There's something about Sarah Hyland [1]. Resilient in the face of a 26-year battle with kidney failure [2], thoughtful, accomplished, audacious, and yeah, pretty freaking hilarious — all rolled into one. She's of the breed with that no-holds-barred authenticity you seldom see in Hollywood (or anywhere, for that matter).
Here, we'll prove it. During a recent Olay interview with the actress, in between soundbites like "Ugh, I have so many freaking beauty products [3], it's insane," and in response to POPSUGAR's post about her new and trendy shag haircut [4], she laughs and says outright: "Here's the thing, it wasn't really a haircut — we just took out my extensions. How did you think I grew two feet of hair?"
(In our defence, she also added, "everyone is used to seeing me with extensions as Haley Dunphy [5] [on Modern Family], but then it's gone as soon as a season ends.") Hyland tilts her head back at the thought and lets out a cackle so soft, you might mistake it for a snort. To no surprise, she kept with that stream of honesty as she shared everything from her approach to self-care to the beauty products boyfriend Wells Adams [6] steals from her stash, which you can read all about ahead.
Turns out she's one other thing, too: refreshing.
The 1 Haircut She's Definitely Getting After Modern Family
She might not have really gotten that shag haircut [7], but she does have her eye on one style: bangs. Only, this isn't the perennial dilemma you (and probably every single person you know) has had — you know, the "should I or should I not get bangs?"
The reason she hasn't opted for the chop yet is far simpler: "I've been wanting bangs and shoulder-length hair for a really long time now. I only have bangs or shoulder length when I can wear my hair curly because it curls up so much, so I just have to wait for when Modern's over. But I'm getting them."
How Her Battle With Kidney Failure Inspired Her Self-Care Routine
The term "self-care" [8] means different things to different people, but for Hyland, it's an extension of self-love — and a reminder to slow down. "The big a-ha moment where I was like, 'I need to change something here,' was when I went into rejection. I lost a lot of control in that situation — and I'm a control freak. I have always found that if you do something, and you're working toward a goal, then you do whatever you can to reach that goal within your means. Not being able to control something like that with my health was really hard for me to absorb."
"I was like, 'My body is going through all of this crazy drama right now and I have no idea what to do other than to keep it the best shape that I can right now with the tools that I have."
"That's when I decided to take control of the things in my life that I did have power over, and that's when I started to get into skincare [9]. I didn't really have a routine before. I was 26 and I was like, 'I'm starting to get older; I'm in the 25-to-30 bracket. I should probably start taking care of my skin better and do preventative things for my face and for my body. My body is going through all of this crazy drama right now and I have no idea what to do other than to keep it the best shape that I can right now with the tools that I have.'"
What Her Self-Care Routine Looks Like
Another element of self-care is the whole intention behind her most recent partnership with Olay, which is meant to encourage people to unwind and take time for themselves. For Hyland, that's directly connected to her beauty routine.
"I have a whole drawer dedicated to face lotion, moisturisers, serums, exfoliators, body wash, and face masks," she laughed. "Self-care is an extension of self-love, and that is all about confidence and feeling comfortable in your own skin. Moisturising, for me, is probably the biggest thing. Being able to take that moment of the day, or two moments, to start your day and end it with taking care of your skin — and not giving your energy to anything else other than to yourself — is super important." A favourite hydrator of hers? The Olay Moisture Ribbons Plus Shea + Blue Lotus Body Wash [10] ($5).
The 1 Beauty Product Wells Adams Always Steals From Her Stash
If you couldn't already tell from the ridiculously cute Instagram Stories both Hyland and Wells Adams post on the regular, the answer is face masks. "He steals them all the time," she laughed. "It's so funny because he didn't use any products before. Well, he had face lotion — he legitimately calls it 'face lotion' because that's the only thing it says on the bottle — but I think that was the only thing he really used before. Now, I've got him and the entire Addams family on the face mask train. It's a lot of fun."
Why She Keeps It Real On Instagram
Hyland uses the social media platform to be silly, sure, but she's also the queen of the empowering Instagram selfie — whether it's proudly baring her scars [11] or a filter-free photo [12].
"I was born and raised in New York, so I had to grow up with a tough skin," she said. "Living in New York, you can be four years old and see a pervert exposing himself on the street. I've had to be like, "Well, I just saw that. Guess I just have to move on with my day and not let it traumatize me. So in that way, I've always kept it real just because I don't know how else to be. On Instagram and Twitter, I always forget how many followers I have. I'm posting stuff that I'm like, 'Oh. I think this is funny. My friends might like it.' A lot of times, it's not like I'm making a statement of being real — it's more an accident, and then I realise, Oh shit. I just posted a picture of five double chins and I I cannot take that back."
"It's important that we do share our stories, that we are vulnerable, and that we don't live in this filtered life where everybody thinks that everything's perfect, when it's really not."
"Then there are times where I do like to be open and honest and vulnerable about my life just because there are so many people out there living this filtered reality. It can feel like this scripted TV show on Instagram. We need to be able to remind ourselves that we're human. We make mistakes. We have flaws. But it's our imperfections that make us unique and perfect. It's important that we do share our stories, that we are vulnerable, and that we don't live in this filtered life where everybody thinks that everything's perfect, when it's really not. It just makes others feel less than, and we all should just be here for each other. Love is love, and we should all practice that."