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Allie Rowbottom loves to think and talk about beauty—so much that her debut novel, Aesthetica, confronts the grim reality of the ever expanding aesthetics and injectables industries, while her side Instagram @annawrey offers an unfiltered glimpse into celebrity beauty transformations sans Facetune.
“All of this exists on a continuum,” Rowbottom tells Glamour. “There’s no harsh line between retinol and Botox for me, or surgery that someone might choose down the line.” However, she doesn’t think her own skin care regime is especially similar to her approach towards injectables.
Rowbottom does see a connection between the two though, seeing as women dyed their hair in secret as recently as the 20th century. “It was considered vain or shameful to have gray hair, but it was also considered vain or shameful to want to change that,” she says. “Over time, the choice to get your hair colored—or not—has become so normalized culturally that I could see something like Botox moving in that direction.”
Sticking one’s face with needles and applying moisturizing skin care products are not exactly the same, however. “I’m no moralist about it, I get Botox too, but when you’re freezing your face and changing your expression or your ability to express yourself and show real emotion like anger or sadness, it's a very rich, metaphoric procedure, especially for women,” Rowbottom says. “Any time a needle or scalpel is going into your face or skin or body, it’s a whole other level of commitment to aesthetics. It deserves serious consideration.”
So does one’s skin care routine, and Rowbottom has given hers plenty of thought. “The water is extremely hard where I live, and for a long time I was cleansing my face and getting terrible breakouts no one could figure out,” she tells Glamour. “Finally, by doing research myself, I realized that hard water creates this scrim on your face, and it doesn’t rinse products off well enough, trapping them, which was creating breakouts for me.” Rowbottom’s solution? “I don’t wash my face with cleanser at all anymore; I use my micellar water 100% of the time.”
Ahead, Allie Rowbottom shares more of her favorite skin care products for Glamour’s Drop the Routine.
My micellar water
I use micellar water on cotton pads to cleanse my face. I use the Garnier brand and love it. I like the rose-scented one; it’s been a real game changer for me. I’ll use it in the morning just to wipe the sleep out my eyes, and at night it takes all my makeup off. It’s a really great product.
My toner
After that, I will use Biologique Recherche P50W. I put some micellar water on a little cotton pad, then put the P150W on that wet pad so it’s not fully concentrated. I use that on my face and my neck.
My serum
I rotate serums, but right now I’m using Derma-E Ultra Hydrating Dewy Skin Serum, and I like it a lot. I literally I just grabbed it off the shelf because my skin was so dry and I needed something.
My retinol
The retinol that I use is super good for sensitive skin; it’s Senté Bio Complete Serum. This is a new addition for me. I was so scared to use retinol since the last one I tried made me look like a scaly monster. But now, on some nights I will also use a retinol in place of the toner. I’ll just cleanse and put a retinol on, and then do serum and a lip mask.
My lip mask
I put on the Laneige lip mask and call it a night.
My sunscreen
I use SkinCeuticals SPF 50 tinted sunscreen every day. It’s really nice because it’s light and gives you a little bit of a tint, but it’s not makeup. I’ll wear that with a little concealer and just call it a day if I’m not doing anything.
If I’m going out, I will use the SkinCeuticals sunscreen and then the It Cosmetics CC Cream, which is basically a foundation and also has SPF 50.
Danielle Sinay is the associate beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @daniellesinay.
