It’s been more than a decade since we’ve first seen her on the silver screen as little Hermione Granger and fell in love at first sight. Today, Emma Watson has blossomed into a mega movie star, and is known for being not only beautiful but also brainy – truly gorgeous inside and out.
She always looks so put together every time we see her in the limelight, we should have wondered more about her beauty routine earlier!
In a recent divulging interview with Into The Gloss, she finally talks about her beauty routine and values, and it only made us fall in love with her even more. These are some of the things from her beauty philosophies and rituals that we can only strive to emulate!
- 1. She has goals but adopts an 80/20 philosophy
- 2. Makeup can be your skin but better
- 3. Her everyday makeup routine is super simple
- 4. Her eyeshadow is in… a banana shape?
- 5. She never stopped hunting for the perfect eye products
- 6. Her mascaras must be kind to her eyes
- 7. She always, always does her nightly skincare
- 8. She switches up her moisturisers
- 9. She knows nobody is as perfect as they look on Instagram
- 10. She only paints her toenails
1. She has goals but adopts an 80/20 philosophy
Emma Watson has been creating headlines all over the world for wearing sustainable, eco-friendly fashion choices on the red carpet (she once wore one made of recycled plastic bottles). It’s no surprise to us that her makeup routine also follows the same principles.
As much as she tries her best to source for eco-friendly makeup, she recognises that it’s difficult to be a “complete purist” about it. “Most of my routine keeps to an 80/20 philosophy,” she says. “You can … make it more stressful than it should be. Sometimes you just need a mascara to be waterproof and that’s OK.”
Self-care is important, and we love how Emma promotes that as well. You could strive hard for a beauty goal, but remember to give yourself some space and not drive yourself mad trying to reach that elusive 100%!
2. Makeup can be your skin but better
Full-coverage makeup is a look that a lot of people go for, and that’s OK. After all, what’s important about makeup is that it presents what you want yourself to look like – it’s your face, after all.
For Emma, however, she has gone the opposite route: “The object for me when applying makeup is you should be able to see as much [natural] skin as possible. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve embraced my freckles much more and I want to be able to see them.”
She went on to share about how she requested her makeup artists on the set of Beauty and the Beast to let her natural freckles remain visible during the shoot, so she could inspire teen girls who may think freckles are something to be ashamed of.
Any amount of makeup is great, but your bare face shouldn’t be something you’re embarrassed about either!
3. Her everyday makeup routine is super simple
It might already be obvious from her previous answers, but Emma Watson likes to keep things simple. When she’s not working, her everyday makeup routine is just the bare minimum.
She uses The Body Shop Red Promegranate Lip & Cheek Stain (SGD 24.90 at The Body Shop outlets, but Red Pomegranate may not be available here). “It doesn’t really look like makeup,” she says, “I like that you can kiss someone … and it’s not going to come off.”
Another brand that she’s crazy about is natural cosmetics line, RMS Beauty. “Everyday makeup is my RMS “Un” Cover-Up Concealer and “Un” Powder. That’s an amazing brand—I’m pretty obsessed with RMS.”
4. Her eyeshadow is in… a banana shape?
We know, we did a double take when we first read this as well. We know eyeshadow techniques vary from person to person, but this has got to be one of the most unusual methods we’ve heard of so far.
“I tend to do a soft line on the top of my eye in brown, and what I call the banana—but that’s probably not the technical term for the contour above your eye,” Emma laughs. We like her sense of humour.
5. She never stopped hunting for the perfect eye products
“Finding a good, natural eyeliner took me like, six months, but I found one!” enthused Emma. Her weapon of choice turned out to be Jane Iredale Liquid Eyeliner in Dark Brown (SGD 35 on Zalora and Lazada).
Her brows seem to be quite naturally pigmented already, so Emma goes for the Jane Iredale Clear Brow Gel (SGD 32 on Zalora and Lazada) on the regular.
6. Her mascaras must be kind to her eyes
Some of us can’t live without mascaras, but some of the most budge-proof mascaras can be quite a pain to remove. Rubbing micellar water or makeup removers around our eye areas can often be stinging and uncomfortable as well.
Emma Watson can relate, “I really, really hate using harsh makeup removers, especially around my eyes. They sting and make my eyes water, and don’t feel good to me.”
She uses the DHC Mascara Pro Double Protection (SGD 73.70 on Lazada). Because it’s only removed by warm water, the mascara doesn’t wear off when Emma has to come into contact with water while filming.
“The brush is really nice. I swear by it,” she quipped enthusiastically. We are really curious about this mascara now.
7. She always, always does her nightly skincare
“No matter what, I always wash my face at night. I could get back from a shoot at 4AM and still cleanse, tone, and moisturize before going to bed,” Emma says. Ladies, we no longer have any excuses to be lazy about our nighttime skincare.
“People are amazed by this, but it’s just one of those self-care practices that I really enjoy,” she explains. Emma apparently suffered from acne and other skin problems in her teens (we couldn’t tell in the Harry Potter movies, though), and that’s why she’s not taking her good skin for granted now.
P.S. She doesn’t believe in masks. (gasp!) “I’ve never been big on masks! I guess I don’t totally buy into it… I’ll do one when I’m getting ready for an event or something like that, but only because it feels like it’s something special and luxurious as opposed to because it actually does something.”
8. She switches up her moisturisers
We’re going to bet that this is something that most of us don’t do, but Emma Watson actually uses different moisturisers based on the skin concern she’s trying to address.
For regular use, she goes for the MV Organics Rose Plus Booster (from AUD 28 on MV Organic Skincare), and their Rose Soothing Protective Moisturiser (from AUD 31 on MV Organic Skincare). “If my skin is feeling a bit sun-damaged or congested, I like their 9 Oil Cleansing Tonic (from AUD 16 on MV Organic Skincare).”
Perhaps it might be a good time to take another stroll down that moisturiser aisle in our nearest drugstores.
9. She knows nobody is as perfect as they look on Instagram
We all know that Emma Watson is one of the most down-to-earth celebrities around. This really shows when she recognises that what you see in photos and Instagram is not necessarily reflective of the true person.
“In [this] Instagram era it’s so easy to edit your life so that it looks perfect. But I bleach my top lip and tweeze my eyebrows and you’d never get to see that, even though it’s a part of my [beauty] routine,” she says.
Emma has even shared that she uses Fur Oil (available from Sugar(ed)), a blend of essential oils that apparently work wonders for her hair ends, her eyebrows, and – even her pubic hair. “It’s an amazing all-purpose product,” she gushes.
10. She only paints her toenails
El Capitan by Floss Gloss
There isn’t really much of a secret here – Emma just thinks it’s a waste of time to paint her fingernails, when they’d be destroyed “within minutes”. To compensate, she goes crazy on her toenails instead! “I love, love, love having my toenails crazy colors,” she says.
You won’t be surprised to know that Emma generally uses nail polish brands without toluene, formaldehyde, synthetic camphor, and other potentially harmful chemicals, such as Kure Bazaar.
