Lupita Shares Her Secrets!

Hollywood's favorite darling, Lupita Nyong'o is sharing just how she maintains her gorgeousness! That glowing skin, beautiful hair, and bright smile are always on point. She recently shared her beauty tips, the products she's hooked on and why she mostly relies on nature...

Academy Award winner, Lupita spills the beans on her beauty routine. What I have immensely admired about this woman, is her ability to step on the scene, fresh from college, and dominate every red carpet she has stepped on. Of course every celebrity has a team of stylists, designers at their fingers tips, the whole nine yards, but she got it right 95% of the time. Most celebrities will tell you when they were new to Hollywood events, they looked an embarrassing mess. 

Lupita has been so spot on with her style that I think she will have the luxury of looking back at her fashion moments and feel proud. She has been praised by the fashion community, photographed for countless magazines, and Lancome brought her on board as their spokesperson. She's having an amazing year and can we not forget, she really is new to all of this. (Ok, I'm done obsessing.)

Elle Magazine shared an article where she discussed suffering from severe rashes as a child, and not piling a ton of oil on her skin...

"I'm very nervous about stripping my skin of its oils. My mother finally went to Madagascar for this herbal concoction that did the trick. She taught me that nature knows best."

Lupita and her mother

Hollywood historically hasn't provided many substantial roles for women of color. Do you think this is changing?

The fact that I was able to play such a powerful role at the start of my career and that 12 Years a Slave was made means there is an audience. The question is finding it. I cannot lead my life with an attitude of deficit.

You’ve been named the most beautiful person in the world. How does that feel?

When someone mentions it to my face, it feels lovely and ticklish—it’s never unappreciated to be considered beautiful. But there are still plenty of things to remind me of how regular I am, like New York traffic or burning myself in a hot shower.

Who is your beauty muse?

Alek Wek. Once she stepped onto the international scene, I could no longer say that there’s no one like me. She encouraged me and also really scared me, since it’s easier to accept the status quo than to try to change it. But just having her present, I felt more seen, more confident. I couldn’t make any excuse for not stepping into my most powerful self.

What product have you most recently fallen in love with?

Lip liner! I had always been confused about how and why to use lip liner. [Makeup artist] Nick Barose taught me to match my lip liner not to my lipstick but to my skin tone. It frames the lip, and lipstick seems to stay on longer.

What about when you are ready to take off the red-carpet look—what do you use?

Regular avocado oil. I dab very lightly, because I don’t want to massage the makeup further into my pores, and then I wipe it off with a gauze cloth.

Other essentials?

I love having my eyebrows feel done. You just look more well-dressed. I carry Lancôme’s Kissed by Gold eye-shadow palette with me all the time. I brush the darkest shade on my brows to give them definition.

And for your hair?

Sometimes when I comb my hair out there are a lot of strands sticking up and it looks messy, so [hairstylist] Larry Sims taught me to just use a hot towel, placed gently on top, to calm the curls down. It gives my Afro a sleeker look.