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“Aging gracefully is a lie, and nobody tells you that,” Kelly Ripa says moments into our Zoom. We're talking about a chapter in her new book, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories, in which she details her first time getting Botox at 39. “And what does that even mean? I keep saying, ‘If people are aging gracefully, why do I have so many skin care products in my cabinet?’”
It's the impossible beauty standards set on women, especially those in the public eye, that makes “aging gracefully” seem so unrealistic to Ripa. When the television host, actor, and producer was in her early 30s, she would frequently see tabloid headlines speculating how much work she'd had done to her face and body. (The irony: She hadn't done any medical procedures at that point. “The thought that somebody could be in their 30s and not have total reconstructive plastic surgery just never occurred to them,” she jokes.) But as she approached 40, the articles breaking down how she maintained her youthful appearance stopped. That's when it dawned on Ripa: It was time to get Botox.
“It was a life-changing experience,” she says. “I'm not saying it's for everyone, but it was divine for me. I did not understand that so many people around me were getting Botox—I just thought I was aging in dog years and nobody else was.”
Ripa says she gets the procedure done about once every 10 months. She's also adopted a more involved skin care routine, something she never practiced in her 20s. “I come from a generation of people who did not know to protect their skin while you're young,” she says. “Now it's all about prevention. [My husband] Mark and I laugh because if we're watching a television program, I always leave about half an hour before it ends. He'll say, ‘Are you going to start the routine?’ He knows that if we're going to go to bed at a decent hour, I need an additional 30 minutes to apply everything.”
So what does that half hour of skin care entail, exactly? We asked Kelly Ripa to Drop the Routine below.
My cleansers
In the morning, when I shower, I just use my Dove white bar soap. Then I use these brightening cleansing pads that I'm really into right now, the Rodial Vit C cleansing pads.
After I take off my makeup at work, and at night I'll use a cleanser. I switch it up a little bit because I have three that I really, really like. I love Tracie Martyn's cleanser so much. It smells amazing and does a great job. I also love the Tata Harper Purifying Cleanser. That one's incredible. And then there's this one that I got in a swag bag that I keep using because it's really, really good. It's the Ingredients Face Cleanser. I rotate between those three. It's just to use the products I have—I don't like any of them to sit unused for too long. I don't know why. It's just my own hang-up.
My tools
In the morning I will do a dry body brush, mainly because I read that Elle McPherson does a dry body brush and her body is just at a whole other level. Dr. Gioffre, who's this great anti-inflammation specialist that I see in New York, also told me about dry body brushing for inflammation. Your skin is your biggest organ, and you really need to stimulate it every day. So I do that every day. Whether it does anything or not, I don't know, but it feels good and I have the time in the morning.
I'm also really into gua sha and getting it nice and cold. I'll put some Sulwhasoo First Care serum on my face, and then I gua sha for about two minutes just to de-puff anything that set in during the night.
My sunscreen
After I've done the gua sha and serum on my skin, I use two kinds of tinted sunscreen moisturizer. The first one is Laura Mercier and the second one is TiZO3's primer sunscreen. I put that on before I do my makeup, because I've been doing my own makeup for work since the pandemic.
I love the Laura Mercier tinted sunscreen because it's a great moisturizer, but it doesn't look chalky. The TiZO3 also works as a makeup primer, so it takes away any shine that the Laura Mercier moisturizer put on my face. Because I have to go on camera I'm mindful of the shine factor.
My makeup wipes
I've been wearing television makeup for 33 years, and I can tell you with complete surety that it's the most damaging thing there is for skin. I look at my mom, who is 82, and has almost no wrinkles. She looks amazing. She has never done anything to herself, but she doesn't wear makeup. I think that right there is the telltale that this stuff builds up and stresses the skin.
I'm always so terrible about the removal process—I'm really rough and don't take the necessary time that I should. I just want to get it off. So the first thing I do when the show is over is take a makeup-removing wipe. I use the Neutrogena makeup remover. It usually takes three or four to get it all off, and then I'll wash my face.
My moisturizer
After I cleanse at night, I put on the Augustinus Bader Rich Cream. I like a lot of different creams, but this is the one I keep going back to. It's the one that really feels the most emollient. Sometimes, if my skin is particularly dry, I will put on just the Uma Anti-Aging Face Oil since my skin tends to dry out during the day.
My eye care
I don't use eye cream, but my eye doctor told me something that is very beneficial if you're like me and put on sunscreen every day, even indoors. What he advised me to do at night for 30 seconds is to wash my eyelids and lashes with Johnson & Johnson plain baby shampoo. You know, the yellow good old-fashioned shampoo.
He said that breaks down the oil glands in your eyes—because sunscreen and all of those eye creams can really build up and block those pores. He said the best way to have a maintenance routine is to make sure at the end of the day I scrub around my eyes. Don't get the kind with the conditioner—just the regular kind.
My body lotion
For body lotion, I use two different things. If I shower before I go to bed, which sometimes I do, I will use the OSEA Body Oil because I'm already nice and wet and slippery. I think that body oil really locks in the moisture when you're out of the shower. If I'm not showering, I use the Dr. Barbara Sturm Anti-Aging Body Cream because if something says antiaging I just gravitate toward it. Her neck cream is really good too. I use that daily.
My lip products
Lisa Rinna's beauty line has this lip-plumping gloss. I swear it plumps your lip, or at least makes you look like your lips are plumping. It's really good. At night I use Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. That keeps your lips nice and juicy. Also, there's this lip conditioner by Ourself. I highly recommend it. When I go to bed, I put on the Laneige—but if I'm out during the day, I will put the Ourself on because it's got an applicator in the tube. It's a good product.
My eye drops
I carry these with me everywhere I go because nothing works better to make you look awake than that. If your eyes are tired, just use those. Everybody goes, “Somebody got a good night's sleep!” Actually not.
My devices
I have the Dr. Dennis Gross LED light. I'm not sure what it does, but I like that it gives me six minutes of peace and quiet because nobody bothers me with that strange device on my face. If Mark walks in and sees that on my face, he backs out of the room. I do it maybe twice a week if I'm lucky.
