8 Self-Care Essentials Brooke Shields Swears By

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Welcome to Take the Edge Off, a series that breaks down the beauty and self-care routines of influencers, CEOs, experts, and celebrities. Find out how they unwind and decompress, while taking a closer look at the holy-grail essentials they’re currently raving about.

While beauty trends come and go, one star has consistently set the gold standard for covetable eyebrows since her teen years: Brooke Shields.

“I don’t really groom them,” the supermodel and actress says on a Zoom call. “I try to use a serum to help my eyebrows grow or stay—they’ve definitely gotten thinner. I don’t really pluck at all, I never cut, and now that my brows have turned a little gray, I’ve just started filling them in. I just I really try to not interfere.”

Shields prefers to keep the rest of her skin and body care essentials simple as well—just one of the reasons she became an ambassador for clean beauty brand True Botanicals in 2021. “I feel like I’ve been able to grow with them,” the star explains. “Their product line has increased, but the simplicity of use and their proprietary ingredients haven’t. I’m always just so impressed; the team is lovely, and it’s just nice to be able to work with a company rather than feel like you’re working for a product.”

Shields joins actors like Logan Browning and Rebecca Rittenhouse as a face of the plant-powered beauty company. “My whole focus is on renewal and sort of rejuvenation, and starting new chapters and beginning again—this fit perfectly into the narrative,” she told Bazaar in 2021 of the ongoing partnership.

Ahead, we catch up with the supermodel and eyebrow icon to learn more about some of the routine staples that keep her going, from regular Pilates classes to the soft glow of candlelight. Plus, Shields opens up about her experience creating the Emmy-nominated documentary Pretty Baby.

What are you reading these days?

I’m currently reading Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. It’s about women pilots in history—it’s historical fiction—but also ties into current day. And it’s just so beautifully written, and doesn’t feel like you’re reading about history. It’s just sort of an epic novel about many of the female pilots that have gone unknown because we only know of Amelia Earhart. The story is also juxtaposed to current day through the experience of an actress who’s filming a movie based on a book about a woman pilot. It’s so easy to go back and forth, and it’s so beautifully written and powerful.

What are some of your go-to bath and shower products?

What I really love is True Botanicals’ Pure Radiance Sugar Exfoliating Body Scrub. It’s not abrasive, but it definitely helps get rid of dead skin. It also leaves my skin feeling super moisturized without being oily, and I don’t slip in the shower or tub. Sometimes I put it on actually before using water—I just don’t rub too hard. But it dissolves quickly and smells so good.

Do you have a favorite hand sanitizer, soap, or cream right now?

Aesop makes an amazing hand sanitizer. I like the smell: It’s not too alcohol-y [and doesn’t] have too much of a fragrance to conflict with the scent of my skincare.

What beauty or self-care products do you use on a regular basis to help combat Zoom fatigue?

I’m sort of a sucker for being able to put something in my serum, so lately I’ve been shaking in a bit of the True Botanicals Niacinamide and Biotin Booster Powder. It’s helped me so much with the look of my pores and evenness of my skin, and dissolves so beautifully.

Do you ever light a candle or stick of incense to decompress? If so, what are some of your favorites?

I love candles. I just finished a movie in Thailand for Netflix, and every day we’d start by playing music, having tea, and lighting candles—there’s just something about candlelight I love. I go to Diptyque all the time and get the big ones with multiple wicks. Rigaud also makes some amazing candles, but their yellow [Tournesol] and green [Cypress] versions are my favorite. The green one I usually light around Christmas. I’m always lighting candles.

Tournesol Scented Candle

Cypress Scented Candle

Baies Large Candle

Would you consider the release of your documentary Pretty Baby a form of self-care?

I think the documentary became a form of self-care, but the process of going through it was pretty difficult and extremely emotional. I wasn’t quite sure what the the outcome was going to be, I just knew that for my peace of mind, I wanted it to be about a bigger story. And in the end, when I ended up really seeing it for the third time or whatever, I realized I had taken care of myself by looking into how complex it all is. We want to accuse people or hold them on a pedestal, and and there’s nothing in life that’s like that. To see my work all in a row really helped me with confidence—I was like, Oh OK, I do have talent.

Are you into bold makeup, no makeup, or no-makeup makeup right now, and why?

I’m into no makeup-makeup. When I was younger, I’d try to get my daughters to not wear makeup because they’re so perfect as they are. But as I’ve gotten older, I want it to look like I don’t have a lot of makeup on, but I need help.

What’s the last fitness class you streamed or attended in person?

I attended a Pilates class called Nofar—I love Pilates. I’m at the phase in my life where instead of trying to “win” every time I take a class—and I’m only competing against myself, by the way—I find that lengthening and stretching is so much more beneficial to me than even the hardest of hard parts about it. I love anything Pilates and abs, because it’s the thing I notice a difference with.

What’s one piece of self-care advice you’d give to our readers?

One piece of wellness advice is try to be kinder to yourself. And I know that sounds like granola kumbaya, but I’m speaking from experience. We spend so much time pointing out all the things that we don’t like about ourselves that we completely overlook the things that are extraordinarily different and unique, and what you actually like about yourself. And to me, self-care has got to start with that—it doesn’t come in a jar. It comes from being your own real best friend, because no one else is going to do it for you.

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