“There’s something super therapeutic about perfume,” explains Amanda Seyfried, gesturing toward a pretty pink glass flacon in front of her. “It evokes so many memories and feelings and visceral reactions to things you might not even be aware of.” The actress and face of Givenchy is happily perched in a penthouse suite at New York City’s Crosby Street Hotel, here to discuss Live Irrésistible Délicieuse, the house’s forthcoming fragrance (debuting in April)—a heady rose blend with a whiff of madeleine that winks at Proust, too.
An evocative perfume is but one part of Seyfried’s thoughtful approach to health and wellness, a topic that she discusses eagerly, as she’s famously open about mental-health issues, and that’s often on her mind—perhaps now more than ever, following last night’s surprise pregnancy announcement. “It’s about resetting from stress,” she says. “The thing is, we’re going to run into stress in our lives anyway, so all we can do is control how we deal with that stress.” Between sips of mint tea and with her dog Finn seated quietly at her side, Seyfried took a moment to reveal her entire wellness routine, packed with plenty of next-level tips to take into the holiday season and beyond.
How do you stay relaxed and healthy year-round, and during the holidays in particular?
Exercise is first and foremost what I need to keep doing to promote those good vibes, and I try to do it every day. That physical release of stress is so therapeutic. Even a half-hour of jump-roping, on the bike, at Pure Barre, always makes for a more relaxing day. When I don’t do it, I feel stuck—I feel like I’m holding all this tension in. It’s important to have that routine, especially around the holidays. Some days, I skip it and give myself a break because I'm tired—but that’s also healthy.
A new thing I’ve been doing for the past year and a half is meditating. I try to meditate every day in the afternoon or early evening, when the sun goes down. It does wonders for your brain. I’m a high-anxiety person anyway, so I need as much natural help as I can get grounding myself. I have an app, Insight Timer. They have thousands of guided meditations; they have all these great chimes and background music. If you’re trying to drown out the noise of New York City, I’d recommend listening to rain. The two go together so well, exercise and meditation.
What do you think about aromatherapy? Any scents you find particularly soothing?
Oh god, smells. I’m so sensitive to smells, and it's really helpful when you can lose yourself in something like that. When you smell a campfire, it just brings you back to childhood—it’s a calming, soothing smell. Any kind of floral reminds me of every Easter and women that I had when I was growing up—my grandmother, my aunts. At night, I’ll put lavender oil under my nose to help me relax to sleep.
Perfume is so important. Even if you’re just stressing out, you can smell your wrist and there’s something grounding about that. For example, Live Irrésistible Délicieuse, there’s a buzz to it. It’s effervescent, it’s energetic, and I need that in my life.
Do you have any beauty indulgences outside of the house?
One of my favorite things to do when I’m not working around a holiday is to go to a Korean spa. It’s about the scrub and the saunas—so relaxing and it feels so good to buff your skin. I love it. I’ll do the 90-minute scrub and the massage. Then I go rinse off, I go into the salt room, and then the air-conditioned room. That’s such a nice treat.
I love acupuncture, it relaxes me in a way that no massage does. They hit the points they need to hit, and I feel like I’m bettering myself. I always feel it relieves my neck tension—I always have a lot from crocheting.
You share a lot of crafts projects on Instagram. Do those play a part in your routine, too?
Knitting is fun, crocheting is way more fun. It’s meditative, and I can do it anywhere—I have a miniature loom I do on the plane. I listen to a book on tape or good music, and I just go away and I just feel safe. No one can get in, nothing can tamper with my mood.
I’m very obsessive about it. When I’m not working, it’s all I do. All of my friends are having babies, so I'm constantly crocheting booties. They’re easy, it’s about 45 minutes each, then an hour and a half later, you have these two little shoes. I just finished another bootie last night for my girl friend, who’s going to have a baby today, I hope. It could be tomorrow, it could be next week, you never know with that!
You also share a lot of photos from your farm upstate. Beyond the natural beauty of it, what do you love about being there?
We just had Thanksgiving break, so we were up at the farm for two weeks. We just got goats, which is really exciting. You’re just within nature, it’s completely real. The animals there—horses, chickens, you see how they live day to day. I love animals so much. They're so innocent and living in the moment, and it’s hard not to absorb that energy. I like the routine of feeding when I’m there: letting the chickens out, giving them treats, going to feed the horses, feeding the cats, getting on the tractor, bringing up the hay.
It’s just so soothing. You feel a sense of purpose. I love acting so much, and I love my job and having a platform. It’s just the perfect balance. That’s where I reset from all the stress that can build up when I’m working and I don’t have time to focus too much on myself. Sometimes people need to get away, and I’m fortunate to have a place that’s mine that I can actually retreat to.
How do you approach holiday parties—anything goes?
Every year without fail on Thanksgiving and Christmas day, when I know I’m having huge meals, I won’t eat a full breakfast. I’ll have just eggs and a smoothie, and I’ll work out, so I can feel really good before the meal. And then I try to eat really slow. But you know, these days we make ourselves feel guilty, but when it’s the holidays, you should just overindulge. Eat that bread and butter, have that drink if you drink, have the egg nog. This is what we live for, these moments. Moderation is a healthy thing. What would we do without it?