Scarlett Johansson on Her Go-To Lip Combo and Turning 40

Despite the moaning and groaning over the influx of celebrity beauty brands on the market, you have to admit, when they’re good, they’re really good. Typically, a great celebrity beauty brand shines when it feels authentic to the celeb behind it, like Sabrina Carpenter’s sugary-sweet fragrances or Rihanna’s industry-changing shade range. Such is the case with The Outset, which was created as a solution for Scarlett Johansson’s ultra-sensitive, acne-prone skin.

The actor’s fingerprints are all over the line, from the gentle formulas to the refillable packaging. However, no product in the collection feels as much of a reflection of Johansson (and her iconic lips) as the brand’s newest launch, the Lip Oasis Glossy Treatment, a super-shiny lip gloss that actually hydrates. “I love to participate in lip gloss, I just can’t use most lip glosses because I have very dry lips,” Johansson tells Byrdie. “When we were formulating the gloss, it had to have the same level of hydration of the entire line that customers have come to expect. It really is skincare for your lips, but it has the fun, glossy effect.”

In honor of the launch, we caught up with Johansson to chat everything beauty. Ahead, her go-to lip combination, fall skincare favorites, and the life advice she always comes back to.

The One Lip Combo She Loves

“I still love my [MAC] Spice lip liner. I also love the Pillow Talk one, too, which is like a taupe-y color, that one’s such a great color. And I love Charlotte Tilbury, she’s a wonderful person and so talented. I love all of the taupe colors of her pencils, so [Pillow Talk] is good, or I’ll use the Spice Liner and then the Pillow Talk lipstick. I love that under the Lip Oasis.”

The Fall Skincare Routine She Swears By

“I’m already using our Boosting Oil drops because my skin is so dry when the seasons change, I just get so dry everywhere. The Boosting Oil is good on your lips, too. In the fall, my skin gets really dull, so I find cycling between the products is sometimes better than using the same thing every night. I wash my face, I use the Prep Serum, always—I’m obsessed with the serum. And then sometimes I’ll use the Night Cream, sometimes I’ll put the Boosting Oil in the Night Cream, sometimes I’ll just use the Boosting Oil. So I just try to switch it up a little bit, like every other week just to give my skin a rest.

“I have very, very dry skin, so the Exfoliating Micro Polish is awesome, too. I use that in the shower a couple days a week, and it’s wonderful. You can mix it in with the cleanser or add a little water to it if you want it to be a thinner consistency, but it’s great. I also use it on my lips! It’s so gentle.”

The One Piece of Advice That Changed Her Skin

"Probably my sister being like, 'Don't look in a magnifying mirror, stop picking at your skin.' I always make giant problems for myself that were not there before. And it's a mental willpower thing, not going for every little thing that you see, and just letting your skin work itself out, and using the Micro Polish, and doing a light exfoliation—that usually it does the trick—and then just go to the dermatologist. You don't have to extract it all yourself!

"And then, growing up, even when I was very young, my mom was like, 'You need to adopt a skincare routine, you have to wash your face before you go to bed, don't leave makeup on your face.' All that stuff was very helpful for me, but I the number one thing is, don't look at yourself in the magnifying mirror and make your problems worse."

The One Product Always In Her Bag

“Our Rescue Balm, I carry it with me everywhere. I really use it for everything. And it’s like this communal pot now—probably not the thing I should be advocating for during cold and flu season. But seriously, two days ago, I was on a job, and I was using it on my cuticles and my lips, and then this giant dude next to me was like ‘Can I get some of that? My hands are really dry?'”

The One Thing She Does Before a Red Carpet

"I don't know if it's nerves, or because I'm exhausted, I don't know what it is, but I get freezing right before I have to go [to a carpet]. It's the weirdest thing. I'll get all my hair and makeup ready, and then I'm freezing. So I'll run a hot half bath, and I soak my feet before I go out, just to get warm. I know that sounds so strange, I don't know why I like that, maybe it's because I'm in an air conditioned room, in a terry cloth robe. Maybe it's part of my centering."

The One Thing Inspiring Her Right Now

"Probably my daughter. My daughter is 10, and it's unbelievable the vocabulary that she has that I didn't have when I was a young girl or tween. The other day, I was like, 'Oh, you're being so crazy.' And she was like, 'Mom, I don't like it when you say that, because it makes me feel like you don't think that I'm in my right mind.' And I was like, Oh, my God, I don't event think about the words that I'm using. It's more about validating her feelings. To me that's an inspiring thing, to be able to stand up to yourself and know what you need. That's awesome, and that's not the way I was raised. So she inspires me all the time like that."

The One Thing She Does Before Bed

"I take magnesium. I know that everybody is taking magnesium now. It's so helpful, it really makes a huge difference, especially in my digestion and my recovery, it's awesome."

The One Thing She Does Every Morning

"Unfortunately, I check my phone as soon as I wake up, I would like to go wash my face, do my skincare, brush my teeth. I know I shouldn't do it, but it's there."

The One Thing She Wishes Everyone Knew

"I have learned over time to just accept that everything changes, and basically the one thing you can count on is an eventual end, and the other thing you can count on is that everything changes all the time. And I think that's an important lesson for me. I am also constantly reminding myself of that—when times are challenging that this is going to change, and when times are really great I'm also like this is also going to change. Things are always moving.

"And I try to talk to my kids about that a lot, weather it's to sit through uncomfortable moments because they're going to pass. And then sometimes you're going to be disappointed because you were on this big high and then it isn't anymore. It's just constantly reminding myself that everything changes."

The One Time That She Feels The Most Herself

"I'm going to be 40 this year, and I feel more like myself all the time. I feel less like I have to be posturing or pandering than I ever have. But I think that just comes with time. When I was younger, it was like, you have a lot of different selves, and they feel very disjointed, and that can be kind of debilitating in itself.

"But I think as I've gotten older, I'm like, Oh yeah, I can be all these different versions of myself, but they're all kind of connected to 'core' me. And also understanding who I am with different people, and that's all part of one whole person, and that's okay too. I feel most like myself now than I ever have in the past, approaching 40, like I'm mostly me."

The One '90s Trend She's Happy Is Back….

"Other than my Spice lip liner? I'm so into all the taupe-y makeup that was popular when I was in high school. I love it, it's so universally flattering. I'm really excited people are wearing makeup, I just I love makeup. I grew up loving makeup. My mom was a MAC girl growing up, I got my first MAC card when I was like 10. And so I love playful makeup, and I'm really happy that people are wearing it."

…And the One She Will Never Revisit

"I know those low rise, two inch, one inch zipper pants are back. I have friends that are in their early 20s that are wearing these now, and they look adorable. But I was never a person that could wear those pants, even when I was 22, they're just mostly unflattering for everybody and I'll never go back to them."

The Outset Lip Oasis Glossy Treatment