Cindy Crawford Told Me This Is the Best Thing You Can Do for Your Skin
The Lineup is a monthly series where we're giving you an inside peek at the beauty lineups of cool fashion people, editors, makeup artists, hairstylists, and estheticians—all the people we trust the most. Get ready for a behind-the-scenes look at all the can't-live-without products that make their worlds go round.
Cindy Crawford needs no introduction. The legendary supermodel has been in the spotlight for more than four decades, and she still has the same glowing complexion that made her famous all those years ago. Sure, she's walked in hundreds of runway shows, modeled for countless magazine covers, and appeared in some of the most iconic fashion campaigns of all time, all of which have given her access to the best people in the industry. But she's also become a trusted source for skincare tips, tricks, and must-have products.
"When I started my career, I had to absorb a lot," Crawford tells me. "My mother didn't wear makeup or really use much skincare, so I feel like I didn't grow up with someone to help me understand makeup, skincare, or even self-care." Crawford admits the skincare process was a big learning curve for her. "Starting to model was like going to graduate school," she jokes. "I was surrounded by these incredible hair and makeup artists who taught me just how transformative makeup can be. But then I felt my job as a model was to come in with a clean slate—to keep my skin and hair looking good. To me, it was the equivalent of exercising and keeping my body looking good." This desire to keep her skin and hair healthy, she says, is probably why she fell in love with skincare in the first place.
Fast-forward to the year Crawford turned 28 and met Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh. He gave her a mesotherapy treatment that left her skin looking really juicy and glowy—beyond anything she'd ever seen from her skin before—and the rest is history. He's been her partner in Meaningful Beauty for 15 years now, and he's taught her tons of lessons in skincare, like the importance of protecting your skin during the day and replenishing it at night. "The best thing you can do for yourself is prevent damage. We spend so much time and money as we get older to reverse damage, but we wouldn't have to if we prevented it in the first place." That lesson is really how her skincare line, which is full of products that protect and replenish, came to be.
"Meaningful Beauty has always been about me trying to answer my own needs," explains Crawford. "I developed my skincare line because I wasn't able to see Dr. Sebagh often, and I needed to find a way to bottle up whatever he was using on me." Thank goodness she did because now we all get to benefit from it, too. Keep scrolling for Crawford's lineup of products, and learn why it was only a matter of time before she decided to expand her line to include haircare.
"This has such a nice smell, which is supposed to be relaxing for nighttime. It's easy to apply because it's a fine mist, and I just put a little bit on. It has become such a nice nighttime ritual for me. I use it and it helps tell my brain that we're winding down and getting into bed."
"I'm a total bath girl. I love my jacuzzi. I love taking baths and putting products in. I have a whole tray of bath enhancers, but bath salts are great especially if you're sick, achy, or had a hard workout. I really like these, but you know, I can't tell you for sure if I can feel a difference with the CBD or not. But I know it's a trend right now. I will always try everything once."
"Really, since I had kids, but now as I'm getting older and I color my hair more, I've noticed my hair, which I used to take for granted, just hasn't been the same. Women expect they're going to get a wrinkle or their hair is going to turn grey, but I don't think they expect some of the other changes that come with aging hair. So a few years ago, when I was talking to the Meaningful Beauty team, I asked them how the ingredients that we've used for the face could translate to hair. I never really thought about it before, but the scalp is just thick skin and is really just an extension of our face. With the idea that a healthy scalp sets the environment for healthy hair, we created this scalp treatment as our hero product. We also have shampoo and conditioner, and the full system really addresses signs of aging hair. It was really important to me that this product was easy to use and wouldn't weigh hair down. If anything, it gives it more volume. It helps create a healthy scalp. You really should use it anytime you wash your hair. After you shampoo and condition and get out of the shower, part your hair and spray some in. I like to do this in a few places to make sure I'm getting it across my scalp. If you only wash your hair a few times a week like me, you can also add some to the roots of your dry hair and blow-dry it for 30 seconds for a quick refresh."
"A dentist recommended this to me. I try not to use fluoride in my toothpaste, and I know there's some controversy around that, but I choose not to. I just love this because it's really fresh, and you can get it on Amazon. The flavor is really nice, too."
"I've been going to the same manicurist for at least 15 years, and she recommended this to me for whenever my heels are dry. You can get it at the drugstore. I try to use it on any dry spots on my feet before a workout. Then I'll put socks on, and it's like I'm getting an hour foot treatment. But during the summer, when my feet are drier because I'm barefoot often, I'll use it before bed and throw on some socks for 20 minutes because it is a little greasy. But I hate sleeping in socks, so I always kick them off before I hop into bed."
"Our hero ingredient in the very beginning was this antioxidant found in melons in the South of France. As our line has evolved over the last 15 years, we now use stem cell technology, too. So this serum not only uses the antioxidant found in the melon but also stem cells found in the melon's leaves. I use this morning and night under moisturizer. It's super light. When you use it, you get the benefits of the product, but it also potentializes the products you put on after."
"I use two perfumes. One is a bespoke fragrance my husband made me for my 50th birthday, and the other is this. But in the last year, I switched back to this, and I've truly never gotten so many compliments. I'm also a sucker for names. I love Carnal Flower because of the duality. I love that it's not overpowering, but it's there."
"I always have this in my purse or by my bed or makeup area. I love the texture, it stays on for more than five minutes, you get a little more life out of it, and the packaging is great. It never hurts to pull out a little Chanel."
"This is a new thing for me. When we all got stuck at home, all of a sudden I didn't have a facial for seven months. I remember part of my facialist's treatment was putting me under this red light at the end, so I wanted to try and bring that home. This is super easy to use, too. It has a strap, and it only takes a few minutes. Again, I can't say if I've noticed this or that, but I'll try it for a few minutes a day. It was a way to bring that self-care in when we weren't able to get it elsewhere last year."
"These are amazing. I love them because they don't ruin my white towels, and they don't look messy when I'm using them. I have so many of them and keep them by my sink and by Kaia's sink, and you know what it's for."
"I mean, she's the eyebrow queen, right? I've been using her tweezers for years and her brow pencil. They're just the best."
"I've been using Secret for 15 years or more. Over the years I've tried more natural ones, but I've never found one that I've liked. It's just so interesting—there are advances in formulations and technology and ingredients and efficacy that we see over 10, 20 years, and just when you think deodorant can't change, this was a new formulation for me. It's not an antiperspirant. It's a deodorant, but I feel like, because it's a gel-to-powder, it kind of absorbs moisture in a healthy way. The formula is really great, and it doesn't feel sticky or wet for 15 minutes or anything. It sounds weird, but it also makes my armpits feel softer. There are several scents, but this ginger grapefruit one is my favorite."
"This has been in the line from the very beginning, although we've added more SPF, and now it has blue-light protection. As I've said, I need one product for the day to protect and one at night to restore, and this is a great product. I use it every day wherever I am, and it protects me from the sun. It goes easy under makeup. I'm very particular, I don't want my products to pill on top of each other. I want there to be enough moisture but not so much that makeup doesn't stay put. I just love the formulation of this to wear without makeup or under makeup."
Next: The Skincare Products We Should All Use, According to a Chanel Skin Expert
Caitie Schlisserman is an L.A.-based executive director with over a decade of branded content and editorial experience. She joined Who What Wear in 2014 as the first branded content editor and has worked her way up to overseeing a team of talented branded content editors and the beauty department of the media revenue team. Before Who What Wear, Caitie helped launch FabFitFun's first subscription box and worked at a beauty startup where she assisted in successfully launching the editorial department.
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