Say hello to Unfiltered, a fresh, new beauty series where you’ll get an exclusive glimpse into the dressed-down beauty routines of our favorite celebrities. They’ll reveal their guilty-pleasure beauty practices, the five-minute routine product lineup they can’t live without, the one good-skin tip they’ll be forever thankful for, and so much more. To bring every conversation full circle, we ask each celebrity to send us a selection of self-shot, filter-free photos of their choosing to capture the essence of their Unfiltered beauty philosophy.
Up next, we’re getting to know Golden Globe-nominated actress and the Global Brand Ambassador for Estée Lauder, Ana de Armas. As a fellow product junkie and beauty enthusiast, she’s answering all of our rapid-fire questions and sharing her best-kept beauty secrets below. Enjoy!
If you had to leave the house in five minutes, what are a few staple beauty products you’d apply?
Okay. I think I would go with Estée Lauder’s Double Wear Stay-in-Place Flawless Wear Concealer ($30). It’s incredible, and it’s pretty much all I need on my face. But the Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara ($29) is also heaven. I love the color—it’s a really deep black. I love the brush, the texture, the consistency, everything. And then I would maybe just add the Pure Color Envy Color Replenish Lip Balm ($32). It’s just perfect, and I would probably put a little bit of that on my cheeks, as well, and then I’m ready to go.
What about on days when you’re not working or you’re just staying in—what does your morning routine look like?
Well, I wake up every morning, I take the dogs out, I take a shower, and then I love to go to my mini-fridge and get my rose quartz gua sha and my Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum ($75). The combination feels so cool and nice, and then with the serum on, I just massage my face for as long as I can until it isn’t cold anymore. You can really feel the serum penetrate your skin—it gets nice and pink, the blood and circulation are flowing, and it’s really, really nice. It helps me wake up! And then I’ll put some sunscreen on, get a coffee, and just enjoy the rest of my morning if I don’t have anything else to do. Which is rare [laughs].
That serum is so good. I’ve gotten a lot of people in my life hooked on it.
It is. It’s addictive!
I know you’re Estée Lauder’s newest Global Ambassador, and your first campaign revolved around fragrance—what do you gravitate towards when it comes to scent and perfume?
Usually florals! I really like floral, earthy scents. Whether it’s for a fragrance, or a shampoo, or a body lotion.
Do you have a first fragrance memory that sticks out to you?
Well, I definitely remember my mom’s scent. I don’t know why because it wasn’t even a perfume that she would wear it was just, you know, her smell. But I also remember stealing my dad’s cologne, I don’t know why, but I did that too [laughs].
I used to do that all the time in high school. I don’t know, I think at the time I thought it was a really cool thing to do [laughs]. It was definitely a phase I went through.
Yeah! That fresh aftershave kind of scent—so, so nice. I just loved it.
You’re the face of Estée Lauder’s new fragrance Beautiful Magnolia. What do you love about it?
It’s so refreshing. It’s the right amount of sweet, and the magnolia scent is really beautiful. It’s very fresh and very light, and I feel like you can put it on at any time, and it just feels right. It also brings back good feelings and memories for me too—it makes me think of the beach and being in love.
That’s what everyone needs right now after a year of being cooped up! It sounds like the ultimate summer scent.
Mhm, I agree!
I think a lot of people view fragrance as almost a form of self-care—do you have any other wellness or self-care practices you rely on to help de-stress or stay centered?
Yeah, for sure, especially now in these times we’re in. As you mentioned, we’ve all been home so much and our heads are spinning and we’re wondering about the future and what’s going on with our lives and all of that. It’s a good time to find the things that will help you feel centered and connected. I meditate, I stretch in the morning, I do yoga sometimes, and I’ve also been working out even more than usual because of the movie [No Time To Die from the James Bond series] I’m filming right now. I love massages, but that’s been a little bit more challenging due to all of the safety precautions with COVID. So if I can’t get an actual massage I just grab the Theragun [laughs].
Oh my god, the Theragun is such a gamechanger!!
It’s incredible, it’s incredible. Especially when you’re doing a movie like this, it is so, so intense on your body and you’re just doing stunts for hours and hours every day. I love to sit on the couch or bed and watch a movie or something and just get the gun in there working on muscles.
Completely. I want to backtrack quickly to the workouts you mentioned. Do you have any favorites?
Favorite workouts? I mean, that’s all I do, [laughs] so, you know, it’s like this: When you do something because you really want to do it, it becomes your favorite thing, but when you do something because they tell you to do it? It turns into something else. But I do really like boxing! It releases all of this energy and there is nothing boring about it. You don’t have to do the same thing every day because you don’t feel the same way every day, you know? You can just structure it however you want. I get a lot of joy from it, and it’s a great workout, trust me!
Oh, yeah, I mean, I believe you! I used to do some boxing classes here and there in L.A., and they’re absolutely no joke. Definitely a good source of stress relief.
Yes, yes, for sure.
Do you think there anything about your beauty routine that would surprise people?
Hmm, hmm, hmm! I mean, I remember when I was young in Cuba—okay, this is very strange, but we used to put beer in our hair before going to the beach. We’d be at the beach, and in the sun, and having the beer in our hair would give us these natural highlights, it was incredible!
Oh my god, like Sun In!
Yeah, yeah! The beer was interesting, but it was really cool. I mean, that’s what we had at the time, and it really worked! And I feel like I have to say, I did that when I was young, but I’ve also done it as an adult, and you do really get beautiful color in your hair.
I mean, this is a really good one! I always ask that question, and I think this is my favorite-ever answer. And now that you say it, I feel like I’ve definitely heard of people doing this before.
Yeah, I don’t know if you color your hair, but you should definitely try it!
Oh, 100%. I’m all about trying to get my hair as light and highlighted as possible in the summer. That’s actually the perfect segue into my next question because I was curious to know how your heritage has impacted your approach to beauty.
Cuba is a beautiful place. It’s very special, and the lifestyle is completely different than L.A., for example. You know, I grew up with very little, and that included beauty products and skincare products. The approach was very simple: wash your face, wash your hair, brush your hair, put sunscreen on, and you’re beautiful like that. We didn’t wear a lot of makeup—it was more about, “This is it! This is what you’ve got!”
Right, just enhancing your natural beauty.
Yes, [laughs] and putting beer in your hair! Growing up, it was more about feeling good. Feeling fresh and clean and happy, and very natural. The best thing we could do was just have a nice day at the beach and get a tan. It was very much a less is more mentality due to my situation and where I grew up. And eventually, that just becomes a part of who you are. I’ve carried that with me my entire life. Even now, I feel very, very comfortable with very little. We all have bad days, but deep inside and at the essence of it, I think it’s really important to feel good in your own skin and to take care of it, instead of covering yourself up with layers and layers of makeup.
Believe me, it’s incredibly refreshing to hear that. Oh, okay, I know we’re getting close to time, so on our parting note, what’s your Unfiltered beauty philosophy in seven words or less?
Oh my gosh, seven worlds?! Hmm, well, definitely what I was saying before about less being more. This is going to be wayyyy more than seven words, so I apologize, but I think we oftentimes feel pressure to follow whatever is trending or use what other people use, and that just doesn’t have to be what works for you. Honestly, sometimes I hesitate to give beauty advice because whatever it is that I’m saying is what works for me. I have tried so many different products that are super expensive or have a super cool and fancy reputation but they just don’t go with me. I think everyone should try to find their own way of feeling beautiful without following the crowd and what everyone else out there is telling us we need or should be doing.
