Julianne Hough has never been one to hold back, and she’s not about to start now. The dancer, actress and host of Dancing with the Stars has spent the last few years exploring everything from lasers to neurotoxins, and she’s making a refreshing and compelling case that talking openly about injectables should be as normal as crediting a trainer or a great colorist. She’s had her share of trial and error (including one memorable photoshoot with a droopy eyelid), but she's finally found her match with one specific skin-enhancing neurotoxin.
We got to talk to the star about her go-to treatment, why being honest about aesthetics is so important and the inspiration she’s bringing home from her Euro summer.
When did you first become interested in cosmetic treatments?
“Probably back when I was like 27 or 28, I started with the baby version. Then I got more into lasers and things like that, about two or three years ago. Daxxify was maybe a year ago, and now I definitely won’t use anything else.”
Why are you loyal to Daxxify now?
“I love that it’s a peptide-based formula. Whether or not it’s because I have this association with health surrounding it, it just makes me feel better—I also feel like I know more about it, which helps too. Now that I’ve actually done it, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ You can really tell the difference. I thought it was going to be a lateral move. I was not expecting much, but it really shocked me.”
What’s the number one benefit from Daxxify that surprised you?
“100 percent, the skin changes. I had no idea that was going to happen. I think that was even more so [exciting to me] than that it kicks in faster or that it lasts longer. Like, those are great, great benefits, but I think it's the skin for me.”
Where do you usually treat?
“11s and frown lines. I don’t mind smile lines—I think they’re really beautiful. But I hate it when makeup feels cakey, and that’s why I like Daxxify so much: it feels plump, like skin. I still have a few cute little lines, but everything’s smoother. It doesn’t feel like I’m just putting makeup on top—it still feels like it’s in my skin."
Your skin is glowing like crazy. Are you using a lot of skin-care products, or do you just have kind of a natural glow now?
“I’m telling you, when I get Daxxify—I just got it recently—when I first get it, I’m like, whoa. It’s such an enhancer of your natural aliveness. I keep saying ‘aliveness’ because it feels like the opposite of what it normally feels like [to get injectables]. I feel like my skin has never looked better.”
What do you hope to communicate to fans through your collaboration with Daxxify? Is transparency part of it?
“There’s so much out there, and so many people looking incredible, and everybody is curious as to what they’re doing, and the transparency is so nice because it makes you feel like it’s attainable and not just genetics.
Then there’s the part that’s like, I think it’s horrible to hold secrets, and I don’t think you should feel shame about being honest about it if it's making you feel confident and great. We talk about trainers we use for our body and about hiring a nutritionist to help with our health. Why are we not talking about the things that are enhancing [our face]? Because there’s a stigma that beauty is bad? That’s an awful thing.
As pro-women, we should be sharing what makes you feel amazing versus having to be like ‘we're all natural beauties, and if you do anything, then that's bad.’ You know, like what the f—k? Like, what man decided that? Like ew. It also makes the standard feel higher when you're keeping something a secret. When you're just talking about it, it’s just another thing.
Right, it can be as simple as sharing the serum we use.
“Right, or it’s the same as how I get highlights in my hair to make my face look better and change the shape and color and tone—like all the things that we do. Why are we not also just owning it?”
I love it. It can be challenging when people don’t want to be candid.
“That’s my question. Can that person just close their eyes, breathe in, and be like, ‘What am I hiding?’ This is a bigger conversation than I think, just beauty on the outside.”
How do you ensure your cosmetic treatments soften lines and do what you want them to do without compromising the emotions you need for work and performing?
“Well, honestly, I feel like I've figured it out with Daxxify and the person that's doing it. I’m not going to lie, I had one experience a couple of years ago where one of my eyes was halfway down. I was at a photoshoot, and the person was asking my makeup artist, ‘Hey, her one eye is looking a little droopy,’ and she's like, ‘Girl, there's nothing I can do,’ and so it's been trial and error. I've had some weird experiences, and so it’s a good thing it metabolized and went away. Thank God. But I will say that my experience with Daxxify has been very natural.
A lot of the time it's good to know what you don’t like just as much as what you do like, so you can be clear and say, ‘I want it to be as natural as possible. I want to look like me. I just want preventative, long-term maintenance versus a whole change.’”
I was living through your Euro summer adventures. What, if any, ethos or lifestyle changes did you observe in how they live that you want to bring home with you?
“Presence. Presence is peace. And I think as Americans, we are so lucky that we have the opportunity to hustle and grind and do all the things that we love. But then we go to the places that live with presence on a daily basis, and their health, their anxiety, their depression—all of it is so much lower than ours.
And so we’re going there to get a quick fix versus how do we integrate that into our actual life, and I think that instead of adding more and more to our regimens, I think taking away things is probably the best way to look at it and do things as simply as possible. We're just always trying to add to make things better, versus how do we take away? Because we’re already at capacity, guys.”
