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When you have adult acne, it’s easy to feel alone, as if you’re the only one getting breakouts past the age of 18. However, anywhere between 12% and 22% of women ages 26 through 44 experience acne, and that number is increasing by the day (on the other hand, only around 3% of adult men experience the condition). In our new series Acne Diaries, we’re asking influential women who happen to have acne about their relationship with their skin, and the products they use to keep it happy. Next up: model and Rose Inc founder Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
Looking at Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, you would think there’s nothing relatable about her. She’s walked for Victoria’s Secret, runs her own content site and her newly launched beauty line Rose Inc, and is always draped in designer brands like The Row—all while being a mother to a toddler with another baby on the way.
But listening to her talk about her skin is like chatting with a close girlfriend, and she’s an open book when it comes to her decades-long struggle with acne. Huntington-Whiteley started breaking out in her early teens but says it wasn’t until she started working as a model that she really started thinking about it. “The idea of perfectionism and having perfect skin was not something that was embedded within my upbringing,” she tells Glamour.
Once she turned 16 and started booking shoots, that changed. She recalls agents and makeup artists telling her she needed to get it under control, and they sent her to her very first facial. Since then, close-knit relationships with estheticians and routine facials have been a key part of Huntington-Whiteley’s strategy. She’s seen dermatologists and gone on Accutane in the past, but for her particular type of acne—textural, under the skin bumps—she’s found more success with regular extractions and a carefully curated skin-care routine.
“With my skin, it’s not necessarily something that I personally believe I’m doing wrong,” she says. “It’s not about cutting this out of my diet, washing my face well enough, or using the right products. I think all those things can help, but I don’t think it’s one single thing. And frankly, I’m not going to sit here and cut out sugar for the rest of my life; it's not sustainable. I think certain people just have breakouts and then they go back to perfect skin again. But for me it’s like this is my skin type, this is the way it is. The best thing I can do is really manage it by using the right products, research, and listening to the experts. But also accepting that it’s part of who I am and it’s part of my skin type and not feel bad about it.”
For Huntington-Whiteley, knowledge is power. She doesn’t take for granted that she has access to the best dermatologists and estheticians in the business, and so she uses it to her advantage, soaking up their expertise like a sponge. She casually fires off the mechanics of acne as an explanation for her dedication to exfoliation, and looks at the ingredients of every product that touches her face with a fine-tooth comb. It should come as no surprise that every single product in her new skin-care and makeup brand, Rose Inc, is noncomedogenic. But even with science and a team of experts on her side, she understands that sometimes it’s just out of her control, and it does make an impact on her mental health.
“My skin sort of got worse after I had my first son, and now he’s four and I’m in my second pregnancy now,” she says. “Through my first pregnancy, my skin couldn’t have been better. And now in second pregnancy, it’s really not great. So it’ll be interesting to see how it shifts once I’ve had the baby. But I’m at a point right now where I’m sort of really frustrated again with where I’m at on my skin journey, and that’s me being really candid because I think that is just the way it goes. Sometimes you’re like, ‘Okay, I can deal with this.’ And then other times you’re like, ‘This is really getting me. This is bothering me now. And I shouldn’t be dealing with this on a daily basis.’”
Of course, her skin is a priority because she’s such a public figure, but when it comes down to it, the person she aims to please is herself. “I should think that most young women feel pressure to look a certain way regardless of what their job is,” she says. “I don’t think I would feel any different if I wasn’t doing what I was doing. I think obviously there’s probably an added sense of the fact that when I go out in the world, people recognize who I am, and probably have a comment after meeting me, and the majority of time, it’s usually to do with how I look. I don't care so much about that. It's more for myself, I want to feel confident being makeup-free at home with my family. I want to feel as confident as I would be walking onto set to shoot something with Rose Inc or walking on the red carpet for an event. They all have the same weight and importance to me. At the end of the day, wanting to look the best version of yourself and not be spotty is not something to feel bad about striving to want.”
Below, Huntington-Whiteley shares what’s currently keeping her skin happy.
My toner
I love our AHA clarifying toner. I formulated that with my chemist specifically for my acne-prone skin. This is where you’re going to get your daily gentle exfoliation; it’s got all your AHAs in there. The salicylic acid is derived from willow bark; it’s the purest form of salicylic acid. You’ve got your glycolic, your lactic acid, and that’s just really about resurfacing the skin. You’ve got the pink clay in there, which settles at the bottom, which is really detoxifying but also very calming to the skin.
It’s a great product to use daily. If I’m going to exfoliate, I like to do it in the evening because I think sometimes the idea of exfoliating and then putting makeup on just doesn’t feel quite right for me, but there’s nothing wrong with exfoliating in morning either. So I use that daily at night. I drip a few drops onto a reusable cotton pad. And then instead of sweeping over my face, I push it in and take the time to really work it into the skin, bring the blood to the surface. You get a lovely rosy hue. Let it settle and sink in, and then go to you can go on and apply whatever else you like.
My concealer
Obviously with acne-prone skin, you’re going to need a great concealer. I wanted the finish of my concealer to work with my skin, so it’s not a really oily finish or a really high-shine finish, like some concealers. It’s not a really matte one either; that’s going to be really drying to the skin. It has this really lovely luminous, very skinlike finish to it, but it’s got incredible coverage as well, as it’s really buildable. You can stretch it out, just applying a couple of dots across your face, and that’s all you might need. But on those days where I really want a lot of coverage, it’s enough for me just to continue to build that coverage with that concealer and not have to use any foundation. I like that it cuts out steps of other products, and obviously it’s noncomedogenic.
My mask
The Tri-Activ Masque from iS Clinical is amazing. It’s a warming mask. I put it on in the shower probably two or three times a week. It’s got acids in it, and exfoliating beads. It warms up and, and then you buff it away afterwards. I love the way my skin feels afterward; it feels very smooth and exfoliated, but really soft still. And iS Clinical has another product, called the Active Serum, that is a game changer if you have acne-prone skin.
My peel pads
Dr. Dennis Gross Peel pads, they’ve been one of my favorites, as are the ZO Skin Health peel pads for oily skin. The Dr. Dennis Gross ones are a little bit more user-friendly. I like that they come in packet. The glow ones are amazing with a little bit of tan in them. They’re a great product; they do really give you a lovely glow the next morning.
My tools
You know what’s annoying? I recently fell back in love with my Clarisonic, and they’ve discontinued them! So I just ordered the cheap version on Amazon the other day, no idea what brand it is, but the Clarisonic or a buffing brush is really great for me. The removal of my makeup is so important. I’m always amazed, if I cleanse once and get out the shower and wipe my face with a towel, I’ve still got makeup on my skin. A double cleanse is really essential, and you really do want to get rid of that makeup. So if I’ve got heavy makeup on, which is basically every day cause I’m working most days, using that kind of cleansing brush is really essential in removing it.
I also love a high-frequency wand. I get that off Amazon as well. It’s a great product to have if you’re having breakouts or you’ve just had a facial. And then the Celluma Pro light panel, which is really expensive. One of the things that stops me from using it on a regular basis is just the time investment, because you should go under it every day for at least 20 to 30 minutes. But it’s not the sexiest thing to do when you’re in a long-term relationship, to lie on a blue-light panel on the bed! But I do recommend it. It’s an amazing thing to get, a really good investment, but I recognize it’s an expensive one.
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This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Bella Cacciatore is the beauty writer at Glamour. You can follow her on Instagram @bellacacciatore_.
