The extremely talented Sarah Levy may be best-known for an epic few years starring as the beloved character “Twyla Sands” on the Emmy-, Golden Globes– and SAG Award–winning comedy series Schitt’s Creek—but this is one actress who also has a solid background when it comes to what’s good in beauty products. Levy can currently be seen in Season 2 of SYFY’s drama series, SurrealEstate (Season 2’s finale is tonight) and a supporting role in Roku’s five-episode holiday series titled The Holiday Shift. In-between it all, she caught up with us about what’s solid in skin care.
You have two big projects, one that just hit, and one that airs the finale tonight. What are you excited to share with your fans?
Sarah: I love that they’re both vastly different. SurrealEstate is definitely a departure from things I’ve done in the past, whereas The Holiday Shift is more on-brand, if you will. It’s very exciting and very fun to be able to have two projects that are so different going at the same time. I’m very excited that we’re entering into our finale of our second season of SurrealEstate. It’s a big, very tense episode, which hopefully I think will be very satisfying for fans.
With The Holiday Shift, who doesn’t love anything holiday when it comes time for the holidays? I’m such an avid Christmas-movie watcher, shows, and all of that, so to be able to be a part of this show, which is such a wonderful talented cast…it was great. That was one of the things that drew me to it as well…just seeing everyone work together. I was completely blown away by everyone’s talent, comedy chops, and all of that. I’m excited to have everyone get into the Christmas spirit with it.
Amazing. Right now, in New York at least, the holiday parties are in full effect.
Sarah: Right…it’s very confusing, especially because I’m from Canada—Christmas stuff doesn’t really start until December for us. I’ve lived in Los Angeles now for more than 10 years, and it still catches me off guard every time Thanksgiving hits. Immediately, it’s like lights up, trees up, decorations up, everything just goes bananas after that weekend. It’s like, “Oh, yes, it’s finally December.” It always sneaks up on me.
Time most certainly flies. Are you the type of person that relaxes by the end of the year or do you have a lot going on in December?
Sarah: It really depends. Last year, when we were shooting SurrealEstate, we were shooting right up until the 18th, 19th, 20th of December. Generally, it feels more hectic than I’d like to feel. This year, we weren’t shooting, so now I have a little bit of time to breathe, time to spend with my husband and my son, get ready for the season, and not just be living in chaos, which it felt like the past two years.
On to the beauty questions: Is there anything that you have used forever or anything that you just discovered recently that you really like?
Sarah: Yes. Oh gosh, the list is endless. When it comes to skin care and beauty…the products out there are truly endless. I’m such a huge fan of Joanna Vargas. She really helped me strip down my regime. I think I was using so much of things at one time and she just pared everything down, moisturizers, serum, face wash. I found that the less product I tend to use the better.
I love Joanna and I’m also a huge fan of SkinCeuticals. I love their stuff.
Recently, I just bought a serum from CLEARSTEM. That’s my new I discovery and I’m really, really loving that as well. I tend to stick to old classics, but I’ve been branching out a little bit more. I love CLEARSTEM. I’ve also been trying some Caudalie creams, which I love as well. Listen, I could be sold on literally anything, so walking into a CVS or a Sephora is very dangerous for me.
You can’t go wrong with SkinCeuticals. They have the best Vitamin C serum. Can you share anything you used on “Schitt’s Creek?”
Sarah: Gosh, it was so long ago and I’m trying to remember! But for foundations and stuff we were using Armani’s Luminous Silk ($69), which I love! We also used Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream ($100) on SurrealEstate, which was great as well. We shot that in Newfoundland, and it was incredibly cold! We also used a ton of Susanne Kaufmann.
Her line is lovely.
Sarah: Oh my gosh, it’s so nice.
It’s really nice. Try her body products—they are some of the best.
Sarah: Oh my gosh, I haven’t tried. I’ll try them—that’s great to know.
My last question: When you moved from Canada to Los Angeles, what did you notice was the biggest difference, beauty-wise, aging-wise, just anything-wise that was surprising?
Sarah: Oh, man…that’s tough. In L.A., beauty and skin care and all of that, feels like it’s at the forefront of women’s minds—especially in the entertainment industry. Everyone is looking for the magic.
That was the biggest thing that I noticed when I first got here…but I think it’s even bigger now, with social media, Instagram and TikTok. Skin care is literally blowing up! When I speak with some of my friends who have tweens—kids who are 10, 11—their whole Christmas list is just skin care. It’s so strange. I guess it’s starting to become more universal.
Going back to the original question, I think it’s important to just take really good care of your skin—wear sunscreen!
