Scarlett Johansson is in a reflective mood. She is about to launch The Outset in the UK this June, a no-frills skincare line that eliminates all harsh ingredients in favour of nourishing the moisture barrier with crowd pleasers such as niacinamide and squalane.
It was, she says, a deeply personal project during the Covid lockdown and born out of her own years-long battle with acne in the public eye. But she is also unflinchingly honest about how she's overcoming feeling fragile on social media as a result of this new venture and why women internalise beauty standards.
I meet the 38-year-old half Danish, half American actress over Zoom. I'm not sure what to expect. ‘Hollywood Scarlett’, who recently stunned on the Cannes red carpet in a pink floor-length gown with peek-a-boo bra detail needs almost no introduction at all.
This is such a bombshell moment.
She has graced our screens since the tender age of nine when she made her acting debut in the fantasy comedy North. She then went on to achieve recognition as Grace MacLean, a teenager traumatised by a riding accident, in The Horse Whisperer before her star turn in Lost In Translation won her a BAFTA Award for Best Actress.
However, Scarlett is perhaps most famous for playing the Black Widow in Marvel's Iron Man 2, a role she reprised eight times, before she received two simultaneous Academy Award nominations in 2019 – Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress – for the drama Marriage Story and the satire Jojo Rabbit, respectively.
There's no doubt that it can be thrilling to meet a celebrity exuding Hollywood gloss, with perfectly executed makeup and hair artfully whipped into place. But I'm secretly hoping for a more stripped-back Scarlett Johansson in order to glean something – anything – about a woman whose career I've followed, but whose passions, nuances and vulnerabilities I know very little about.
As the square lights up on my screen, that's exactly what I get. Scarlett is wearing a baggy bottle green jumper and glasses, her hair haphazardly thrown up in a messy bun. My eye is immediately drawn to that famous mega-watt smile and her marble-smooth, makeup-free skin.
Over the course of the next 20 minutes, Scarlett considers each question I ask for a few beats before giving a considered, savvy answer. She is also warm and funny about how her highly reactive skin has made her the perfect human guinea pig for her cruelty-free skincare line, which comprises cleanser, exfoliator, serum, oil, day and night creams.
I immediately like her and our interview's relaxed vibe is a green light to discuss her relationship with her skin growing up, why as a woman approaching 40 she is deviating from the norm by not throwing harsh anti-ageing actives at it and how motherhood is her most life-changing role to date.
Even if I hadn't been in the public eye, just having this skin that I was hyper aware of day to day was a source of a lot of anxiety and frustration for me. I was so scared to put moisture and nourishment into my skin because the trend since I was a teenager was “acne's bad, strip it away." I was constantly cleaning my face – I had no idea. I was like, why am I still having this problem if if my skin is so ‘clean’? It wasn't until I started taking a gentle approach to my skin that was more mindful and nourishing that I realised my skin can actually heal itself. It's this organ and tissue that can repair itself if you just treat it kindly, you know? It transformed my skin quality completely. I never looked back after that.
I think I've probably put those pressures on myself. I'm also a person who at work spends two hours in front of a humongous mirror with lights all around it. I don't think most people spend two hours at 5:30 in the morning staring into a mirror. So yeah, I think you are hyper aware of how you look, ageing and the changes in your body and your face – like how you looked different before. You're also documented for decades of time. So, I don't know, it would be a Herculean effort to not be conscious of that stuff. Maybe if I was a dude I'd be less conscious, although I don't think that's true because the actors that I know are getting all kinds of treatments in the [makeup] chair. I'm like, are you doing a lymphatic facial?
The Outset came from a genuine need. I just want to streamline my routine so it's approachable and consistent. I've been so obsessed with skincare since I was a teenager. I knew that I had a passion for this project, but it's such a different world than the one that I come from. With the encouragement of my friends and family saying, “You know a lot about this stuff, you could do it yourself,” I felt like maybe I'll scratch the surface and then see what the process is. It was 1 million times more involved than I could have imagined! I reached out to a couple of friends of mine, just wondering if they knew someone who could be a producing partner. We [Scarlett and The Outnet co-founder, American entrepreneur Kate Foster] did not make it easy for ourselves. What does it mean to be clean? There's got to be a certain standard? So we just started going down that path. Trying to find alternatives to petroleum is very, very challenging. But then you have that moment like, “Oh, it's actually really working. My skin's actually transforming.” The products are so good and we put so much intention behind each one – that's really been what sets us apart.
We wanted something that feels like these are essentials. So we have this ‘hyaluroset complex’ in every one of our products. It's a botanical alternative to hyaluronic acid. The Outset is like the beginning of your day. It's a fresh start. It just feels like there's an optimism about it, this idea that at the outset is where healthy skin begins, you know?
My makeup artist Frankie [Boyd] likes to count when he uses an eyelash curler. He'll count “1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10” as that way you have an even curl on either side. Shu Uemura's Eyelash Curler always opens your eyes for a mid-day freshen up. My skin can't live without The Outset Firming Vegan Collagen Prep Serum. It mixes perfectly with a drop of concealer for all over brightness plus coverage. I also always have the YSL Touché Eclat Illuminating Pen in my makeup bag as it's the best pick-me-up anytime.
Certainly the biggest change in my life is becoming a mom [Scarlett has an 8-year-old daughter, whom she shares with ex-husband Romain Dauriac, and a 1-year-old son with Saturday Night Live comedian Colin Jost]. I can't imagine a bigger lifestyle change. It changed my entire perspective on where my priorities are, what I want to spend my time on, ageing, my relationship with my own parents and my relationship with my partner. That to me was the biggest new beginning, I think.
It's different than going out there and having to share very personal aspects of your family life or what you do on your off time and all that stuff. I feel like there's a lot of judgment and potential negativity around that. It feels invasive in a way that this doesn't because I'm not putting myself out there going, “Look at me, look at what I'm doing in my everyday life or whatever.” It's more like having a conversation with a community of people that have either the same struggle or interest in skincare. I love that, and being able to do a 10-day challenge to see how your skin's transforming – it's exciting. It's a very positive experience where it could be kind of terrifying.
I was like 17. Right before I was doing Lost In Translation our director Sofia Coppela wanted me to have blonde hair and I had red hair at the time. I went to get the colour changed and I had never gone through this process before. They bleached all the colour out of my hair. They were washing it out and they kept lifting the colour and I lost half of my hair. It was very sad.
Really for me, this is something that I continue to work on. When I understand not just what I want, but what I need out of my relationships with people or in my relationship with myself, that makes me feel like I'm in control in a good way. It's underrated but highly important.
Honestly, I really think whatever makes you comfortable, whatever makes you feel most confident, I don't judge anybody. I think you have to do what makes you feel like the best version of yourself.
The Outset launches in the UK at Cult Beauty this June. Join the waitlist here.
For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR's Acting Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.
