Image/Nina Duncan
Sarah Wynter is busy. Like mom of three boys—two of them twins!—busy. She’s gorgeous, but is all about being effortless in her day-to-day life where she says her favorite style is “a ponytail.” Her latest project: playing Gina on the Amazon streaming series Goliath, created by David E. Kelley and Jonathan Shapiro, and starring opposite Billy Bob Thornton, William Hurt and Maria Bello. Recently, the 43-year-old sat down with us and dished on beauty hacks, Billy Bob Thornton and what it was like being the very first person to appear on Sex and the City.
On her day-to-day beauty battles…
“When I’m with the kids, I really have to choose my beauty battles when getting ready. Sometimes, forget even brushing my hair or even putting on deodorant. I throw a jacket over my pajamas, drive them to school, don’t get out of the car, and if my hair is really bad, I throw on a baseball cap. I have all boys—an 8-year-old and 5-year-old twins and they are very demanding of my attention, especially if I am occupied with doing something like washing my hair or putting on moisturizer or in my bathroom trying to put on makeup. So I have to pick and choose what I do.”
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On the one beauty move she does every day…
“I really try to put deodorant on; I try to have a quick shower. If I don’t get to wash my hair, I’ll put a little mascara on and I’ll always curl my lashes, but that’s an achievement. I don’t pay that too much attention to looking beautiful or looking pretty or even looking good. What I do try to do is the things that help keep my skin from falling off or my lips from getting chapped. I always put sunscreen on—no matter what—even in the winter, even on cloudy days.”
Image/Nina Duncan
On her really smart sunscreen trick…
“I grew up in Australia painfully aware of sun damage and skin cancer. I just knew how much the sun could age you. I think wearing sunscreen for so many years has really saved my skin. And I never apply it to my face and not apply it on my hands; I always put it on the backs of my hands. I like La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 ($30)—it’s really handy, it’s light and I’ve been wearing it forever. I was also just introduced to Image Skincare Prevention+ sunscreen by my makeup artist on the show. That one is really good. Then there is a really good natural one I found the last time I was in LA: ISUN Antioxidant Sun Butter ($38); it is thick and a little goes a long way. And I wear a hat ALL the time. Not a cool one; a wide-brimmed one with a hole in a the back for a ponytail.”
On her love of blowout bars…
“After all these years, I should know a lot more about hair and makeup! I’m the kind of person who doesn’t look in the mirror until hair and makeup is all done and then I have the ridiculous habit of looking up and saying, ‘Wow! That looks amazing! How did you do it?’ One thing I am really not good at is doing my own hair. I can wash it, I can air-dry it and do a beachy-wave thing, but that’s pretty much where it ends. I am a blowout bar aficionado. I know where every single one is in New York. I know where every single one is in LA. They are the best thing ever invented—ever. I really love drybar; I even have the app on my phone, which comes in handy when I’m traveling.”
Image/Nina Duncan
One her travel must…
“Those little vitamin E capsules are really great. You just squeeze a little out and put it around your eyes or on your hands. They don’t spill, they’re very compact and they’re like individually wrapped, perfect little moisturizing jewels.”
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On the multitasking Australian product she uses all the time…
“A makeup artist turned me on to Lucas Pawpaw Ointment. It’s an Australian drugstore product and I don’t know why I didn’t use it when I was growing up there. I use it to tame my eyebrows—they grow out very fast in a very mutant way—I use it on my elbows if they are dry, I use it on my lips, I’ll put it on my collarbone for a little shine, I’ve used it as a hand moisturizer. It’s also good for burns, cuts and diaper rash. So when I go back home, I get the industrial-size jars of them and I give them as gifts.”
On being behind-the-scenes of Sex and the City…
“I was the first person on the show. [Wynter played Elizabeth, a British woman who is dumped unceremoniously as she arrived in New York.] At the time, I was a young actress, and I sort of looked at it like, ‘I got a job. I did a pilot.’ Did I care if it got picked up? Not really. But now I look back and I can say that I was the first person to have sex on Sex and the City! If I do nothing else, that’s something! It just became such an iconic brand and this cultural phenomenon. It was really amazing to be there in that room on that first table read with Sarah Jessica Parker and all the other girls. I always thought though, wouldn’t it be great to bring that character back? If she had come back at some point and she had learned the ways of the city. Or maybe she moved back to London. Or maybe she died because she just couldn’t take it…. But it never happened.”
Image/Nina Duncan
On her latest role…
“The ingredients for the Goliath role were amazing. Because we are on Amazon, we aren’t confined to network standards for content. It was the most creatively fulfilling thing I’ve ever done. I’ve learned so much from these actors. It was pretty much the best acting course I could ever have taken. Billy Bob Thornton is so professional and so smart. He has the most amazing mind and he’s directed and he’s written, so he understands the entire process. He doesn’t just think like an actor; he’s thinking about all the elements. Filmmaking and television-making are such collaborative things, and you’re really only one part of a massive jigsaw. I just show up and do my thing. I learn my lines. I hit my mark. My job is an actor. But I was blown away that Billy Bob was able to keep track of so many things. This story, the character and the people involved was like hitting the lottery.”
