Why Gillian Anderson Swears by This $16 Night Cream Could Completely Transform Your Skin Routine (And It’s from Your Local Drugstore)
Ever wondered what it feels like to redefine empowerment and beauty—not just on the red carpet but in the raw, unfiltered moments of life? Gillian Anderson, the multi-talented actress and New York Times bestselling author, isn’t just gracing the Cannes Film Festival with her presence; she’s shaking up how we think about self-worth, desire, and aging. At 57, she’s stepping into new roles—both on screen and off—championing women’s stories and celebrating the ever-evolving concept of beauty through her partnership with L’Oréal Paris. If you think beauty stops at a certain age, think again—Anderson’s journey proves it’s an ongoing, vibrant dialogue that’s as much about the mind as it is the mirror. Curious about her unconventional beauty hacks and the bold new book revealing anonymous women’s fantasies? Stick around; it’s 5 minutes well spent. LEARN MORE
5 min readGillian Anderson is a beloved actress, The New York Times bestselling author, and an ambassador for L’Oréal Paris. She also just had a film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the first of her career.
Next up for the 57-year-old is the September release of More, a collection of anonymous letters from women about their desires and sexual fantasies, a follow-up to her 2024 book Want. “I, for the last few years, have been quite outspoken, particularly about women and women’s empowerment in my work outside of my work as an actor, and this partnership with L’Oréal gives me another space and another platform to talk about that stuff,” she says. “A lot of that does actually center around around worth and self-esteem.”
For Anderson, her work with the beauty brand goes beyond just talking about night cream and skincare science. “They are such big champions of not just of women, but also really encouraging everyone to think about beauty as not being something that has an end date, but something that keeps on ongoing,” she adds.
Here, the actress and author shares more of her beauty philosophy for Harper’s Bazaar’s Better With Age.
How does it feel to be at the Cannes Film Festival this year with L’Oréal Paris?
It’s very cool. It has a little bit of a different meaning for me at the minute, because I was here last week with the first film that I’ve ever had in my career in competition. It got very good reception, so coming off the back of that feels awesome. I’m still slightly buzzing from that, and also because I’m presenting an award tonight for young female filmmakers, so getting to participate in that and to talk about film and championing young women filmmakers feels very cool. The submissions were fantastic—there are a couple in particular that were very, very special. I feel very honored.
How has your idea of self-worth changed over time?
Well, when I was first asked to be a L’Oréal ambassador, and I was trying to imagine myself saying that slogan [“because you’re worth it”], my first thought was that it was, I don’t know, a bit cheesy? That it wasn’t really something that I feel comfortable saying. And then I saw that the documentary about [advertising copywriter] Ilon Specht and understood a bit more about the origins of the slogan, and also what the intention has always been for L’Oréal, just in terms of encouraging women to embrace their sense of self-worth, and ultimately there’s their self-esteem. If you can say that slogan to yourself in your head or out loud, and not be ashamed of it, and not feel like you’re embarrassed, or even not believe it, because you don’t believe that you are worth it, you know?
What are your essentials when traveling to a festival like Cannes, or just traveling in general?
When traveling, I always have a Panorama mascara with me in my purse since I was first introduced to it.
Do you do brown or black?
Always black. I love the coverage, and I love how easy it is to take off. Sometimes I might be layering it on a couple days. That’s a definite go-to for me. And I’ve got these little, little containers too, of the Age Perfect Night Cream. I just do my best to not sleep with my makeup and take it off and properly moisturize—all the basic essential things.
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So many people fear growing older, but in your opinion, what is the best part about it?
I remember in my 20s and 30s feeling worried all the time, and it felt like I had a running intensity, almost like a running agitation in my head. Like an argument, constant conversations going on in my head the whole time, and just a lot of noise, and also self-judgment. I spent many, many years being very self-judgmental and negative in my head about myself, and wasting a lot of hours and a lot of time. I think that the fact that it doesn’t exist in my head right now, it’s taken some work, as it’s not just age that has put it in the rearview mirror, I’ve definitely worked at it. Nothing matters so much anymore. I don’t feel like I hold on to things so tightly. It’s much easier to just shrug things off and let things be.
Your next book, More, is publishing in September. What do you hope all women sort of take away from the book about desire, beauty, or fantasy from this next project of yours?
It’s a follow-on from the first book, Want, and so it’s similar in what the original ask was: asking women to submit their anonymous fantasies. It’s the same ask, different women, and a much broader scope of submissions, more international. I’m very pleased about that. They do feel that there’s something bolder about them, in a way. It almost felt like with the first submissions, there was a little bit of nervousness around, you know, “Would it really be anonymous? Will I get away with this? Am I going to be found out? I’ve never said this out loud before.” I think because of the success of the first book and the events that have taken place after the fact, it’s kind of built up a community. It was talked about so much, there were so many, particularly women journalists, who really kind of took it upon themselves to champion it, and you know it became a real talking point.
It’s very interesting in how the letters themselves almost feel that much more confident, and there are definitely some bolder ones. With the first one, what I understood women really appreciated was if they submitted, being able to tell other people about this thing in their head that maybe they had felt quite a lot of shame about, or had read something that they felt was either similar to their own fantasy, or read something about another person who submitted that felt like they identified with and therefore felt seen in a way. That they weren’t the only one who had these thoughts or feelings, or beliefs, or fears. It really is a coming together in a way, and it has a tendency to bring women of all ages together, not just in conversation but in identification, and a sense of agency.
Can you just give us a quick breakdown of your current beauty routine? What are you using?
It’s very, very simple. First and foremost, it starts with, are you going to take your makeup off in the evening? Now, most of the time I don’t wear makeup. If I leave the house, I will have mascara on, and so sometimes it’s only, are you going to clean your eyes before you go to sleep or not? And so that’s the first step. So if I do actually take that step and clean off my makeup or my eye makeup, then I will most likely follow it up with moisture. If I do use a moisturizer, it’s most definitely going to be Age Perfect Night Cream. And then in the morning, I don’t usually cleanse again, and I don’t often put on a moisturizer. But if I do put on a moisturizer, it’s likely to be the Age Perfect serum, which is really lovely and silky, and light. I don’t like a lot of thickness and goopiness.
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