Camilla Luddington on Rediscovering Fragrance in Her 40s, Shaving Her Face, and the $10 European Bodycare Hack She Loves

Beauty routines are integral to getting In The Mood—not for any other person, but for you. Here, get a glimpse into the products, habits, and mantras that help powerhouse women slip into the sexiest version of themselves.

If I can count on Grey’s Anatomy for anything, it’s making me cry like a baby. “That’s why we’re still on air,” Camilla Luddington, the actress who plays Jo Wilson (my current favorite character), exclusively tells me. She’s right. With the 450th episode of the medical drama airing two weeks ago, it’s the longest-running scripted show on ABC. I’ve personally dedicated close to 1,000 hours of my life to the lore (I’ve watched all episodes twice, and the musical special at least 20 times), and for reasons that defy logic, stayed locked in through dozens of devastating character deaths and untimely exits.

Despite only being three episodes into the 22nd season, it’s not looking like it's going to be rainbows and sunshine. Quite the contrary. “Get some wine because it’s going to be very traumatic,” Luddington warns. I’m team Protect Jo At All Costs (she’s my comfort character and deserves a little joy!!). But instead of spending my time with Luddington asking if Link (played by Chris Carmack) is headed for a tear-jerking demise or if her twin delivery gets hijacked by a wild sequence of unfortunate events, I decided to talk about something a little more lighthearted: her beauty routine. (I'll save my tears for Thursday nights.)

Save the occasional flesh-eating skin disease or the season 5 episode where Meredith and Christina discover the magical oasis that is the dermatology floor, it’s pretty rare for Grey’s Anatomy and the beauty world to collide. But it should, because Luddington (as I’ve now learned) is a wealth of beauty knowledge, tips, and tricks.

She’s in on all the fall makeup and nail trends (vampy manicures and brown eyeliner, coming right up), has a face-shaving, body-scrubbing ritual that makes her skin smooth as a baby’s, and is intent on finding her fragrance identity in her 40s. To find out how she gets In the Mood (for filming and life), read and shop ahead.

I don't have a mantra, but I want to put into words what I mentally remind myself every morning. It’s really this: I own my energy. I set the tone. I feel like, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I really do set the tone for my day, even when shit hits the fan. The tone that I set in the morning really carries me through, so I try to be mindful of that.

I am not an in-and-out shower person unless I have a call time that’s at five a.m. and I have to be on set. But if I have a day where I can be flexible, I will take my time in that shower. One thing that I truly love and wish I could do every day is to hang fresh eucalyptus in the shower. You hang it on your shower head—those are my absolute favorite showers.

I have two, actually. There’s the Osea Body Scrub, which I keep in my shower and use it to scrub all my dead skin off. Not so sexy. But when I get that smooth feeling after stepping out of the shower? That feels sexy. Then—this is definitely not sexy at all—but I was introduced to those little exfoliating dermaplaning razors where you basically shave your whole face. I feel so much more glowy after doing that and adding some moisturizer. Again, not sexy. My husband will walk in on me and be like, You’re shaving your face again? But I feel way cuter after doing it.

For years and years and years, I wore Princess by Vera Wang. It was the scent of my 20s. I stopped wearing perfume forever, but this year I went out and was like, I need a perfume for my 40s. I got Tom Ford’s Cafe Rose and that is my go-to date night scent now.

It’s always going to be a brown eyeliner cat eye. I think it looks better on me than black. I’ve also learned to overline my lips over the course of the past six months, so I’ve been doing that with [Charlotte Tilbury] Pillow Talk Lipstick and Lip Liner. Oh, I also have been loving the Utan Freckle Pen. I’ve done a couple IPL [lasers] on my face and I’m kind of sad about losing some of the freckles that I had across my nose. I’ve been adding in a few fake freckles right at the end of my everyday routine. It’s a cute little find.

The truth is my hair routine is not necessarily easy breezy. I have the AirWrap, and it took me a while, but I finally learned how to do it. I don’t do it on wet hair because I think it’s really hard. But on dry, clean hair, it gives me this big ‘90s blowout. It’s very early-season Jo Wilson hair. Right now, I would not be allowed to have that hair. I’m under strict orders to look “undone” and very doctorly.

It changes with the season, but right now I’m into a vampy look. Chanel’s Rouge Noir is my favorite shade. It’s so good.

I'm absolutely not doing my whole skincare routine. I mean, I’m always proud of myself when I do it, and it makes me feel like I have my life together. But usually, I have not gotten my life together. I take off my makeup with the Bioderma H20 and that’s as far as it goes. I’m too tired. I need to get into bed.

There’s a more sentimental answer, but here’s my beauty answer. I’ve really enjoyed each decade and finding my style because it really has changed. When I look at my style icons, it’s women in their forties and fifties. I love Anne Hathaway. I think Jennifer Fisher is so chic. I love Gwyneth and that Nantucket look right now. It’s like, I might own a boat, I might not. I’m excited to see what that looks like for me and how I feel in my body. I think, weirdly enough, as I get older, I start to feel better about myself.

This is a really European thing, but it’s my honest answer. When I was younger, if we were out on vacation and any of us got a mild sunburn—like you’re not near blistering, but you’re red—you get smothered in Nivea. One of my kids is a redhead and so she easily gets a little red. I smother her in Nivea at night, and by the morning she has no sunburn at all. I’m not sure it’s really made for that, but that’s been my hack since I was kid. Although I use it at night anyway as a really thick moisturizer.

Shop Camilla's Routine

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