'Ted Lasso' Star Hannah Waddingham Drops Her Skin-Care Routine

The 47-year-old Emmy nominee wants women to feel more empowered about getting older.

'Ted Lasso' Star Hannah Waddingham Drops Her Skin-Care Routine

If Ted Lasso is considered the “nicest comedy on television,” then Hannah Waddingham deserves the title of funniest and nicest person in Hollywood—or Surrey, England, where she's Zooming from on this particular Saturday evening. The newly-minted Emmy nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series has been doing press since early morning, but is as warm and engaging as if this is her only interview of the day. She's also so brilliantly witty, my face actually hurts from laughing by the time we sign off some 35 minutes later.

The 46-soon-to-be-47-year-old, best known to U.S. audiences for her roles in Game of Thrones (as Septa Unella) and Sex Education (as Sofia Marchetti, Jackson's mom), has become a household name thanks to the success of Apple TV's Lasso, where she plays Premier League club owner Rebecca Welton opposite Jason Sudeikis's Ted Lasso, an American football coach transplanted to England to manage her struggling soccer team. 

“This has suddenly done something to my career that I've been waiting for a long time,” Waddingham tells me. But if you're thinking sudden fame and magazine covers, then you've got it wrong (though that has been a fun benefit). “I often get to play every single emotion in one scene, let alone one episode,” she says of the dynamic Rebecca. "And that doesn't come along, ever. And now, of course, you have everyone's expectations for season two. Jason Sudeikis recently said, that this season is The Empire Strikes Back, and he's right. It's just been magical."

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But if acting hadn't worked out for Waddingham, she's quick to reveal her backup plan: “I would definitely have gone down the beauty, skincare route. I'm obsessed. I think you'll really into it, or you're not. And I'm really into it."

Something else the mom-of-one is into? Being honest about aging and how it affects your skincare routine. “I was a product minimalist in my 20s, but then I realized going into my 30s that I should ramp it up, because I was battering my skin senseless being in the theatre. And now, I'm about to turn 47 and heading into peri-menopause,” she says. “I just don't think you should ever shy away from telling your age. I would rather a woman of 45, 50, whatever, is listening and going, 'Oh, I haven't tried that yet, but maybe I will.' We're all girls together. Just be honest about these things.” She says lately her skin is much drier than usual, and the products she's typically relied on are no longer cutting it anymore. "So, I'm ramping it up a bit."

For Waddingham, that includes a maximalist approach with cult-favorite brands like La Mer, True Botanicals, and Elemis, plus facials and lymphatic drainage massages. “I'm not into putting needles into my face,” she says, citing her aversion to needles. “If I could, I probably would, but I just don't like them. I hate the two 11's I have, or brow furrows, because it's all I ever see when I'm on camera. So it's a matter of softening them rather than zapping them.” Plus, Waddingham acknowledges that her job is to emote, and being the animated person that she is, "I don't feel like I'd be able to if I did certain things to my face. So it becomes a question of keeping it clean and radiant.”

And with that, the nicest actress in Hollywood—and Surrey—gave us a detailed look at the lotions and potions that do the trick, minus all the pain. Time for another edition of Glamour's Drop the Routine.

I always double cleanse. I think it's really important. I alternate between the Eve Lom Cleanser and Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm. The balm feels like it's giving you a bit of a face massage and helping with lymphatic drainage. I use that with a hot cloth, which helps me feel—as the mum of a six year old—that I have a minute for myself. And then I always use the Elemis Superfood Facial Wash just to get off any residue of the balm. I also like Emma Hardie's Moringa Cleansing Balm. I don't know if there's any proof to switching up products, but I feel like it's good. [Laughs]

Eve Lom Cleanser

Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm

Elemis Superfood Facial Wash

Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm

After I cleanse, I use my gua sha stone with Hayo'u oil. I've got a lovely, beautiful flat jade crystal—I actually bought two of them—so that you can do equal pressure on the face. I got them for my closest girlfriends, as well, because they kept saying, "How is this all nice and lifted, here?" I think it's from using the gua sha method of lymphatic drainage. I do it every morning and night for one minute. And I keep it in the fridge, that way if I'm getting up at at 4 A.M. to film, I hold them under my eyes and sweep up under the cheekbones, under the jawline and then the forehead. Otherwise I look like Mr. Magoo in the morning.

Crystal Contour Gua Sha Beauty Tool

Hayo'u Beauty Face Oil

I'm obsessed with True Botanicals and I can't rave about them enough. They are just a beautiful, ethical brand and not horrifically expensive. The Radiance Oil and the serum—you could just use those and be good to go. Because as soon as you put a couple of those drops in your hand and rub it together and then press, you're like, I am benefiting from this.

True Botanicals Renew Pure Radiance Oil

True Botanicals Resurfacing Moisture Mask, which is this little pot of orange goodness. You leave it on for five minutes, and it just makes you look like you've had a week's sleep. It's really gorgeous.

True Botanicals Resurfacing Moisture Mask

I've seen three different facialists who have all recommended The Ordinary's “Buffet” serum. It's just a beautiful, universal face-saving serum. And as you get older, I've started using the one with copper peptides which is a blue liquid. It's brilliant, and you can put it right under the eyes. I don't like using eye creams because they tend to make me puffy, so I put a bit of that under there. Then for my vitamin C serum, I like La Roche Posay's, because it's nice and light and it gives me a slight tingle without feeling like it's too much. 

The Ordinary "Buffet" + Copper Peptides 1% Serum

LaRoche-Posay Pure Vitamin C Face Serum

At night, always, always Créme de La Mer in that beautiful glass pot. I also like the ceremony of it all with the warming of it between your fingers and pressing it into your skin. I don't even like to lie sideways on my pillow once I put it on because I'm like, “drink, little face, drink!” I wear so many makeup looks during the day on Ted Lasso that by the time the night comes, I want my face to have a proper drink. For something a little lighter, I use the Elemis Pro-Collagen Night Cream, when I feel like it needs a bit of settling. And I love Charlotte Tilbury's Magic Cream line, especially the night cream. You can totally see the results! She really knows what she's doing with her skincare. We use a lot of her makeup on Ted Lasso as well. 

Créme de La Mer

Elemis Pro-Collage Oxygenating Night Cream

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Night Cream

I'm an absolute, sun worshiping slut bag. It's horrendous, I know. But I wear sunscreen every day, all year because my facialist said I should be wearing SPF in the rain, in the snow, in the dark, because of all the nasty pollution we have in our cities. I always use the Georgio Armani UV Maestro SPF50 Skin Defense Primer Sunscreen. And it's brilliant. It doesn't feel like you're wearing sunscreen, because some SPFs make you feel like you're wearing a film. So in the summer I pair it with bronzer and mascara, and I'm good to go. 

Giorgio Armani Maestro UV Skin Defense Primer Sunscreen SPF50

I do The Beauty Chef, which is a beautiful collagen boost concentrate that I put in with my water. And every day I take zinc and immune support capsules, plus magnesium for fatigue and tiredness, as well as a multi-nutrient for age 45-plus. 

The Beauty Chef Collagen Inner Beauty Boost

Jessica Radloff is the Glamour West Coast editor. You can follow her on Instagram at @jessicaradloff14. 

This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Condé Nast