In the beauty industry, we love to hammer home the message about the importance of SPF a lot, but for Michelle Monaghan, her advocacy for it is personal. "I was diagnosed with melanoma and thankfully recovered from it," the U Beauty Global Ambassador tells Cosmo during an exclusive interview. "I now understand that most skin cancers are preventable. All we have to do is wear sunscreen and incorporate it into our daily routines." It's something that she wishes she could tell her younger self to do, to not "take your skin health for granted."
Having spent a lot of time in Thailand shooting in the sun for the wildly popular third season of White Lotus, Monaghan also takes on board the beauty benefits of sunscreen too, namely, in her words, 'preventative ageing'.
As well as being diligent with her SPF, the rest of her beauty is a combo of hydration and actives. "I start my morning with a gentle cleanse, then I use the U Beauty Resurfacing Compound because it's my holy grail. It targets a lot of concerns that I have, and it works beautifully," she says. "Then I apply the new The SMOOTH Dynamic Wrinkle Defense Serum over the Resurfacing Compound. They work really well in tandem. I love how the smooth targets my fine lines and wrinkles; it’s just a wonderful product. The longer I've used it, the more I've seen the results."
Along with sharing skincare secrets and what's in their bathroom cabinets, Hollywood's in an era where stars are more frank about surgery and tweakments than they have ever been. Monaghan thinks it's great that the industry is more candid and open about things now.
"It's nice that people feel that they're in an environment where they can talk about what makes them happy. Everybody should just do what floats their boat, to be honest," she notes. "I think that we live in a time where we have access, maybe in excess, of things that we can research. But I think that the more that we're privy to and the more that we can find the right things that work for everyone or for each other, for yourself, you can make informed decisions. I think that's amazing."
Starting her career as a model, an industry known for its harsh critique of women's looks, Monaghan learnt a lot about self-confidence. "I think having the opportunity to model gave me a lot of body awareness and gave me confidence to be in front of the camera. It allowed me to work with amazing creatives who were really inspiring, including makeup and hair. So that was a wonderful prelude to becoming an actress," she says. "By the time I'd finished my modelling years, I had built a very thick skin, because you hear ‘no’ a lot in the modelling industry. I learned perseverance, work ethic, and confidence – necessary qualities for a career in Hollywood."
And the beauty product that's stuck with her since then until now? "Probably the MAC Spice lip pencil," she admits. "I still love that look and feel like it's come back around. I now use Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk. It’s lovely how it enhances your natural lip colour, and then I modernise it with The U Beauty Plasma Lip Compound in Universal."
Now, though Monaghan leans on her teen daughter, Willow, to keep her informed in the makeup world, "It's quite funny, because she's very well-versed in beauty and I’m well-versed in skincare, so we swap secrets – she helps me with my makeup and I help her by encouraging her to wear SPF on a daily basis," she says. "My daughter also has amazing brows, and I encourage her not to pluck them and highlight that her brows are what make her uniquely beautiful. I remind her that fads and trends come and she should always embrace her uniqueness."
Also, like most daughters, she's not immune to 'borrowing’ her mum's products. "She's very creative, and I get to look at her products and ask her questions. And on the other hand, she steals my U Beauty products. She has every Plasma Lip Compound shade!"
Keeks Reid is the Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan UK. While she loves all things beauty, Keeks is a hair fanatic through and through. She started her career in beauty journalism in 2013 as editorial assistant at Blackhair and Hair magazines working her way to Acting Editor of Blackhair magazine at 23 years old. She spent much of her career working in trade hairdressing media at Hairdressers Journal, Salon International and the British Hairdressing Awards. Which is why she is a regular contributor to Cosmo's Curl Up franchise. Now, alongside her Cosmo work, she presents, creates content on social media and works with a range of beauty companies; from magazines and websites to beauty brands and salons.
