Gillian Anderson's Secret to Feeling Sexy Requires a $250 Perfume and a $12 Lipstick

Beauty routines are integral to getting In The Mood—not for any other person, but for you. Here, get a glimpse into the products, habits, and mantras that help powerhouse women slip into the sexiest version of themselves.

Gillian Anderson and Marie Claire’s first-ever edition of In the Mood: name a better duo, I dare you. Anderson is an actor by trade—of course. But she’s also an unabashed advocate of getting in touch with the sexiest, most-feel-good version of oneself, which is precisely what our new franchise is all about.

Case in point: Anderson launched G.Spot, an adaptogen-fueled, non-alcoholic beverage that doubles as an aphrodisiac capable of amping up desire in 2023; regularly shares phallic Instagram posts (see here, here, and here); and released “Want,” a book compiling anonymous letters about women’s nuanced sexual experiences in late 2024.

Her come-as-you-are attitude isn’t just applicable to her business ventures. A quick scroll through Anderson’s socials provides unfiltered glimpses of embracing beauty at every stage and age (no makeup! gray hair! wrinkles!). It’s what makes her uniquely positioned to step in as the new face of L’Oréal Paris’ Age Perfect Campaign. “So much of the work I’ve done talking to young women and helping empower women in self-esteem, their careers, their relationships; it all comes down to [the phrase ‘you’re worth it’],” Anderson tells me via Zoom, referencing L'Oréal's signature slogan. “There’s good alignment there.”

To find out how Anderson reminds herself that she's worth spoiling and how she embraces self-love, read ahead. She gives MC an unfiltered glimpse of the habits, products, and rituals that make her so magnetic.

Do you know what the morning mantra is? Leave me the f–k alone. I need some time by myself when I first wake up. If there's too much noise or distraction, I can’t get my head sorted and the whole day is ruined.

I don’t shower. I’m a bather—and it’s usually a bubble bath situation. There’s always some bath oil—a Le Labo, Jo Malone, or a nice-smelling bubble thing. I like a little bit of candlelight, too.

I'm usually quite well-manicured. But I wear flip flops and sandals a lot and when your feet are exposed, they can get dry and all that kind of icky stuff. They need a good scrub to get rid of that cracking. I have this heel shaving thing—it’s like a cheese grater for my feet—and it takes off bits of my skin. That’s pretty unsexy. But let me tell you: you can have some pretty sexy feet after a really ugly foot care ritual. Just saying.

Anything that’s smoky. There’s this perfume company called Perfumer H; they’re all-natural, which I love, but they have this scent called Smoke, and it’s incredibly sexy. There’s also this Comme de Garçons cologne called Wonderwood; I love to spray it on my neck. You're not supposed to rub it in either—apparently, it bruises it. Some pretentious perfumer somewhere in the world told me that. He was probably right, but I’ll admit it was hard not to burst out laughing.

I'm big on lashes. L'Oréal has this amazing mascara called Panorama. It gives me a really big, luscious wide eye. They also have a Color Riche Lipstick that’s really creamy. It’s not too shiny and it stains well, so you can really rub ‘em in. Since I was younger, I’ve used lipstick on my eyes as eyeshadow. You don’t need a makeup artist—or even a mirror—for that.

I don't do anything with my hair. I'm completely useless. When it's not blown out, it's very frizzy. I love it when I have a blowout, and then I wake one morning, three days later, and just put a band in the back of my hair. I like to be half done.

Always red on the toes. Always. And a soft pink, translucent shade on the nails. I’d love to be one of those people who wears colors, but it just doesn’t work for me. I’m boring.

For most of my life, it was no routine and straight to bed. But lately I’m trying to at least scrub my eyes. There are these Blephaclean pads that have a bit of texture on them. They’re great for getting off mascara. Then I use Simple Makeup Remover Wipes and that sums it up.

I used to have a fantasy that when I end up in a home, at least I’ll have time to read. Reading is one of the things that I really enjoy doing but that I let go of most when things are so busy and intense. If I'm gonna read something, it needs to be a script as opposed to a book. I work really hard to keep the novels in there, but I struggle. So, when I am old and in a home, while everybody else is playing bingo, I'm gonna be sitting and catching up on all the classics that I haven't given myself time to read. I’ve always wanted to read Middlemarch.I started listening to it as an audiobook, which was not the way to go. I want to properly enjoy a solid copy rather than rolling my eyes at a robotic version.

Tinted moisturizer is the bomb dot com. It makes such a difference and really evens everything out. I rely on it a lot.

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