The thought that went through my head when I first saw Sydney Sweeney, on screen in Euphoria, was, This girl is a star. Shortly after, it was followed by, ‘Damn, her skin is incredible’. But according to her, it hasn’t always been this way. She’s dealt with cystic acne for most of her adolescence, and while she mostly has it in check now thanks to a routine from her makeup artist and dermatologist (and some key French pharmacy products), she’s constantly playing a balancing game to keep her combination skin happy.
“I think that for skin care, it’s such a personalised journey,” says the 23-year-old. “You can never compare yourself to anyone else.” For Sydney, that journey has been heavy on exfoliation. “When I’m filming I tend to exfoliate more,” she says. “I’m wearing so much more makeup, especially on Euphoria. My skin does tend to ‘eat’ makeup, which is weird, so I exfoliate more and make sure I’m drinking more water.”
Though she goes hard on the exfoliation, she keeps her routine pretty low-key elsewhere so as not to irritate her super-sensitive skin. “I actually don’t get facials or anything,” she says. “Every time I go to facialist, I always felt that my face would break out more. I know they say it’s supposed to break out because they cleared your skin, but I feel like no one knows my skin better than I do.”
For example, she’s discovered that the products her skin loves don’t have to be expensive. “I love French pharmacy products; I filmed a movie in Montreal and was introduced to them, and they have helped my skin immensely,” she says. She’s also a fan of American drugstore staples like Nivea Creme as well as Bic razors, which she recently partnered with. “They have such premium quality, they’re at such a great value, and they do such a great shave.”
Ahead of her new series The White Lotus premiering this July, I chatted with Sydney Sweeney and had her drop her skincare routine. Read on for the only moisturiser she’s ever liked, the product that saved her from acne scars, and the sunscreen she calls her saving grace.
My Body Care
I usually take showers in the morning, because my hair gets really greasy. While my conditioner is sitting in my hair, I usually shave my legs with the Bic Soleil Click 3; it’s such an amazing shave, and it’s easy to use. Some shavers actually freak out my skin—I don’t know why, but sometimes whatever they put around the shaver does it. Bic’s doesn’t, and because I have such sensitive skin, I like using those because I don’t have any rashes or any problems after I use it.
And then—this is a huge thing—I used to wash my body and then wash my face in the shower while products were sitting in my hair, but my body would still break out from the conditioner. And I learned that washing everything out of my hair first, and then washing my body with Nivea’s body wash is the way to go.
My Cleansers
In the shower, I wash my face with Avène cleansing gel. I like this one because I’ve found different cleansers are either too strong or not strong enough, but this one is nice and gentle. Sometimes I’ll mix in an exfoliator, just to help, because I do have combination skin. If I don’t exfoliate the dry skin off, then my makeup will sit weird on my face, and my face will break out—I get really bad cystic acne. I use Caudalie’s because it’s not too harsh; it just works perfectly.