Tracee Ellis Ross Is Missing the Smell of Loved Ones Right Now

Cotton Codinha
·3 min read

For our June/July issue’s Where the Heart Is portfolio, celebrities and beauty pros share portraits and thoughts while staying at home during the pandemic. Ellis Ross (above) is in L.A.

As told to Cotton Codinha

My motto before this was always, "Work hard and take care of yourself," and now it’s switched to, “Be easy, be gentle, and be joyful." I am not a different person in a pandemic. I am the same person. I am just as mindful of self-care — the simple things bring me tons of joy. All of that is the same, but I'm allowing a very different frame around it. I worry for so many people that are on the front lines that are keeping our world moving and working that we so often take for granted. I miss hugs and sitting in the presence of people that I love and being able to lean on them physically. And, honestly, [I miss] people's smells. I miss that a lot. A friend of mine the other day said I smell like oatmeal. I was like, "What? Come on. I don’t smell like oatmeal." He said it's a combination of incense and oatmeal, like home. I know exactly what my mother smells like. There are things that as human beings we're so used to taking for granted. I am really looking forward to smelling people I love again.

I love a bath. I am taking more regular baths and finding all different things to put in my bath. I had a rose bath the other night. I'm never a big makeup wearer, but I love a lip, and I have done a lip for some Zoom calls and also just for me. It kind of brightens my face. It's been helpful. You pass by the mirror and you kind of want to smile. I've worn MAC Ruby Woo with the Cherry lipliner for years. I wear mascara for work and any of my friends will tell you that one of my favorite things to say is I long for a period when I won't have to put mascara on. Taking mascara off is such a chore.

I've always been known for doing a minimum of one, a maximum of four masks a day. I have a collection of masks second to none. They're all Biologique Recherche. That's my favorite line.

I was dating someone. He was English, and he was like, "My God, you're always in a housecoat." I was like, "First of all, it's not a housecoat." He was like, "Housedress." I'm like, "Not a housedress. It's called a robe." And I have a collection of robes. I have three of the d'Oro robes. I have satin robes, I have cotton robes, I have ripped-up, old robes, I have terrycloth robes. There's been a lot of robing.

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A version of this story originally appeared in the June 2020 print issue of Allure. Learn how to subscribe here.

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Originally Appeared on Allure