The Skincare Step Sofía Vergara Wishes She Had Started When She Was Younger

Plus, details on her new sun care brand, Toty.

What I Put on My Face

All skin is good skin, which is why good skincare is more of a journey than a destination. We all love a one-off tip—but, at Byrdie, we’re more interested in how our skin evolves over time. The product we've used for a decade, the ingredient cocktail that made us glow, the step we never skip, and all the advice in between. This is the stuff that makes a real difference. With What I Put on My Face, we’re bringing you the rituals, recommendations, and failed experiments (we’ve all had them) straight from celebrities, founders, and influencers who’ve gone through it themselves.

Don’t let her breezy, tomato-girl fashion sense fool you: Sofía Vergara works hard to achieve her goals. Though the Colombian-born actor rose to popularity in the U.S. as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in Modern Family, she has been acting for years (and even hosted a popular show in the ‘90s). These days, you can find Vergara’s hands are still in many things, like judging on America’s Got Talent, running her own clothing brand in collaboration with Walmart, and starting a new sun-care line called Toty.

Toty doesn’t fall into one beauty or wellness category in particular—rather, the brand takes a 360-approach to prevent sun damage, aiming to protect the skin with SPF, treat it with skincare, support from within with supplements, and even the complexion with makeup.

“Protecting your skin against the sun is the ultimate beauty secret, and that is why I launched Toty,” Vergara tells Byrdie exclusively. “Growing up in Barranquilla and then living in Miami and all of these tropical, sunny places, tanning was all we did! Especially when I was young and loved the beach! I read in a magazine all of the horrible long-term effects the sun has on skin, not just aging and wrinkling, but even cancer, and since that moment, I realized what a priority it should be.”

With a market full of thick sunblocks and white cast-heavy products, landing on the perfect sunscreen formula didn’t happen for Vergara until she was in Europe. “It was really hard for me to find a sunscreen that I truly loved and that worked for me until I stumbled upon a tinted SPF product from Cantabria Labs while I was in Spain for work,” says Vergara.

“It was a total game-changer because it provided excellent sun protection, and it didn't look or feel like a heavy sunblock, which was everything I had been looking for in a product.” Toty is created in partnership with Cantabria Labs, and Vergara notes that she “wanted others to have access to tinted SPF products, so I started Toty in the hope that everyone could have the same great experience I have with sun protection and makeup.”

Toty launches on hsn.com today, July 31, with some of the brand’s best-selling products like the Solaria Mineral Antioxidant Sunscreen Serum ($42) and the Ilumina CC Cream SPF 50+ ($42), and some HSN exclusives like the Esencial Balancing Cleansing Gel ($32). While Vergara attributes some of her skin success to Toty’s range of products, we wanted to know more about her best-kept secrets for a glowing, sun-kissed complexion while protecting the skin against sun damage. Ahead, we uncover everything that Sofía Vergara puts on her face.

About Her Skin

I am very careful with the products I apply to my face because I have rosacea. I always have to make sure that the products I use are hydrating and gentle enough not to cause a flare-up, which is incredibly uncomfortable!

The Moment Skincare Clicked For Her

Well, I think to begin with, I've always just loved skincare, lotions, makeup, all of that. So, I was always trying to stay on top of trends and find the best new products, even when I was a little kid. I have always, always read beauty tips in magazines. It was in one of those beauty tips that I first read about how [the] sun can damage your skin, and ever since then, I have applied sunscreen to my face religiously.

Her Morning Versus Night Routine

First, coffee. I have to have my coffee in the morning. Then, I wash my face with the Toty Escensical Balancing cleanser, and then the most important step: SPF. I put on my Ilumina CC Cream with a brush, and if I need some extra coverage that day, I apply the CC Creamy Compact, and then I do my regular makeup routine! At night, I wash my face to take everything off, and I double cleanse using our Essential Balancing Cleanse, [which is] available exclusively on HSN. Moisturizer is a must before bed!

The Skincare Step She Never Skips

Sunscreen! Every day, sunscreen! I don't care if I'm staying in pajamas all day and never leaving the house. I still put on sunscreen! I like having both protection with coverage, so that is why I created the Ilumina shaded products in 2 forms: CC Cream and a CC Creamy Compact. They both use mineral filters, have Broad Spectrum SPF 50+ protection, and are infused with antioxidants that protect against free radicals, and both products come in 15-tone adapting shades!

The formula for the CC Creamy Compact SPF 50+ is so creamy, and it offers a beautiful natural blurring coverage. It's perfect for on-the-go protection. It is also very water and sweat-resistant, so you can wear it on the beach or driving around town.

The CC Cream SPF 50+ Perfecting Fluid offers medium to high coverage with a radiant finish. I chose a tube with a pump to make using this product as convenient as possible.

How Her Routine Has Evolved Over Time

Everything changes as you get older! Not only do I apply sunscreen a lot more now that I'm older, but the places where I use it have also changed! I used to only do face, but I wear it all over now! Including my hands, neck, and decolletage! I wish I had started doing that when I was younger. Now I always have sunscreen in my car. You don’t realize how much exposure you get sitting in traffic!

The Ingredient That's Made the Biggest Difference

I think antioxidants are more important for the skin than people realize; I certainly had no idea until I started researching [them.] This is actually why Cantabria Labs was so perfect for Toty because, for the last 20 years, they've been working with universities and studying the effects of antioxidants on the skin. All Toty products have our proprietary PLE FernBoost technology, which has been scientifically demonstrated to protect skin against sun damage and photoaging.

Her Best Skincare Advice

Apply Sunscreen EVERY DAY to your face—even on cloudy days (summer or winter) and even if you’re indoors or on a plane!

Her Most-Used Product

Absolutely every day I use our Ilumna CC Creamy Compact SPF 50+. You're supposed to apply sunscreen every 2 hours, so I reapply it all day long. What's great is that it's tinted, so I'm basically applying foundation. My shade is 4N.

The Product She’s Used the Longest

By this point, I think products by Cantabria Labs have been with me the longest; they were literally all I used until I came out with Toty.

Her Latest Skincare Obsession

Currently obsessed with my Serum No.1 from Dr. Nigma’s line. I love how lightweight it is and that I can apply my sunscreen and makeup on top without it pilling. I also recently started using the Shu Uemura shampoos and love how they make my hair feel!

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