Chatting with beloved actress and self-proclaimed holiday-hosting extraordinaire Jennifer Love Hewitt is the perfect precursor to the holidays. On this midweek Zoom, the 45-year-old is decked out in a sparkly gold number, fighting a lost voice and cold but still with as much energy as you’d imagine. This holiday season, Hewitt is partnering with chocolate brand Ferrero Rocher to “help people elevate their celebrations” via a new campaign called Add Your Golden Touch and, as she shared with us, the “magical moments” come with a very personal and emotional side.
I don’t think anyone can argue that they don’t like this chocolate. What made you partner with them?
I was really honored to be asked, honestly. Ferrero Rocher comes with such a nostalgic feeling, which I love. I also come with a nostalgic feeling for people, since I’m 109 in the entertainment industry! It seemed like a great fit. I’m also in the middle of this magical year with my book and movie. Plus, I am a holiday junkie and I love magic in general. I love all things gold. I love chocolate. As a host, I love being able to create special moments for people. That’s what the campaign is all about—adding this golden touch and magic to your holiday season and making people feel special and happy when they leave. I was really honored and it’s been so fun so far. I’ve seen such a positive response from people about the partnership and that really means a lot to me.
What is your holiday routine? Do you have any special traditions? I take it you are into it early.
Yes. I’m holiday all the time. Did someone say holiday? Let’s go. I’m always ready. This year, we’re doing an open-door policy, I like to call it. We want to see so many people and be able to do all the celebrating. But it’s hard to get everybody together all at the same time. Our vibe this year is very much: “Give us a call and we will have a charcuterie board ready!” We’ll also have a Ferrero Rocher pyramid ready to go. Then, champagne for us and apple cider for the kids. Just drop in, say hello and be given some magic and cheer. And, hopefully, feel better than when you arrived. That’s our vibe for this holiday season.
So far, it’s been great. We’re all feeling really hopeful and joyful for this time. That’s our vibe this year. Our traditions are mainly the tree. We do it the same way every year. My husband Brian does the lights by himself because that part is frustrating. But we create vibes all around him while he’s doing it. Then, we join together as a family for the ornaments. At the end, the kids toast in fancy glasses with Martinelli’s and Brian makes his famous Christmas cocktail for us. On the first night, we have a “cheers,” sit back and enjoy our tree.
That sounds like a lot of fun. You also have a book coming out now and the topic is emotional. How is that going?
The book came about because I realized I hadn’t really said anything about my mother since she passed. I just didn’t have the words until now. It started as just me being like, “I need to offload some more grief and I feel ready to talk about her.” And I did just that. I would get up at 4:30 in the morning, breastfeed our son…I sat at a desk with Santa lights all around it just to create a vibe. I honestly would sob my eyes out. Sometimes, I’d get a lot of words down. Sometimes, not very many. Brian would come in and I would ask: “Can I read you something?” Then he would cry. He was like, “I think this is really good for you. Just keep going.”
About five or six months after doing that, I was like, wait a minute. After she passed, I was most afraid that all the magic I knew was gone. Because she was magic. I looked around my house…I realized I had inherited it all. That is what she was doing. She was teaching it to me. She was giving it to me to make my own. Now, I had the capability to create that not only for our friends, but my family and my children and hopefully pass it on to them, too.
Once that clicked, then the book found its way and its shape. Brian and I had to figure out, “Do we show the kids? Do we not? Do we tell this? Do we not?” Again, it was really hard to do the book without them because they are my magic and our magic. We’re really proud of it.
Thank you for sharing that. It sounds like a special read. Since we are a beauty magazine, I have to ask: What are your holy grails?
I’ve sworn by Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream forever. For all things! Flights, when it’s cold, when you’re having skin flare-ups, dry lips, I put it on my kids. I’ve even used it for diaper rashes, truth be told because it works amazingly. It’s been around 100 years—as have I—and I love it. I’m a big Charlotte Tilbury person. Fenty Beauty, Rare Beauty, love all of their stuff.
My daughter’s very into Laneige. We love all the Laneige. We love all the lip masks and all of that stuff. I’m obsessed with Hourglass at the moment. They have this under-eye cream that is like putting a thick lip balm underneath your eyes at night and you wake up and you could swear the fine lines have disappeared. You’re like, thank God. They come back, but you wake up in the morning and you feel good. I’m big into that. Big into ice rollers, big into all the things. I love beauty things and my daughter’s obsessed now; she’s about to be 11 and in her beauty product era. It’s very cute.
