There’s something captivating about Nicola Coughlan both on and off the screen. In Channel 4’s comedy series Derry Girls, she quickly won our hearts as headband-wearing teacher’s pet Clare Devlin. In Netflix’s Bridgerton, she stood out from the rest of the ton for her earnest enthusiasm, daring independence and tumbling copper curls (not to mention her shocking double-life as Lady Whistledown). In Big Mood, she beautifully juggled the complexities of friendship and mental health, and recently, she's been kicking it back as Doctor Who's latest sidekick, Joy Almondo.
Off-screen, she’s known for her experimental red carpet beauty choices (including electric blue eyeshadow), her down-to-earth (excitable) energy and her commendable boundaries when it comes to trolls. She previously shut down body-shamers in a heartfelt Tweet, stating, “if you have an opinion about my body please, please don’t share it with me.” Meanwhile on her most recent Bridgerton press tour she torpedoed a question about “braving nudity” with the most iconic response, answering: “You know it is hard because I think women with my body type — women with perfect breasts, we don't get to see ourselves on screen enough and I'm very proud as a member of the perfect breast community. I hope you enjoy seeing them").
Ahead of interviewing her, I asked the GLAMOUR team what they'd want to know from Nicola. Before I even let slip that she was working with Neutrogena on her latest project – a skincare campaign centred around Main Character Energy – the focus was obvious: “how does she get her skin that gooood? Would love to know the skincare products she gatekeeps!”
Nicola laughs when I tell her this as we chat over Zoom. “That’s so nice,” she beams in her singsong Galway accent. She knows more than most about keeping her complexion in check and also about getting into character, which is why we couldn't wait to tap her up for all her intel.
Here she spills exclusively on her skincare secrets, her run-ins with eyebrow tweezers and the secret to faking it til you make it. Here’s what she had to say…
You really don't need to overspend and overcomplicate with skincare. I think the industry can make you feel like you do and you don't. I'm never interested in skincare unless I know that it's effective and also scientifically backed and derm-recommended, that's why I love Neutrogena. It's such an iconic brand. I remember using it when I was younger – dunno if you remember the grapefruit wash – that was a really big one.
When I was younger, I used to be terrified to step out without makeup. It was like it was the worst thing in the world. Then I went to drama school, where you’re not allowed to wear makeup so you can adapt to any character necessary. I was horrified. But eventually, it taught me to accept myself in my own skin and made room for makeup to become a fun thing, not a defensive thing. Now, I love makeup, and I love being able to celebrate it, but I can totally go without it.
I really love the transformative part of acting. It's so nice to sit in a makeup chair with a really talented artist and look in the mirror at the end of an hour, or two and go, ‘wow, I look so different, I don't feel like myself anymore’. It just takes you a bunch of steps towards being that character. And conversely, I love at the end of the day taking it all off and seeing myself again because it feels like you get to leave that character there and go home and just be you. Last year, I filmed both Bridgeton and Big Mood at the same time. Bridgeton is super heightened with lots of really beautiful makeup and wigs and everything. Then with Big Mood, sometimes it was literally no makeup and dirty hair. If I went in and looked like exactly like myself every day, I would find it much harder.
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Honestly, I think one of the biggest things when it comes to confidence is just faking it until you make it. I remember years ago, I'd be going into auditions and I'd be racked with self doubt and I still have a lot of that where you're like, ‘I don't know if I'm going to be right for this and they're going to know.’ I sort of realised: that energy is going to come off in the room and even if you don't believe it yourself, just fake it. Just pretend it's fine. I think women really struggle. Most of my friends struggle with imposter syndrome on some level and not feeling good enough, but just give yourself a break and be like: ‘no, I can't do this.’ Tell yourself the lie and then maybe you'll start to believe it.
When I was younger, I didn't realise the importance of SPF, but I was very much an indoors kid, which I think probably saved me a lot, As I’ve gotten older, it's SPF 50 every day. The Hydro Boost SPF is great. It's an easy step, it's not super complicated, you don't need to put loads on.
I also think knowing what active ingredients do for your skin and what products they're in is really important. Use the trusted products. There's a reason they’ve been around a long time. Now I’m in my thirties, the Retinol Boost range is a really good one. If there's fine lines and wrinkles, it will just help plump it out and leave skin fresher. And I really like the Hydro Boost range with the hyaluronic acid, especially when I'm traveling a lot because air travel just dries your skin out. Even if you're on the tube every day or on the bus, it's all of that recycled air and you're living in a city, you're battling against the elements all the time.
Another beauty rule I swear by is always moisturise your neck! Nora Ephron said it. You're already doing your face. Just whack it down your neck as well.
I've always had an interest in skincare. I think young people now are so clued in and my generation, we didn't have TikTok to tell us all these things. We were trying our best, you know what I mean? Now I'm like 'let's keep it simple'. If you want to try a trend, do it with makeup, there’s less of a chance of burning your skin off or ending up with half an eyebrow.
I love a hydrating facial. I usually go to Shane Cooper, who is fantastic and does this aqua facial that’s amazing for my skin. I also love skincare specialist Jasmina Vico, who sees everyone from Phoebe Waller-Bridge to Jodie Comer, and is like a skin wizard. She has this wonderful microneedling treatment that really helps to even out skin tone.
I love a skincare gadget, and I love a proper facial where they're like, absolutely sucking stuff out of your face.
I recently did an infrared sauna for the first time. You can't believe how much you’re sweating, but you feel amazing afterwards. I'm all in for a treatment and I'm very into LED face masks. I just got one from Current Body. Again, it all comes down to efficacy. I'm not going to try something that doesn’t have the science to back it up.
I also like to use a face roller before a shoot or event. I have it in the freezer, I'll get in the car and I'll just be rolling my face tot take the puffiness down. Get your creams on, and then roll them in.
Looking back over my years experimenting with beauty, I’ve definitely had a few blunders. I had insanely over-plucked eyebrows at one point. They were literally like one hair thick all the way along. I think a lot of girls who came of age in the early nineties know the feeling. I'm very blessed that they grew back. I have pictures that, thankfully, I've not found on the internet yet. I've seen some really old pictures of me and I'm like, how do people find those?! But yeah, the no-eyebrow phase was rough, and I didn't just do it to myself, I did it to my best friend and my sister. I was like, this is what you need to do, and I plucked them off. My sister reminded me of it recently when we went to fashion week together and I was like, I'm sorry!!! Brow blindness is a thing. I'm going to try not to succumb to whatever the next crazy brow trend is. I think I've gotten to that stage of my life and I'm like, I don't need to do this.
I've definitely become a lot lazier with makeup over the last few years. I think it's because I now work with amazing hair and makeup artists both on set and getting ready for events all the time. Now, when I sit down to do my makeup, I'm like, it's not as good. They are trained professionals who are amazing at what they do. I leave the very experimental looks to the events. I was just at the Dior show in Paris and I was like, 'I want to go grungy and brat.’ Halley Brisker did my hair and Neil Young did my makeup and they executed it so well. I was like, I could never do that myself.
At home, I like to keep it really simple. I love makeup, but I don't personally love makeup that makes my features look really different, if you know what I mean. I just don't look very good with the super contoured look or over-lined lips. I feel a little silly, whereas I think some people who are very glam, it can look great on them. Day to day, I want my skin to look really nice and fresh and glowy. I'll just brush my brows, then I do a lot of mascara. That's the thing I love.
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I think sometimes people can look down on beauty and generally poo-poo things that are geared towards women, but beauty is so important. It's an expression of who we are. That’s what I love about Bridgerton and the Regency era. Women were able to use beauty to express themselves creatively and build a sense of identity. It could be so elaborate or soft and feminine, and that’s really inspiring.
"If you have an opinion about my body please, please don’t share it with me."
My advice when it comes to your skin is take it easy on yourself. Don't expect your skin to be perfect every day. No one's skin is perfect every day. If you get a spot, that's fine, we all do. Online, I really try personally not to alter or filter my pictures, I just think it's unrealistic. One thing I really loved about working on this campaign, when I spoke to Neutrogena, was I said I don't want these images to be really photoshopped. And they were like, yeah, no, why would we do that? I was like, that's great. If we're selling skincare, you want to see skin. I have pores and I get spots. Honesty is super important. Also, if you see a picture of me on a red carpet, I've had a professional team of hair and makeup artists making me look that way. It's a lot of fantasy and we just have to be kind to ourselves and know that it's not how people look every day.
I feel like I never give myself enough time, but I really love that part. I like to put some music on, maybe have a glass of champagne. I have a big mirror that I sit in front of on the floor to do my makeup. It's nice to invest the time in yourself and just enjoy it. Even taking my makeup off at night, I find it really enjoyable.
I love my job. I love what I get to do and I feel really lucky to have raised money for different charities from really generous people that follow me. I'm an ambassador for Laura Lynn, which is the children's hospice in Ireland for Choose Love, the incredible refugee charity. And my followers raised £2 million for the Palestinian Children's Relief Funds. I feel so honoured and grateful that the people that follow me want to raise money for these vital causes. It just speaks so much to people's generosity and their compassion. There's so much good in the world and the world can feel like a really dark place, but like, look what people did! Look how generous they are. Even if people can't contribute financially to a campaign, the fact that they share it means so much.
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