Elizabeth OlsenCreditVincent Tullo for The New York Times
Elizabeth Olsen has been exposed to the Hollywood scene since she was a child. She is the little sister of Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, after all.
Now with a thriving career of her own — she is in the latest Marvel movie, “Avengers: Endgame,” out April 26, as Wanda Maximoff (a.k.a., the Scarlet Witch), and has a TV series for fall called “WandaVision” — Ms. Olsen, 30, is taking it all in stride with a rigorous fitness and skin-care regimen. It doesn’t hurt that she is the latest ambassador for Bobbi Brown makeup.
You won’t find her scouring Instagram for her beauty looks, though. She relies on word of mouth and advice from her sisters and friends, and she’s game to try all sorts of products. Just look in her fridge and you may find … yes, placenta serum.
Skin Care
Lately I’ve been having some weird chin issue. I’m not sure if it’s a rash or a breakout or something else. It’s been around for two months, so this morning I did something different. I used the micellaire water from Biologique Recherche, and then the P50 exfoliant.
Then I went to my refrigerator, where I have the placenta serum from the line, and put that on, thinking it would heal my chin. It’s one of those water-based serums, and it absorbs immediately. It sounds crazy, but Biologique Recherche works.
I learned about it when I was working on the TV show “Sorry for Your Loss,” and I didn’t want my character to wear makeup. It just didn’t make sense to me. A friend told me about Yonat Zilberg, a facialist in the Valley, and she uses Biologique Recherche. She completely changed my skin. I find it hilarious now when a friend will ask in a whisper voice, “Did you try a little Botox?” No, I have a very expressive face. But I use P50!
I have dry spots. My nose is dry, and my chin, with the weird skin thing going on, is drier than usual. So it’s about layering serums and moisturizers. I’ve been putting on Augustinus Bader cream before we do makeup.
Then I do Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF. I really hate the way the bottle looks. It’s not sexy. I want my products to look sexy in my bathroom. Supergoop clearly doesn’t, but it leaves such a nice finish on my skin.
At night, I use the Bobbi Brown Face Base. It’s supposed to go under makeup, but I feel it’s a nice moisturizer for night. I’m sure that’s wrong. If I added it to what I do during the day, it would seem like an extra step.
Makeup
I like to give my skin a break when I’m not working. But if I want to pull myself together, I do a layer of foundation. I’ve been mixing Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Weightless Foundation in Beige 3 and Sand 2. I feel that those two colors together make the best color to even out my skin.
I do two different shades of Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick highlighter. One is a little more bronze, which I use as a contour, and the other is a white-peachy one that I use as a little highlighter. I also love the Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick, which is like a fat eyeliner. I put that on my eyes and use my fingers to blend. The one I’ve been using — I just got it out of my suitcase — is Bark.
Mascara, I’ve been using MAC. I used to wear Dior because it doesn’t run. But MAC has a wand that’s similar to the Dior Iconic. It goes on without clumps. MAC was where I bought my Spice lip liner way back. It’s still a good one!
Hair
My natural hair is sad: It’s limp and really thick but really fine. I even try to sleep with it wet in hopes of giving it more body. But it looks weighed down, so it doesn’t get any wave. I wish I had crazy, frizzy, crispy wavy hair. I had it once, and I want it back.
I use a lot of volumizing products. I use Virtue shampoo and conditioner, but I love not washing my hair. I have a bunch of dry shampoos. I have the Klorane powder that poofs on, and I like the Klorane sprays. I have the good old Psssst! one, too.
I use Oribe texture spray and occasionally the shine spray if I’m on the fourth day of dry shampoo. If my hair feels unhealthy, I use an Oribe or Virtue hair mask.
Fragrance
I wear a Diptyque roll-on that smells of fig — Philosykos. I love that smell. Other than that, all the things in my house are from Santa Maria Novella, whether that’s the rose spray or the shampoo and conditioner. I don’t even think they work that well. It’s just because they’re pretty to look at, and I really care about that.
Other Services
I get painfully adjusted by a chiropractor — Trevelynn Henuset. He cracks whatever it is that needs to be cracked. He thinks I need to be getting massages between the appointments, but I don’t get them as often as I should.
Diet and Fitness
I love training even when I’m not working on the Marvel movies. I grew up doing ballet and playing pretty competitive volleyball. In college, fitness is suddenly not part of your curriculum, so I stopped doing anything.
Then when I was 20 and living in New York, I started having severe panic attacks. It was really bad, like I was going to pass out. I remember not being able to cross 14th Street and Sixth Avenue. I had to stand next to a wall so I didn’t fall over.
At first I didn’t even know they were panic attacks. I’d never been an anxious person. A friend of mine had had them, and we worked on tricks to get over them. They’re basically acting tricks, where you take the attention off yourself.
It was then that I found yoga to be really helpful and when fitness became a big part of my life again. I found that after a hard workout, I could sit by myself at a restaurant.
The thing with Marvel is they never tell you to get into shape. They just hire the people and let them figure out the way to express the character. They will set you up with a trainer if you want, but that’s it. I hear stories of actors being weighed for a role. That sounds horrible.
I do change it up depending on the gig. For “Captain America: Civil War,” I was doing muay Thai. It’s not the most comfortable thing, and I don’t do it anymore. I do love going to the gym. I love it because my brain works better, and I don’t want to think about eating restrictively.
I eat healthy, but I try not to overthink it. If I have a big premiere to go to, I might just have a lot of soups the week before. That’s really the only time I do anything approaching a diet. I’m lucky I don’t have any allergies yet. Or maybe I already do, and that’s why I have the issue with my chin and I should be eliminating dairy and gluten.
