Last week, we were lucky enough to sit down with Kristen Bell at an event for Neutrogena’s Every Drop Counts Campaign and get to know her. We picked her brains about natural beauty, her skincare regimen, diet, exercise and everything else beauty-related. The results? A refreshingly honest, informative and simple guide to living a healthy, natural and beautiful life.
Neutrogena Naturals, for which Kristen is a spokesperson, is a pure, natural skincare line free of all the detrimental and often hidden ingredients in many other beauty products. Neutrogena Naturals contain no harsh chemicals, sulfates, parabens, petrolatum, dyes, and phthalates… instead the products are full of bionutrients found in nature that promote health and resilience.
Q. We know how passionate you are about the environment, especially water conservation, but we would love to hear more about your take on beauty. Can you tell us how you started with the Neutrogena Naturals line and why it is so near and dear to your heart?
A. I have always strived to be aware of the world around me— it makes me feel better at the end of the day if I am living a lifestyle where I am aware of the people and the things around me and what they need. I feel like it makes me a positive contributor. I have always paid attention to labels and what is in my beauty products. Neutrogena has been such a long-trusted brand, so it was a very natural and exciting transition for me to become a spokesperson when they came out with the Naturals line. The efficacy is strong, it’s a great product, but it’s also free of petrolatum, sulphates, phthalates, harsh dyes, chemicals and parabens – it’s just a really pure product that works, and that I actually use, so I really enjoy being a spokesperson for it.
Q. Many people aren’t aware of all the harmful ingredients in many beauty products. How long have you been aware that all of these things are not good for your skin? Is this something you’ve been conscious of for a long time?
A. I try to educate myself on a lot of different things but it is hard to keep up with the exact science of what is good for us and what’s not. Things come in fads—at one point everyone was really into power bars, and then water bottles, and now they’re into the word organic, and then everyone is scared that organic doesn’t mean anything any more. Life is a series of fads, so I try to gravitate towards the scientific research and read the articles that are based on the evidence. And I actually learned something. I became interested in purifying my product regimen about 4 or 5 years ago.
Q. Since you have changed your product regimen, what is your typical day-to-day simple skincare routine?
A. It’s almost nothing. I have found that my skin is really balanced and I feel best when I am using less. My skin is sensitive so it doesn’t react to a lot of scrubs or peels or tons of products.
1. I use the Purifying Facial Cleanser at the end of the day.
2. Sometimes to get a little more exfoliation I use the Wave, which is like a brush.
3. I like the Multivitamin Nourishing Moisturizer, because it is simple and light.
4. There is a Multivitamin Nourishing Night Cream that’s a tiny bit heavier.
Q. As far as beauty products and makeup go, what do you use on a daily basis?
A. I will sometimes wear a little bit of powder and mascara, but the majority of my skincare regimen revolves around keeping the beauty products simple and wearing sunscreen. I’ve been addicted to sunscreen since I was 16! It’s so necessary. It’s an investment in yourself, because you are possibly preventing skin cancer, and preventing wrinkles later in life.
Q. Obviously, as well as natural products, it is as important to keep your internal health intact for lasting beauty. Are there any tricks you have up your sleeve for maintaining your internal health?
A. I wish I had more tricks or magic, but the reality is—it’s boring. It’s diet and exercise. Bleugh. But, I suppose my trick is that I strive to keep it interesting. I like to involve my friends in exercise, cause otherwise I will fall asleep on the treadmill. I like to hike with my girlfriends and make it a social experience, so we play ultimate Frisbee. When I do go to the gym, I go down with a partner, whether it is my husband or a girlfriend.
Q. And what about diet?
A. For healthy eating, I am lucky that I was born with a love of vegetables. Over the years I have developed a trick of eating more salads but making them substantial salads. That’s the trick to get me to eat them – I don’t want to feel like I am eating torn up loose leaf paper.
The reality is, I start with something at the bottom of the bowl like lentils or bulgar or quinoa. I make that with vegetable stock so that it is a little more flavorful. Then I will toss in whatever salad I have, either from my garden or from the grocery store. Then, any fruit or vegetable or nut that I can find. Carrots, cucumber, strawberries, pistachios, walnuts, blueberries, avocado… I throw them in like it’s a garbage disposal. Usually I will fry up (with an olive oil spray and some garlic salt) some broccolini, and throw it on top.
One trick I have is that I always use a tablespoon of Brewer’s yeast or nutritional yeast—it’s not super common but they would definitely have it at your local grocery store. It’s power packed with B vitamins, and it has 7 grams of protein per tablespoon. It’s finding those little power punches to your diet that can really change it. A handful of nuts staves off a ton of hunger for me, so I don’t go stop at Baskin Robbins.
Q. You had a baby earlier this year, congratulations.
A. It feels so weird to say, I’m someone’s mom. She’s 6 months. She’s yummy.
Q. Now that you’re a mother, has your approach to beauty changed? You have a daughter now and she’s going to look to you someday to teach her about beauty… has that changed your outlook at all?
A. It might change depending on what her needs are. I don’t know if I am going to have a quiet child, an outgoing child, a sensitive child. A girl who loves makeup, a girl who doesn’t love it. I don’t know her yet.
I was lucky enough to be raised by a mom who taught me that beauty is really inner confidence; it’s kind of feeling whole and feeling at peace, and that’s the way beauty will read on your face. I don’t know how I will teach her about beauty, but I just want to teach her to feel good about herself, no matter what it is. And not to fall into the trap of allowing your narrative to become something you feel is a lot of pressure, like being thin or being more blonde, or whatever the stereotypes that exist in the back of all of our insecurities are. My approach would be to toss all of that out the window and figure out what works for you. I think that beauty starts with you answering the question of what makes you unique and going from there.
Q. We love your natural, real approach to beauty and your commitment to the environment, is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
A. Just that Neutrogena Naturals is donating 10% of the Purifying Cleanser sales this month to The Nature Conservancy. So they get an extra donation every time anyone buys the facial cleanser! Buy it here!
Find out more about our day with Kristen and the Every Drop Counts campaign, and how you can get involved here.
Enter our fabulous Eco-Essentials Neutrogena Naturals giveaway here to win fabulous eco-friendly prizes!
DISCLAIMER / FTC: This content is sponsored by NEUTROGENA®.
