The Glowdown: Nicola Coughlan Shares the Beauty Secrets We All Want to Know

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 Nicola Coughlan, the Irish actress best known for her roles as Clare Devlin in Derry Girls and Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton. The 37-year-old's refreshing approach to beauty is certainly something to be admired, and we sat down with Coughlan to ask her all of her skincare tips and tricks, which products she can't live without and what fragrances she thinks her famous characters would wear.

1. Which beauty product gives you the biggest mood-boost?
I would say it's moisturiser because I feel like my skin is always thirsty and needs serious hydration. Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream is my go-to. It makes your skin really soft and glowy.

2. If you could steal someone else’s makeup bag, whose would it be?
I always think Lucy Boynton looks really beautiful, and she experiments a lot with colour, so I think she would be a good one.

3. What is your everyday skincare routine?
I do most of my heavy cleansing in the evening. I like to use Tatcha Camellia Cleansing Oil because I feel like oil cleansers are really gentle and take everything off without being abrasive. In the mornings, sometimes I'll just splash my skin with water, then get some nice sprays on there and some eye cream. Tatcha Silk Peony Eye Cream is very important.

4. How do you keep your skin looking its best during filming?
I think a lot of it is about getting enough sleep because the days are super, super long. That's the most important thing for me because I can tell [by skin] if I don't get enough sleep.

5. You’ve got a spot. Are you team pop it or team leave it alone?
I would love to say that I leave it alone, but if I have a good one that's ready to go, I cannot resist popping it.

6. Are there any skincare steps you find unnecessary and prefer to skip?
You see a lot of stuff about two-step cleansing, but I don't think you really need that. On the weekend, if I'm having a bath I like to exfoliate and then do a face mask, but these 17-step skincare routines are not necessary for me.

7. You only have one product to use for the rest of your life—what is it?
Definitely the Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream because my skin has to be super hydrated all the time.

8. What’s the best piece of beauty advice you have ever received?
Wear eye cream every day. Again, Tatcha Silk Peony Eye Cream is a permanent staple. One thing I really love about it is that you can put makeup on over it. I've used eye creams in the past, and my makeup just slides off. I've had dark circles since I was a child, so making sure that my skin is hydrated and that I can cover them at the same time is really important. Also, using SPF—that is a massive one.

9. It’s a bad hair day. What do you do?
I try not to stress about it too much. [My hair] will go up in a bun or a ponytail. I quite like days off when I can wear a hair mask around the house. I have a lot of hair so it's a necessary thing!

10. What's your signature fragrance?
I love Le Labo fragrances. I really enjoy Bergamote 22.

11. What fragrance do you think Penelope Featherington would wear?
Coincidentally, she wears Le Labo Bergamote 22, because it’s what I had in my trailer all the time!

12. Strong lip or a strong eye?
I find it very hard to choose. I love doing both, but I really enjoy just a red lip because it instantly makes [your makeup] look like a full look.

13. You’re having your nails done. What’s your go-to colour?
I like a classic nude because you can paint on top of it if you change your mind. Also, if [your manicure] is growing out it doesn't look as bad.

14. What's your beauty philosophy in a sentence?
Do what makes you feel good.

15. What's your favourite lipstick colour?
It would be any sort of red., from [MAC] Ruby Woo to creamy reds from Pat McGrath that I adore.

16. What’s your biggest beauty no-no?
I don't love those super-thick lashes. I always call them "Hoover brush lashes". They just look itchy to me, and I love getting all my makeup off at night so I can't imagine having those permanently on my eyes.

17. Candles, reed diffusers or nothing at all?
I'm a candle girl. I have different candles for different rooms in my house. The bathroom will have a specific scent; the living room, another; the bedroom, another. I really like soy candles from small, independent brands. I love spending money on those.

18. If you could share one piece of beauty advice, what would it be?
Use SPF. Use it every single day. I didn't realise the importance of it until my late twenties. Tacha Silk Sunscreen SPF 50 is brilliant.

19. What beauty product do you recommend to everyone?
Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream, because it's perfect.

20. Name one beauty product that is always in your handbag
Kissu Lip Mask from Tatcha is always in my bag because it's beautiful as a lip balm during the day, but it's also good for pre-hydration if you want to wear lipstick. I love wearing it at night [too] because I wake up and my lips feel super, super soft.

21. Are you team dewy or matte?
Team dewy every day.

22. The greatest drugstore product for under £10?
I love the Evian Facial Spray. I really like having that on flights; it's just refreshing and nice for your skin.

23. Describe your brows in one word
I would say "natural" at the moment. I don't do very much to them.

24. Your worst hairstyle (or hair moment) ever?
Oh my goodness, I ended up with a sort-of mullet haircut when I was about 17, which I cried over. That wasn’t great.

25. You have to wear your hair crimped or blue eye shadow for the rest of your life. Which do you choose?
I adore blue eye shadow so that's an easy one for me.

26. Makeup primer: love it or hate it?
I do love it but I don't use it enough. I'm terrible when I'm not on set and someone hasn't done my makeup as I'll touch my face a lot.

27. Confession time: how often do you clean your makeup brushes?
Oh gosh, probably not enough, but I've been on set and doing publicity a lot this year so I haven't been doing my own makeup a lot. Maybe once a month.

28. What beauty rule do you always break?
Not always, but sometimes after a night out, I don't take my makeup off. Nobody's perfect!

29. Would you rather have ultra-skinny brows or bleached brows?
Oh god, I have had ultra-skinny brows because I was of that era. Bleached brows… I think I would look a bit like an alien. I think ultra-skinny.

30. Which celebrity’s hair would you love to steal?
My castmate Hannah Dodd has the most beautiful hair. It's so thick and gorgeous and the colour is beautiful, so I'd steal her hair.

31. Which era of beauty inspires you most?
I really love the '70s. I just think it's a gorgeous era.

32. Eyelash curlers: love them or hate them?
My secret tip for keeping your lashes curly is [to wear] a silk eye mask in bed. I wear one and tuck my lashes into it so it keeps them curly, and then I don't need to use eyelash curlers.

33. Best beauty hack?
Probably the lashes one!

34. What do you do in your downtime to relax and reset?
I play Scrabble, I cook brunch and I drink pints.

35. How do you use beauty to help get into the character you're playing?
It's a huge thing when you look in the mirror and don't look like yourself. The look of a character tells you so much. Are they a character who plays with their hair? Are they a character who doesn't wear makeup? It really helps to transform.

36. We love your intrinsic approach to fashion and beauty together. How involved are you in creating your looks?
I'm quite involved. Aimée Croysdill, my stylist, is wonderful, and Neil Young and Halley Brisker who primarily do my hair and makeup are super creative and brilliant at what they do. We have a lot of fun as a group coming up with ideas and getting excited about things. We love it.

37. What is the best beauty tip that you picked up from the set of Bridgerton?
We used face masks quite a lot—that was a big thing to keep the skin really hydrated. I also ate super healthily when we were filming, so I saw how much getting enough fruit, veg and water affects your skin. And as always, sleep. Sleep is so important.

Shop Nicola Coughlan's Favourite Beauty Products: