9 beauty lessons we learnt from Lili Reinhart

A conversation with Lili Reinhart feels something akin to a meditative experience. Her voice? Relaxing. Her struggles? Relatable. Her attitude toward beauty? Refreshing.

Because while her status as one of Hollywood’s up-and-coming heavy-hitters is crystal clear, she admits that her complexion is not (and that's A-OK with her).

At the end of the day, she's a young woman experiencing the same skin setbacks (Reinhart has long struggled with cystic acne), filter fatigue (she’s big on transparency) and ridiculous albeit ridiculously annoying issues (yep, she deals with the dreaded foundation-stains-on-your-shirt dilemma, too) as we all are. Reinhart’s just like the rest of us, and she’s not afraid to let everyone know it.

We could all learn a thing (or nine, to be exact) from her approach, and when BEAUTYcrew had the pleasure of chatting to her about her new role as the face of Covergirl’s Clean Fresh range, we certainly did. Here are the brilliant beauty lessons she blessed us with.

Lesson #1 You can let your skin enjoy this downtime (even if you're not)

"[When it comes to keeping my skin clear overall], I think it's [generally] about trying to keep my life stress-free, [but I must admit that's] pretty impossible especially with what's going on right now…" she says. “I'm not having to go to work and wear makeup for 16 hours a day [though, so] it's been really nice for my skin to have a break from having loads of makeup [on]. That's been really beneficial for my breakouts, honestly."

Lesson #2 Foot care routines are no joke

As for the time she's saving on eyeshadow application, Reinhart has been devoting it to a few of her favourite hobbies, some old, some new; reading (and writing) poetry, playing with her pup Milo, and of course, keeping her soles silky smooth. “I was very impressed with a foot peel [I tried recently]—my feet are baby soft,” she laughs. "I also took it upon myself to buy a callus remover. This is so gross but it’s almost like a shaver; it's a razor that you rub along the calluses under your feet and it just shaves off the dead layer of skin. It's good to do alongside a foot peeling mask to get everything off. My feet look better than they've looked in a long time, I'll tell you,” she says. “So I'm impressed.”

Lesson #4 It is possible to keep clothes foundation-stain-free

No, not even Reinhart (or her Riverdale character Betty Cooper, with her affinity for high necklines and light colours) is immune to foundation stains. “There's definitely been times where my makeup’s gotten on my collar,” she laughs, admitting the Riverdale team have a few hacks they rely on to keep her clothes foundation-free.

“Sometimes we have to make the head holes in my shirt bigger, because they're just way too tight, and if my hair is already done in a ponytail, my hair and makeup are just gonna get messed up the second I put my shirt on. So we [often] have to tailor shirts to have a bigger opening to accommodate my ponytail [and that definitely helps]."

She’s well aware that the battle isn’t over once the garment is on, though. "[If I’m wearing something that means] it's a big issue, we put tissues or paper towels in the collar of my shirt between [takes] or before we start shooting the scene, so that in case I move my head the wrong way it doesn't get on there.” Definitely a good trick to try; if you haven't got a sewing kit handy, put your clothes on first, cover with a robe, apply your makeup, and then leave tissues in place until your foundation is fully set to avoid major stains.

Lesson #5 Hidden Photoshop is all too real

As someone who's been refreshingly open about her own struggles with acne, Reinhart takes transparency seriously. “I think social media can be very toxic if the only people you follow are people who refuse to show themselves without a filter or without Photoshop. [The issue is that] I think a lot more people Photoshop their photos than you would imagine — even people who claim to be natural and [wearing] no makeup, there's often times hidden Photoshop in those pictures,” she explains.

Lesson #6 Transparency goes both ways

Reinhart looks for the same realistic inspiration she hopes to offer, too. “[Because] I think it's important for me to show that acne is normal, I like to follow a bunch of Instagram accounts of women who [also] show off their natural skin texture,” she says. “I don't like people [who are] photoshopped or [wearing] super heavy makeup, so I’m following Instagram accounts of women who just have really beautiful fresh and dewy skin.”

Lesson #7 There’s nothing like a natural red carpet look

She has some favourite sources of inspiration as far as fellow celebs go as well. “I think Margot Robbie always looks really beautiful on the red carpet, her skin always looks natural. Elle Fanning [as well]; her makeup always looks so beautiful and youthful and I think that's important. [I like the same approach]—I don't want to be wearing a bunch of makeup because I don't need it; it also just doesn’t make me feel super confident to wear a bunch of makeup," she shares.

Lesson #9 Love handles definitely do belong in bikini pics

Skin and body positivity go hand in hand for Reinhart. “My body's not chiseled or perfect by any means — and that's totally fine by me. I don't have a size zero waist and I have love handles and it's like, that's fine, I'm gonna show the world," she says. "If I feel hot in a bikini, I'll post a picture, I don't care, it's not gonna stop me. I think it’s important for people [who follow me] to see themselves in me, rather than see a perfect, put-together [person or] body, [because] that's not who I am.” Run. And. Tell. That.

Main image credit: @patrickta

After more inspo from Lili Reinhart? Check out her gorgeous natural curls...