Welcome to The Glowdown, the series where we dive into the beauty secrets of our favourite celebrities as they get real about their routines and non-negotiables exclusively with us. Join them as they sit in our beauty hot seat and we fire off a round of quick questions, giving you never-before-shared insight into the products they can’t live without, their secrets to getting red carpet–ready, beauty pet peeves and the genius tips they’ve picked up along the way. This is no-holds-barred beauty at its finest.
This month, we sat down with Jenna Ortega. The 22-year-old actress and Dior Makeup ambassador is the face of the new Rouge Dior On Stage collection, and we were lucky enough to catch up with the star about the new venture. “It’s so exciting,” she tells us. “I never thought that I would get the chance to do something like this. The way that it came up was very organic and natural to my relationship with Dior, so it’s pretty cool.”
Below, we asked Jenna all about her go-to makeup products and her best beauty advice, and she even shared her secret mascara trick…
(Image credit: Christian Dior Parfums)
1. Which beauty product gives you the biggest mood boost?
I think a lip [product] is pretty insane, because your mouth is where people’s attention is drawn to first, [so] the shade of your lip is very important.
2. Do you have a favourite lip product?
Right now, I really like the Rouge Dior On Stage Ultra Longwear Lipstick in Redwood Star.
3. If you could steal someone else’s makeup bag, whose would it be?
Oh my god… would it be really basic to say Kate Moss? How does she do it? I don’t know.
4. You only have one product to use for the rest of your life—what is it? That’s, like… brutal. Again, I feel like I have to say [a lip product], as you can cheat and use it for blush as well.
5. What’s the best piece of beauty advice you’ve ever received?
I don’t know if I received this; it was more a natural progression of taking in [makeup] looks that I liked, or even [looking at] people that I admired, but it’s letting the skin shine through. I don’t like anything too heavy, and I was made to feel really embarrassed about my freckles growing up. I think that too much makeup looks really insane on me; I just don’t have a face that suits that, so I think enhancing certain features or emboldening the stronger parts of my face is instrumental to me feeling like myself when I go out.
(Image credit: Daniel Jackson for Christian Dior Parfums, Peter Philips, Creative and Image Director for Dior Makeup)
6. What’s your signature fragrance?
I actually just changed it, which is very scary. I don’t know how it’s going so far, but for a really long time, it was Santal 33 by Le Labo.
7. What’s your biggest beauty no-no?
I don’t think I have a no-no; I have more of a “that should have been a no-no.” But I will never admit it in the moment.
8. You’re having your nails done. What’s your go-to colour?
Honestly, if I’m going to do something, I really like a nude. Just a nude pink is really nice. But, if I do feel like I want something, I like a deep, dark wine colour. And then of course, black. But I would never put black [nail polish] on the toes.”
9. How do you use beauty to help get into the character you’re playing?
Beauty is the way that you’re choosing to represent yourself. It’s a pretty important piece of the puzzle. Often with characters, it’s one of my favourite parts of the job, speaking with the hair and makeup artist and establishing what the look is going to be, because it’s the character getting herself ready every day. It’s very interesting and insightful to know what is important to them and what they want to be seen as, so often, when I get ready for these characters, I play around with the makeup myself, and then we go from there, just so I have the experience of putting it on and figuring out what’s natural to me.
But it also kind of naturally lends itself, sometimes, if you don’t know who the character is fully, and you try something on, they’ll tell you what they want or they don’t want. For example, [when playing] Wednesday Addams, it was very clear when something wasn’t pale enough or dark enough or grey enough; it’s very intuitive. When the makeup is wrong, it’s hard to do a scene because you feel silly.
10. Which of the characters you’ve played do you think would have the best beauty routine, and why?
It depends on who you’re into. I played this character, Cairo Sweet, who was a touch pretentious but also had really beautiful taste, because she was super wealthy and lived in this mansion, and I just know she would have an assortment of things. But then, if you’re super clean and want to take really good care of yourself, I just did this film called The Gallerist, and [I played] this character who had a perfect blowout and matching eyeliner to her hair [colour], and everything was very curated. I feel like she would have a really nice collection as well, or at least [beauty] tips.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
11. It’s a bad hair day. What do you do?
I think you hide. A bad hair day really messes you up. Maybe wash your hair again, or I guess, if I have to go out, I’m wearing a hat. I don’t like the way my hair looks slicked back. I need messy bits and pieces, and if it’s not going to listen, then you will not hear from me.
12. Which celebrity’s hair would you love to steal?
I worked with Amy Adams on a job a year or two ago, and [she had] the most beautiful head of hair I’ve ever seen in my whole life. I could not believe it. I thought, well, of course you played a princess. Her hair is so thick and healthy and [has this] beautiful texture and natural highlights. What a woman.
13. Are you team dewy or matte?
I feel like maybe matte, but only because it feels a little bit safer for my skin. I have combination skin, so naturally my T-zone gets a bit more oily, and whilst I think that’s a nice, healthy look, I just don’t think it would work well with my skin in the long run.
14. Which era of beauty inspires you most?
I would say I like the more timeless bits, so I feel like the sixties. If you’re not [reading] too much into [the] crazy eyeliner, a lot of the style was very minimalistic and clean. The nineties were like a slight regurgitation of that, but maybe with a bit more depth or grunge, so I really like those two periods. When I [do] my own makeup, I often look to those characters and people as a reference.
15. Best beauty hack?
I don’t know if this really counts… I will say two things just in case the one I want to say doesn’t count. I don’t wear foundation, but when I’m doing my concealer or cream contour, I like to do it when my skin is still wet from the [skincare] product before, because it blends a bit better and it feels a bit less caked on; it’s less obvious. But also, when I do mascara, spoolies are scary, so I empty the spoolie, I scrape it off, and I feel like it reduces clumps. As soon as I get a clump, it’s ruined. I like messy mascara, but you can’t fight a clump; they just keep reappearing!
Shop Jenna Ortega’s Favourite Beauty Products:
Dior
Rouge Dior On Stage Ultra Longwear Lipstick in Redwood Star
Le Labo
Santal 33 Eau de Parfum
Dior
Rouge Dior On Stage Ultra Longwear Lipstick in Iconic Rose
Dior
Rouge Dior On Stage Ultra Longwear Lipstick in Confident Nude
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