Courteney Cox on Cold Plunges, Aging with Grace, and Why She Never Reads the Comments

Courtesy of Dermalogica

As an actor, filmmaker, Dermalogica ambassador, and now founder of cleaning products line Homecourt, Courteney Cox is obviously a very busy woman. But she still makes time for a comprehensive beauty and wellness routine, and over the years has honed her comprehensive list of dos and don’ts.

Some of her dos? Cold plunges and slugging, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.

“I just believe in hydration,” Cox tells Glamour. “So if that’s called flooding, or slugging, or slagging, I do it.”

And yes, she really does love cold plunges, though that initially came as a surprise.

"I thought I would never do a cold plunge. I thought I would hate it, but I love it so much,” the Scream star continues. “I feel great for hours afterwards. So as much as you dread getting in, you know that you’re going to feel so good.”

As for her don’ts? Leaving the house without doing her skin care routine—especially applying sunscreen—getting too little sleep, and reading the comments online.

“You make the mistake of reading the comments on any article more than twice, then you never do it again. It’s like, ‘Oh, shoot. People are mean,’” she says.

Cox also has thoughts on social media filters that so clearly distort what everyone looks like. “Those selfies that I’m like, ‘Why are you doing that? Everyone knows that’s not what you look like, that’s so stupid,’” she says with a laugh.

That doesn’t mean that she won’t enhance her face IRL though, within reason.

“As soon as someone does that to their lips, and I’ve definitely tried that, it’s a slippery slope,” she says of the current trend that includes overenhancing the lips. “A lot of times, people don’t realize things catch up with you and you don’t know that it’s gone too far.”

Here, Courteney Cox shares her other beauty secrets, like her must-have skin care products, at-home rituals, and the piece of advice she always gives her daughter, for Glamour’s Big Beauty Questions.

Glamour: What’s the one beauty product you can’t live without?

Courteney Cox: I never leave the house without the Skin Recovery SPF 50 ever. That’s in my car, it’s in my purse. I travel with it. It’s everywhere. I also never leave the house without microfoliant because I take it, I travel with that. They make these little cute small sizes of it, and I’m obsessed with it. What else? The special cleansing gel. I use that before I use the microfoliant. I just have a skin care routine that I don’t leave home without.

Dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF50 Moisturizer

$79.00, Ulta

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant

$18.00, Sephora

What inspires your devotion to Dermalogica products?

It’s such a research-based company, and they’ve been around for so long. I love the fact that whatever my skin care needs are, I can find the product that will work. They’re so detailed; it’s not just like one-size-fits-all. It’s very specific, and I think it’s great that whatever I’m experiencing, it’s available.

What is one beauty trend or skin care trend that you are obsessed with right now?

Combining products and layering is something that I’m into, but I think that now they call it something…I feel like they call it skin flooding? But it used to be called slugging. I don’t know.

I just believe in hydration in every sense, so I cleanse twice. I do a cleanse, then I do the microfoliant, then I use serum. I love vitamin C, so I use the Biolumin vitamin C serum, and then I use the stabilizing repair cream. I love layering. I’ll use the hydrating oil. I’ll do layers to lock in moisture for sure.

Dermalogica Biolumin-C Serum

$95.00, Sephora

Dermalogica Stabilizing Repair Cream

$64.00, Ulta

What’s one beauty rule you swear by?

Well, there’s a few. Cleaning your face is a beauty rule. Using sunscreen every day. I wish I had done it when I was a kid. I didn’t. That would be the number one rule. And there’s no way to explain to a teenager, “You’re going to regret this.”

I say, "Coco [Cox’s daughter], please look at my chest. Do you want to look like that?“ “Oh, mom, I won’t.” “Okay, we’ll see.” So yeah, kids don’t get it.

But sunscreen is the most important thing and that’s the beauty rule for sure. And moisturize, always moisturize, clean your face, moisturizer, and sunscreen.

What is one beauty rule that you think is BS?

I’m the kind of person that will try all the lasers. They’re not rules, but I will try almost anything. And I think a lot of them don’t work, at least for me.

Speaking of skin treatments, there’s so much pressure on women to age “the right way.” Either they’re not doing enough to conceal their age or they’re doing too much. How do you tune out the noise?

I don’t read comments. On my Instagram even, I will read the first, maybe I’ll just look at whatever a friend might say, but then after you get to a certain point, it’s going to start getting mean. So I really don’t read comments and I’m just also kind of used to it. I’m so self-critical that you probably couldn’t say anything that I wouldn’t have either thought myself, unless you’re just mean and then it’s just, I can’t relate to that.

But I don’t know, I just kind of take it with a grain of salt. Don’t read. Or, the hardest thing is being an actor and your age is always printed, when it doesn’t matter. Very few professions that you see the person’s age right next to their name. You weren’t thinking about it. It’s like, why? So that’s a little bit of a…I wish that that didn’t happen. Then it’s such a reminder that you have to, I don’t know. I don’t love that part. But then you just also have to deal with the fact that it’s whatever age you are, you’re going to be older, so you might as well enjoy it.

On a more positive note, fill in the blank. I feel most beautiful when _____.

I’ve gotten a great night’s sleep. Pretty much when I feel good inside—when I’ve slept well, I’m eating well, and I’m washed and moisturized—but I would say sleep changes everything for me.

You travel constantly. Which city, country, or region gives you the greatest beauty inspiration?

In London, where my partner lives, you can walk out of the street, you can walk down the block, and then there’s all of these stores. And this one area in particular has so many beauty facials, and waxing, and microblading, and massage. Whatever it is, they really care. And that inspires me, so I would say London inspires me the most.

What’s your favorite way to take a moment for yourself?

I do a couple of things. I use this LightStim+ ProPanel on my face with Dermalogica Vitamin C Serum. And then I use this panel and I do it every day, just about, I’d say at least five times a week. I sit under this panel for 25 minutes and I get very quiet. Usually with my dogs cuddled up to me as close as possible.

In the afternoon I take a sauna, a hot sauna. I use water with essential oils on it so it becomes steamy. It’s not infrared; it’s just a pure hot sauna. Then I get into my cold plunge. The dopamine hit you get is so, and I shouldn’t say, it’s like a drug. I actually haven’t taken a drug that gives you a dopamine hit, but that’s what this does. And it lasts a long time.

LightStim ProPanel Anti-Aging Light Treatment

$6500.00, Neiman Marcus

I honestly think you’ve just inspired me to try a cold plunge. That really does sound amazing.

Do it. Really, it’s worth it.

What is your favorite emoji?

I do the one with my hands up. I don’t know. Maybe I like the one with the eyes that are, what do you call it? The eyes are in a certain, what do you call that? Well, I do the ones with my eyes when I’m rolling my eyes up. That’s a big one. Or I do the, “Oops, sorry.” The ones with all the teeth. Oh, I like the face with the three hearts and one on the top because that’s like a blushing, “Oh, my gosh, you’re so sweet,” that kind of thing.

If you could change one thing about beauty perceptions in Hollywood, what would that be?

There are so many filters when you’re doing stories or you’re filming yourself. Those selfies that I’m like, Why are you doing that? Everyone knows that’s not what you look like, that’s so stupid.

Also, [the idea that] having bigger lips makes you sexier, or more appealing, that is a big one. I guess you can try it, if it’s one of those ones you can have removed. But a lot of times, people don’t realize things catch up with you and you don’t know that it’s gone too far. So I think that’s a thing, thinking more is not more. Less is always more. But that’s not the way it feels. People still think more is more.

And finally, who are the women who inspire you the most right now?

I don’t know if you're looking for specific names, but I just find that women that have verve, who are happy with what they’re doing, I think that really inspires me. Confident, happy women, because you can really tell in someone’s eyes whether they’re connected and they are present.

And I think staying in the moment and being present and feeling like…I guess having passion, and hobbies, and loving life. Yeah, I think that I just get really inspired by people who also have a passion and do something about it. I don’t like lazy. I like people that get up and do things that they care about.

Danielle Sinay is the associate beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @daniellesinay.

Originally Appeared on Glamour