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Here’s What Camilla Luddington Gave Up to Get Better Skin

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Here’s What Camilla Luddington Gave Up to Get Better Skin featured image

Known best for her role as Dr. Jo Wilson on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, 32-year-old British beauty Camilla Luddington is a total beauty guru. Not only is she constantly swapping skin care secrets on set with her costars, but she’s also mastered the selfie on her Instagram feed, where she regularly dishes about her top makeup tips, favorite red-carpet looks and beyond to her more than 700,000 followers. Here, we got the latest scoop on all things Camilla from the star herself.

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NewBeauty: How do beauty routines differ in England versus the U.S.?
Camilla Luddington: What’s funny is that I think there is such a crossover of  “beauty secrets” between the U.S. and UK now through magazines/social media that I’m not sure anything is that different anymore. However, I think living in Los Angeles and being surrounded by some of the most amazing makeup artists in the world, you catch onto some tips there. Little things like how adding a nude or white-ish liner to your bottom lash line can make your eyes look wider. Or even how when trying to achieve the perfect cat’s-eye, if you take tape and stick it to the corner of your eye at the same angle, it’s much easier to apply liner. Peel off and you have the perfect cat’s-eye! 

NB: Playing a doctor on TV, you don’t typically wear a lot of makeup. How is your off-camera beauty regimen similar or different? 
CL: In real life, I absolutely wear less skin makeup, but more eye makeup. This season (12) there has been a concerted effort to make sure we look even more natural on camera. If you look back to previous seasons, you can see I’m wearing more lashes and eyeliner. Now, I barely wear any eye makeup on set. In my day-to-day life though, I’m a sucker for bronzed eye shadow and a chocolate brown liner. What I have taken from Grey’s though? I did buy the exact same lipsticks (I mix two) to wear in my real life. 

camalex

Camilla on the set of Grey’s Anatomy with her costar Justin Chambers (Dr. Alex Karev).

NB: What is your favorite beauty trend you’ve discovered in the last year?
CL: I’ve been thickening my eyebrows. I’ve grown an appreciation for thicker brows and I tend to fill them in much more then I ever did before. I actually use a mix of eye shadows to do it and I take a slanted brush to achieve the look. I do my own eyebrows for the show and also for the red carpet. I’m obsessive about them. If you look at old red-carpet pictures of me you’ll see that they are thinner. Maybe at some point I’ll go back to filling them in less, but for now, the thicker the better. 

NB: Many women say they notice changes in their skin and body when they hit 30. How do you approach getting older?
CL: What I’ve noticed with age is that fat on your body sits in a different way. I could gain a few pounds when I was younger and it still looked “firm.” Now it looks looser, if that makes sense—more jiggly. I’ve started reformer Pilates recently and it’s my latest obsession—at some point I’m gonna post a video of me doing it on Instagram. I swear I can already feel muscles ache in places I never knew existed. I think it might be the key for me in keeping my body firm and my core strong. 

NB: Do the female cast members on Grey’s share secrets behind the scenes?
CL: Jessica Capshaw [Dr. Arizona Robbins on the show] has the most to-die-for perfect skin in real life. She is diligent about her skin care and makes sure to get facials all the time. I NEVER used to get them, but now I’m forcing myself because I am in my 30s and understand that it’s money worth spent. I also didn’t used to care that much about moisturizing, but now I make sure to mix moisturizer with my foundation every morning. It also has an SPF in it so I’m getting the benefits of both.  

NB: What are your go-to beauty essentials? 
CL: I’ve recently suffered from breakouts. I cannot express more how much I love the concealer I use. It’s a Physicians Formula dual concealer—one end is yellow and one is a pale cream. I’m not being paid to promote it. It has been something I have discovered over MANY years of testing concealers. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, cuts out redness from my face more than the yellow side of this concealer. I use it on set every single day. I also use in real life under my eyes and on any breakout. I feel like most concealers only pale the red of a breakout, but the yellow on this one totally cuts the red color. It’s amazing. 

NB: What is one thing your fans would be surprised to learn about you? 
CL: I have recently struggled with bad breakouts. I thought I would never have an issue in my 30s—in my 20s I had perfect skin. It’s been frustrating, but I’m slowly finding what works for me to help keep my skin clear.

NB: On Instagram, you said you gave up dairy and it has helped clear up your skin. How did this come about?
CL: The area I break out on is my chin. I read that this is a hormonal breakout. The first thing I did to try and conquer it was take a look at my diet. I was vegan for a while a few years ago and during that time I remember my skin was glowing. It was perrrfect. I read that dairy can contain hormones and therefore effect your skin. I love cheese, so it’s hard to give it up, but my skin is important for my job so of course I cut out dairy again. The second I did, my skin started to improve again. My breakouts have been much less frequent, but once in a while I still get a cystic breakout. For that, I found a product that had been reviewed numerous times online and was actually being described as the cystic holy grail (Ding! Ding! Ding!). It’s called Renée Rouleau Anti-Cyst Treatment. I have found that this helps ENORMOUSLY! It’s almost water-like in texture, but basically it’s dramatically reduced the length of any of those deep deep breakouts I can get. I’m so excited because it’s my most recent find, and again, I’m not getting paid to talk about it. It’s just something I discovered myself and want to share…I even bought a bottle for my best friend who shares similar skin issues. 

NB: What do you for “me” time? 
CL: “Me time” for me is going out to brunch with my girlfriends. We are all extremely close and get to vent/laugh about our weeks almost every weekend over a delicious breakfast and a couple mimosas. I treasure it. It’s like therapy for me. 

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