Selma Blair Talks Skin Care and Confidence

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Selma Blair has been a Hollywood mainstay since the late ’90s, with iconic roles in “Cruel Intentions,” “Legally Blonde,” and “Hellboy.” But in the years since becoming a mother and being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Blair has faced a different kind of challenge: caring for her skin.

After her son was born in 2011, Blair’s skin became more reactive. Dermatitis, rosacea, and painful boil-like flare-ups sent her on a months-long search for answers, bouncing between dermatologists, healers, and aestheticians, only to find that even the gentlest products seemed to make things worse. “Everything we threw at it, even the calming stuff, it just made it worse,” Blair tells PS. “Everything was just increasing this colony of sores and pain and dermatitis and rosacea — things that I never exhibited my whole life.”

Those flare-ups took a toll not just on her skin, but on her confidence. “The skin is what really was a huge red flag,” Blair says. “It’s what you show to people. I couldn’t work. I didn’t even want to audition because I knew there was no way they could cover what was happening on my skin. It takes its toll on your confidence.”

Everything changed when a facialist reached into her own bag and handed Blair an ESK Calming Cleanser ($42). “She said, ‘Just use this. This is really helpful,'” Blair recalls. “I went home, and it didn’t hurt. My face wasn’t burning that night. And then I used it again the next morning and the next night . . . that was the gateway product for me.”

That moment not only calmed her skin but shifted her perspective. Slowly, Blair began reintroducing products, eventually meeting Dr. Ginni Mansberg and ESK (Evidence Skincare) co-founder Daniel Rubinshtein. “My skin was improving. I could tolerate a facial and do things to get my skin healthy again,” she says.

What started as personal trial and error soon became a creative partnership. Blair wondered if it was possible to create a single formula that could repair the skin barrier, deliver anti-aging benefits, and brighten pigmentation — all without triggering irritation. “A lot of [my audience] are in the disabled community or have chronic illness, and it might not always leave a lot of extra money around for five products to use at night,” Blair says. “It was like, OK, how do we combine all the things that I love so others can see results while still not getting reactive?”

The result is ESK’s Ultimate A Gold ($100), a retinal-based night cream that combines barrier-repairing ceramides and hyaluronic acid with five percent niacinamide, gentle polyhydroxy acids, and 4-n-Butylresorcinol (a powerful pigmentation fighter that can be used year-round). “We’ve been using it for six months, and it caused such an improvement in my skin and the hyperpigmentation,” Blair says. “Now people say it too, and I notice it’s easier to apply my makeup because I don’t have as much graying underneath.”

Blair’s approach to beauty these days is refreshingly realistic — a mindset she’s earned over time. “I see a lot of articles in magazines about somebody’s 16-step nighttime routine, and it actually makes me want to cry,” she says with a laugh. “I have a job, and I have kids, and I might want to sleep. We all love self-care, but not for an hour at night. The best thing you can do is go to sleep.”

“I feel a real responsibility to be honest about what’s worked for me, and to create something simple and true.”

Now that her skin has calmed, Blair has been able to rediscover the joy in makeup and hair. “I love the Il Makiage Power Redo Wrinkle Fix ($69). You don’t rub it in fully, you kind of spackle it on. Makeup goes over it totally smoothly,” she says. She also loves Westman Atelier, like the Baby Cheeks Blush Stick ($48). “They’re so easy and pretty, and make things foolproof. And the Kylie Cosmetics Precision Pout Lip Liners ($19) — I’m like the biggest, oldest Kylie Jenner fan, but they’re truly the best lip liners.” For hair, she swears by Philip Kingsley’s Elasticizer Hair Mask ($30) and keeps the rest of her look simple with basic bronzer and Laura Geller Eyeliner ($18).

For Blair, this launch isn’t just a celebrity beauty collaboration — it’s personal. “It gives me a lot of confidence to know that it’s evening my skin, that it’s making a difference,” she says. “I feel a real responsibility to be honest about what’s worked for me, and to create something simple and true.”

Olivia Tauber is a freelance writer based in New York, pursuing her Master’s in Journalism at NYU. She’s the contributing assistant beauty editor at PopSugar and contributor to New York Magazine’s The Cut, Interview, Bustle, SELF, and HuffPost. Her career began in corporate publicity at Showtime, followed by production for “The Pivot,” an Emmy-nominated series.