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When your job demands as much character range as Vanessa Kirby’s, it helps to have a beauty routine that brings you back to yourself.
You may know the 37-year-old actor from her role as Princess Margaret on Netflix’s The Crown, or from her Oscar-nominated performance in Pieces of a Woman. More recently, she transformed into Sue Storm opposite Pedro Pascal in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. To cement her status as a true industry chameleon, Vanessa has also taken on the role of producer for projects like Night Always Comes and The Disciple. And as of last autumn, she’s doing it all as a first-time mum.
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From period films to action franchises, Vanessa treats every project as a blank slate. Her creative process is driven by curiosity – a quality that she champions as the newest Lancôme brand ambassador. “I’m at my happiest when I’m exploring something new in a role or the world of the role,” Vanessa shared in her Lancôme partnership announcement. “There’s such an incredible joy in discovering a new perspective and seeing things differently in the world.”
That sentiment also applies to the actor’s off-camera approach to beauty. Vanessa, who studied quantum physics to better understand her forcefield-wielding Fantastic Four character, is always game for a deep dive: “I think you have to try everything out,” Vanessa tells Glamour. “I’m really lucky because on set we do actually get to test different things. So I found the stuff that lasts all day on camera, but you also get to see what works best for your skin.”
While she says she has borrowed certain beauty hacks from her iconic characters (more on that later), Vanessa says that she favours simplicity in her personal routines – and that she’s loyal to the products she loves. “I’m known outside of work to just use the same thing for a really long time,” she says. “Instead of constantly seeking out newer products, I look for things that feel lighter, less like makeup, better for your skin, those sorts of things.”
That mindset is exactly why Vanessa and Lancôme are a match made in beauty heaven. From classic red lipsticks to foundations made for seamless all-day wear (just a few of Vanessa’s favourites), the legacy brand is known for making beauty feel reliable, timeless, and primed for real life.
Ahead, Vanessa shares her best on-set beauty secrets, the products that gave her a boost postpartum, and the simple makeup formula that helps her recognise herself after a workday spent in a different decade – or universe.
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Glamour: What’s your favourite beauty secret you’ve borrowed from a character?
Vanessa Kirby: I learned a lot about lipstick on The Crown because [Princess Margaret] wore a lot of lipstick. I don’t wear a lot in my real life, but she inspired me a few years ago to be able to do it. Whenever I wear the L’Absolu Rouge from Lancôme, I’m reminded of that instant confidence it gives you.
It’s so multi-functional. You can dab some lightly on your lips for just a flush of colour during the day or get a fuller, bolder lip for a night out. You can even use it as blush, so really a great all-rounder.
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Since you have roots in theatre, do you also have experience doing your own character makeup?
With theatre, it’s the best because you don’t really think too much about it. You can just do it in five minutes on your own in your dressing room, and it’s almost like a ritual going into the show every night. But on film sets, you have a makeup artist. I’ve worked with Gemma Hoff, my makeup artist on set, for a long time. We met on The Crown, and we’ve done loads of projects together since. She’s so talented.
What’s your relationship with Gemma Hoff like on set?
We have our own little regimes. We just go together, and she knows me so well now. We have such a good time at work, creating the characters together. On The Crown, we had so much fun doing makeup from the ’50s and then transitioning the second season to the ’60s when the makeup was a lot bolder, and the hair was completely different – we loved that transition. Suddenly, you could do poppier colours.
We'd go for a bright red lip or like, an orangey one, and more lashes because it was ’60s, and then the hair got much cooler. We loved looking at all the icons from that era, like Vanessa Redgrave and Bridget Bardot and Jane Birkin. And I think Gemma came from theatre, too, so we knew the power of kind of, like, dreaming of yourself somewhere else.
How is the glam process for action films different from period pieces?
With the action films, you have to wear less makeup because you just have to be able to, say, get in the water or launch into some kind of fight sequence. You can never be too done, really. I always prefer characters that are more undone anyway.
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Does that better reflect your personal approach to beauty?
Yes. God, yeah. I feel much better with less. I spend much less time on it, and I just go for something super simple. I’ve actually learned over the years, I don’t even like any eyeshadow—just a bit of mascara, some light coverage, like the Lancôme Teint Idole Foundation Stick, which I really love because it doesn’t look like you’re wearing foundation or makeup. I love that simplicity. I like my skin to look like skin and not feel too heavy.
Before I was using things that were more liquid-y but they always felt either a little bit greasy or they just came off really easily so after a couple of hours you'd have to reapply. It takes two minutes to put this foundation stick on and you can just whack it in your handbag and go off for the day. That's what I need because I don't spend a long time getting ready. I can just put it on as I'm going down in the elevator from our flat, which is so great.
If you could only use three beauty products for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Definitely that Teint Idole Foundation Stick. And then I would add just some beautiful shaded contour, and maybe a really nice nudie-type lip liner that you could also use as a lip colour.
What is your scent personality?
I'm not wearing perfume at the moment because I've had a baby and you don't have time to put it on. In my early twenties, we all used to wear whatever perfume was the cool thing and we smelt exactly like each other and the guys wore Lynx. It was the early Noughties and everyone was spraying themselves from head to toe in DKNY Be Delicious. It was so sweet and then you realise that maybe just smelling like yourself is good. I've used Vita Coco Raw Organic Coconut Oil for years on my hair and skin. It never fails and it's the one thing I think I would take everywhere with me. The smell of coconut oil feels like relaxation – it's so gentle and healing.
Switching off to beauty habits: Do you have any little rituals that help you get in the zone on set?
We always do an ice bath in the morning for the face. The whole Fantastic Four cast got into it, and we’d try and hold it for as long as we could and make it a competition. And that actually really helps the day. It helps to wake you up at four in the morning, when you just got to work, and just gets you focused for the day. We always really enjoy that.
From there, it’s actually really relaxing because I’m sitting in the makeup chair, and I’ve got my headphones in, and I’m focusing on the day and the scenes coming up and what I need to mentally prep for. Your makeup artist is doing the makeup of the character and then slowly, surely, in front of the mirror, you see the character coming to life.
That dark wig of Margaret’ hair, for example, just made me feel like her. You go through a transition from yourself into the character. And I always found that so helpful to have that time and that space to just inhabit over that hour or so.
You also welcomed your first child last fall—congratulations! Was there a beauty habit or product that made a difference in your routine, either during your pregnancy or postpartum?
Yes, actually. Lancôme sent me the latest Génifique Ultimate Recovery Serum, and that has been a game changer because all I have time to do is cleanse my skin and use that. It’s been a lifesaver for me because with a baby, you just don’t have time in the way that you used to. You often don’t have time for any kind of beauty regime. But it actually it makes you realise that actually you only need one thing that you love. I don't do lots of exfoliation or lots of harsh stuff, then I apply an SPF by day over the top .
What does happiness smell like?
Sunday roast and Sunday dinners at home. There's something very comforting about that. It's just like every memory of being a kid and mum cooking and you know, the same smell as Christmas dinner. That's happiness.
What was your biggest beauty disaster?
I over plucked my eyebrows like everyone did in the early 2000s. Thankfully I was able to bounce back from that phase, but now I’m afraid to touch them at all!
When do you feel most empowered?
It's when I'm genuinely learning something about myself that shocks me or some kind of revelation about something that I need to change. When you have that kind of breakthrough, that's when you just feel so amazing. You realise that life is about self-growth, not about outside external achievements or success. It's more about how you evolve.
Motherhood is the most intense example of that for me. Every minute of the day I'm learning something new. You have to have such humility because what you think you knew yesterday you don't, it's different today. So you've gotta let that go.
A version of this article appeared on Glamour US.
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