Rachel Brosnahan on Why Skipping Makeup Actually Makes Her Feel More Empowered

With every $3,000 skincare routine celebrities talk about comes the conclusion: the average person ain't ever getting that good of a glow. But Brosnahan assures that great skin doesn't have to come at a cost.

"I have used the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser ($14) for the better part of the last 10 years, since I was in high school. I've tried other products, but I think a key for me is keeping it simple. I have really sensitive skin, it's been a lifeline for me. When I'm working, I basically just use that, coupled with a treatment that you might use once or twice a week, like a face mask."

Speaking of indulgences, there was perhaps no bigger geek-out during our entire interview than when Brosnahan started talking about the ReFa CAXA RAY Facial Roller Tool ($280). "If I don't get enough sleep, my skin gets particularly sensitive and reactive," she said. "This roller from ReFa is amazing; my makeup artist Lisa Aharon introduced it to me. It has microcurrents in it, but you can't feel it. I got really nervous when she said that to me — I was like, 'Oh god, I'm going to get electrocuted.' You can turn it all kinds of ways, and all the sides do something different. How it works is, you just roll it five times outward along your jawbone, your cheekbones, your collarbone, or wherever — it really works. I'm obsessed with it because it completely depuffs everything, whether it's from no sleep or a few too many margaritas."

Of course, there's only one minor downside to a lipstick that doesn't budge: "It's sometimes a little tough to get off at night," she said. "I'll be like, 'Cool, it's still on 16 hours later.' So the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloths ($10) are my life — A+ to them. We've got them all over the hair and makeup trailer on set now."

"I love an ear cuff because I can pretend to have piercings that I don't and look like I'm much cooler than I am," she laughed. (She likes daintier designs, like the Zoë Chicco Diamond Ear Cuff, $200.) "I love that cuffs are a thing now because we can pretend to be so much more edgy than we are. So I got rid of my nose piercing and got a fake ear piercing instead."

"Leaving the house without makeup on is empowering to me," Brosnahan said. "I hope we reach a point where that doesn't feel powerful, where that feels very normal. But it does sometimes. Making a decision to look in the mirror and say, 'OK, I'm a little puffy and I might have some dark circles under my eyes, but that's OK, and I'm going to leave the house and get my shit done anyway.' That feels powerful to me, and it's an important part of self-care. I'm choosing to feel confident, and not the let the insecurities stop me from doing what I need to do."

Being a celebrity with a critically acclaimed TV show sounds glamorous, but there's also a level of critique and pressure that comes with territory. Ironically, the similarities aren't so few and far between between 2019 and the 1950s, when The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is set.

"I wasn't around in the 50s, so I can't speak specifically to what it felt like to be a woman then, but I know that today, many of my female friends have dealt with real and deep-rooted insecurities surrounding the way that they look, and the way that they feel pressured to present to the world," Brosnahan said. "I think we still have some work to do there. Most women I know wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the house without makeup on, and that makes me sad. I enjoy makeup as it gives me the ability to transform the way that I look. But I've been lucky enough to have people around me that don't make me feel like I need to be reliant on it to feel better about myself."

"I hope that we can get to a place where we're focusing less on covering up, and more on experimentation and having fun with makeup, rather than changing who we are."