Gwyneth Paltrow Claims She’s Bad at Makeup, but Her Beauty Routine Might Make You Rethink Yours

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.

Gwyneth Paltrow has long been at the center of the beauty and wellness conversation, and today she's adding another innovation to the mix: Goop Beauty's brand-new Exosome Hydration Therapy Serum. The silky-smooth, quick-absorbing formula is powered by exosomes—the latest buzz ingredient in skincare—for youthful-looking, radiant skin. In true Goop fashion, the formulation is both luxurious and innovative. Paltrow rarely follows the hype (after all, she's made a habit of internet-breaking launches)—but she's confident enough in this one to get behind it. But the real question is: how does the woman whose brand became the blueprint for modern wellness get In The Mood?

During our chat, Paltrow is refreshingly candid, with a grounded ease and demeanor that's unmistakably her. She laughs about how she's not great at makeup—mascara is as sophisticated as she gets—and admits she's given up on lipstick altogether. She walks me through her date night perfume and confesses that the least sexy step in her routine actually makes her feel the sexiest. For her, beauty is about what actually works, not keeping up with trends or trying to impress anyone else. That's why, even in an already hyped category like exosomes, she only brings to the market what she fully supports. Keep reading for the beauty rituals that make Paltrow feel entirely herself.

I guess it’s the idea that I accept my full self—the whole spectrum of myself, all the gradations.

I like to put essential oils in the shower and use our body scrub. I also like to dry brush beforehand to invigorate the skin, exfoliate, and get the lymphatics going. Then I use a double exfoliant in the shower with essential oils. One time during a photoshoot, someone tied a bunch of dried eucalyptus leaves to my shower head, which was such a nice touch—I’ve done it a few times since then.

That’s a hard question. I guess shaving my legs.

Lately, I’ve been using a fragrance from Vrayo called Mamajuju. It smells warm and it’s spicy but not too spicy. It has a very earthy, warm sense to it.

Oh, man. I'm so bad at makeup. I mean, mascara, that's about as sophisticated as it gets. I'm not good at putting on lipstick. And also, my husband is not a fan of a red lip, so I've given up [laughs].

I'm a Chanel Rouge Noir girl. I've been for a long, long time.

If I’m really exhausted and not wearing makeup from an event or anything, I’ll do an abbreviated routine: just a little of our detox formula cleanser, a hot washcloth to scrub my face, then our peptide and face oil before bed. Now that we have the hydration serum, I may have to adjust it a bit.

I’m looking forward to a slower pace, more time just being and reading, and less doing.

I think face oil. I’ve used it for decades, partly because I’ve always been on the dry side. I naturally massaged my face with oil long before gua sha tools were what they are now. I feel like I just naturally always did that with face oil. And I think that combination of oil and keeping the skin really beautifully hydrated with massage is a great beauty tip.

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