Jillian Michaels: Health + Beauty Icon

Saint Laurent, spa visits, and candy bars? The health expert shares her surprising must-haves.

JILLIAN MICHAELS is known for doling out tough love, nutrition edicts, and fitness advice, and let's be honest: She looks pretty darn good doing it. A firm believer that inner health makes for outer beauty, Michaels admits that she wasn't always as clued in as she is now. "In my teens, I totally rocked the SunIn and had orangey, highlighted hair." These days, she's adopted a more natural look—and lifestyle. "My makeup artist, Paige Padgett, has helped me green my home and my products," Michaels says. "Doing that—and exercising and eating healthy and organic—has had such a positive effect on everything from my weight and my energy level to my skin." But, she says, a body scrub at Olympic Spa in L.A.'s Koreatown doesn't hurt, either.

Jillian Michaels surrounded by assorted health and beauty items.

(Image credit: Marie Claire)

1. "I visited Jordan and bought an antique sword that was supposedly Lawrence of Arabia's. I'm not sure if that's true, but I had to have it."

2. "We have a lip balm addiction in my house—there are containers of these everywhere." Yes to Carrots Color Balm in Soft Plum and Peachy Keen, $6 each.

3. "I like my fashion chic, elegant, and form-fitting. Saint Laurent and Proenza Schouler are great."

4. "I use organic soy candles. I got this basil one in a mason jar from Steven Alan in Boston. It smells so good." Good Candle Brooklyn Mason Jar Candle in Basil, $30.

5. "No more sunbathing for me. I use this self-tanner when I have photo shoots." Jane Iredale Tantasia Self Tanner & Bronzer, $36

6. "I have so many colors of these polishes, but I couldn't find any of them the other day, so I went into my daughter's room and the little shit was hoarding them! [laughs] 'I collect them, I collect them,' she tells me." Butter London Nail Lacquer in Yummy Mummy, Teddy Girl, and Keen, $15 each.

7. "I always thought Cindy Crawford was so beautiful when I was growing up—and I still do! Oh, my god, I see her running around Malibu, and I'm like, 'How does she do that? She looks amazing!'"

8. "Unreal makes all your favorite candy classics but without high-fructose corn syrup or preservatives, and with less sugar than the originals. I first discovered them at CVS." Unreal Candy Unjunked Chocolate Caramel Peanut Nougat Bar, $5 for 10.

Jennifer G. Sullivan

Jennifer Goldstein is the former beauty & health director of Marie Claire and co-host of the award-winning beauty podcast Fat Mascara. In her quest to uncover the world's beauty secrets, she’s gotten tattooed in New Zealand, dug up turmeric in India, harvested shea nuts in Ghana, and squeezed enzyme-rich eggs from salmon in Norway. She can pluck eyebrows like a pro and has read the FDA monograph on sunscreen labeling and effectiveness—but she still can’t get liquid eyeliner to look the same on both eyes.