Denise Richards has always been passionate about taking care of her skin. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star—you can also see her on The Bold and the Beautiful—started modeling at 15 and, as she says, a solid skin-care routine has pretty much been a constant ever since.
“I’ve used sunscreen since I was a teenager,” the 49-year-old says. “I’m blessed with good genetics and I have a clean lifestyle, but sunscreen always helps.”
A few years ago, Richards was approached about doing a skin-care line, but didn’t want to simply slap her name on it. “I’ve tried so many different products over the years, but I didn’t want to do something unless I was very involved with the formulation of it and actually used it.”
Enter CB ME Beauty, a “two-years-in-the-making” skin-care brand that includes a probiotic cleanser, cream-oil moisturizer with an optional SPF 30, a retinol-based night serum, an eye and neck and décolleté treatment, and a hemp-seed facial oil.
“I worked with a great cosmetic chemist and I had a lot of notes along the way,” says Richards, who partnered with Canavation Product Groupon the project. “My family is a great focus group! My husband, my teenage daughters—we all have different skin types and very strong opinions.”
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“My big thing is that I wanted a line that wasn’t overwhelming. I didn’t want 20 products on your sink that took a half hour before bed to apply. I wanted something very user-friendly. Personally, for me, by the time I get home, I’m so tired. The thought of going through a huge process is not appealing. I wanted products that were easy, that worked and benefited all skin types. And I wanted a sunscreen that you can still apply makeup on top of—that can be a challenge.”
Richards pegs the cream-oil as her favorite product in the line and has some future formulations in the works.
“I’ve always mixed products together; my skin is on the dry side, my sister’s skin is oily, and I know some people are hesitant to apply oils to their face. But hemp-seed oil is incredibly nourishing—it helps with collagen production and it doesn’t clog pores,” she says, adding that, in a reflection of the name, the brand is looking to add in CBD at some point. “There are a lot of benefits to CBD, but a lot of states won’t allow it yet, which is why we went with hemp seed oil. There are so many benefits to it and it has so many healing properties.”
As far as everything else wellness-wise goes, Richards admits that, during this time spent at home, her family has been into “the junk food.”
“We are the type of family that’s very ‘everything in moderation’ and we tend to be healthy, but, in the beginning of the quarantine, we indulged—lots of mac ‘n’ cheese, lots of ice cream at night. I made macaroni and cheese for breakfast one day! I’ve cooked a lot. When we cook, we cook. It’s nice to have this time to hang out and have that.”
One thing she hasn’t been spending time on: DIY beauty experiments. “I learned early on not to do anything DIY when it comes to beauty…not to say other people in my family haven’t. My one daughter loves to change her hair color—purple to pink, pink to purple. I’m not brave enough to do that. I’m just letting the roots grow out and the split ends go,” she says.
“But when they say we are allowed to get highlights again, I’ll be ready for it!”