I think that in the last five or seven years, brands have really started focusing on sunscreens. So it’s good that it’s become something that people are really talking about and taking care of and being mindful of.
My Exfoliant
Sometimes I exfoliate at night. It’s always up for debate if you should exfoliate in the morning or at night. I think with anything when it comes to skin care and anything with health and wellness, it’s all individualized to the person. I get better results at night, and I feel nice going to bed super clean. And apparently your skin rejuvenates the most at nighttime. So it’s a good time to exfoliate, and get it really kind of open and clean, and then whatever you put on it can absorb throughout the night. At nighttime I tend to use Drunk Elephant TLC. It has glycolic acid and a bunch of other great things.
My Face Oil
Miranda Kerr sent me some of her things, and there was a night oil that made me feel really plump and dewy. It’s really, really good, which makes sense. She has the most beautiful skin, like the collagen and everything is just working overtime for her all the time. It’s like supple and plump. But I tried it, and I woke up and I was like, “Oh, okay, that actually really worked.”
My Tools
I have one of those Déesse light masks. It’s so, so expensive. Like I don’t know what I was thinking—well, I do. When I was working back-to-back on projects and doing night shoots, I didn’t have time to go into a facialist. I usually get an LED at a facial, but I didn’t have any time. It has red light, blue light, green light like a UV light. I always use the green light when I’m having some kind of breakout that feels like rosacea. It’s another thing that really makes the skin start feeling alive and activated, and kind of like I could get to that Miranda Kerr place where my skin gets super happy, so that I’m a big fan of.
Then I have my Glow Vibrations face wand. It basically vibrates; there’s a whole bunch of different clip-ons, for the cheekbones or the jaw bone. I got mine at the Detox Market, but like every brand has one. I like the Detox Market because it’s a small company.
I got these face cups because of a makeup artist, and I already love cupping on my back. You just move it up and down, and you don’t want to go too hard in case you get a little bit bruised. But it brings all the circulation and the blood to the the skin. I do it pretty much every day. My jaw will be quite puffy when I wake up, and then doing this and using the vibrating tool, it’s all gone, it’s a game changer. I feel like thats probably something that in Eastern medicine they’ve been doing for a gazillion years, that’s only really just coming through now. But I think with anything Eastern medicine, I’m always wanting to try that kind of stuff. They just have a good understanding of health.
My Pimple Patches
If I get acne or breakouts, I’ll use lemon juice usually to try to get it to move along and dry it out a little bit. Sometimes I’ll use apple cider vinegar, but very diluted. But if it’s a kind of pimple you just need help with, I’ll use these Mighty Patches, which I’m obsessed with.
I wish I invented this because it’s the most simple thing and probably doesn’t cost very much to make, and yet I live for these. They’re very satisfying because I’ve never been the person that is really into popping, plus I get scarring so I can’t do it. But this, you put it on your skin like a little Band-Aid and you go to bed, and then you wake up and it’s literally out. Whatever was in is out, it’s like the most satisfying.
My Masks
I use basically any of the masks from Éminence. I discovered them when I was in Canada, and I’m obsessed with them. I love the Eight Greens Phyto Masque. It’s hot, really hot, and you end up really quite red after like 5 or 10 minutes, and then you can just see how flushed and kind of vibrant your skin looks.
I still like the old-school SK-II sheet masks too; they never make me break out. I feel like there are a ton of sheet masks in the world now, but I feel like some of them make my skin tingle in a bad way, like I start to get a reaction or they’re a little too concentrated or they have a fragrance or something.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Bella Cacciatore is the beauty associate at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @bellacacciatore_.
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