Exclusive
Lisa Bonet shares beauty secrets; it involves coconut oil too
Lisa Bonet – longtime natural hair bae and face of black boho chic talked to the New York Times to share her beauty secrets. What keeps her looking youthful and dewy? Coconut oil, dance classes and skin serums. She also avoids tweezing.
The actress Lisa Bonet has been appearing on television screens for decades, memorably in her role as Denise Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” and “A Different World.” This summer, she’ll be the featured guest star on season four of “Ray Donovan,” returning on June 26 on Showtime. Born in San Francisco, Ms. Bonet, 48, now lives in Los Angeles. She has a daughter, the actress Zoë Kravitz, 27, with the musician Lenny Kravitz, and a daughter, Lola, 8, and a son, Nakoa-Wolf, 7, with the actor Jason Momoa. Here, she shares her health and beauty favorites.
Skin Care
I use pretty active things at night to keep the cells turning over. I use a scrub by my facialist Dayle Breault a couple times a week. Or I’ll use Derma Peel by Rhonda Allison. I alternate between the two. For cleansing, especially in the morning when I’m looking to sweep the dead cells away, I use Dayle’s face soap or Rhonda Allison Pumpkin Cleanser.
Then I’ll use a couple of serums. I switch back and forth between Dayle’s Truthful Serum or Le Mieux TGF-B Booster. I change it according to whatever my skin is needing that day. Then I use Dayle’s spritz just to push the serums in deeper. I owe a lot to Dayle for my sustained youthfulness. But I’ve always taken skin care very seriously — from when I was a kid and would go to the drugstore and buy that Apricot Scrub. I also have really sensitive skin that requires a good amount of care. I’m not one of those people who can go to sleep with their makeup on and wake up and be fine.
Makeup
I use a tinted sunblock by Epicuren, and I add a squirt of Sormé liquid concealer and mix that together. Zoë has turned me on to this glowy highlighter. It’s Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Illuminating. I use Dr. Hauschka Tinted Day Cream on my eyes. It moisturizes lids and looks pretty. That’s basically what I wear during the day.
If I’m going out at night, I usually pick my eyes to accentuate. My go-to is a black sparkly pencil by Sisley. It adds a little sparkle, and it’s very easy to play with. I use Shiseido mascara, and I have this beautiful gold shadow by Dior. If I need it, I might use Clé de Peau concealer.
Slide Show
Lisa Bonet’s Beauty EssentialsMy brows are natural. I guess I got lucky. If you overtweeze, they might not grow back. I’ve always kept them quite full. Although, as young women, we like to experiment, and I did tweeze them once. (I have a school picture for proof.) It’s amazing how brows can change your face. I remember my mother was flabbergasted when I came out of the bathroom. I would tell my daughters not to overtweeze — maybe Zoë did it once — but you’ve got to let them fly, too.
Hair
I’ve had my hair in dreadlocks for a really long time. It’s probably been 20-something years now. I went for it because I couldn’t stand the hours of tending and unraveling my hair. It would knot up, and I don’t like going to salons. It seemed the natural solution. It’s hilarious when people who don’t know about dreads wonder, “Do you wash your hair?” The answer is “Of course.”
I usually use the Wen cleansing conditioner. If I’m looking for a really deep clean, I use the Phyto products. After I wash, I oil my hair up. If I don’t add oil, or overwash, it can become brittle. I like the Weleda rosemary hair oil, and I use organic coconut oil, which is what I use on my body as well. I was using coconut oil before the current craze. It’s simple and pure. Why put a lotion on your body that has 10 ingredients when you can put on one that is from nature and smells divine and does the job?
Fragrance
I usually stick with essential oils. There’s a wonderful company called Living Libations, and they have a fine, fine selection. They’re based in Canada. I actually heard Nadine [Artemis], one of the founders, speak at a breast health symposium, and I got turned on to her wealth of knowledge. I love her breast oil as well.
I might not tell you all the essential oils I use — you do have to keep a little mystery! — but you can’t go wrong with rose. There’s a beautiful gardenia, too. I also like the neroli. I tend to gravitate toward the flower essential oils.
Diet and Fitness
I’m all about putting food in my body that nourishes me. I used to be more skeptical about the gluten-free thing, but then my daughter Lola had a cough, and she’d wake up in the middle of the night. It got worse and worse, and the doctor had to give her an inhaler. Well, my own doctor suggested maybe it’s gluten. We took the gluten away, and it’s been such a big change. I pay for a gluten-free sourdough bread that’s baked fresh every week. A typical breakfast at home would be seasoned bone broth from Real Food Devotee, scrambled eggs cooked in coconut oil and the sourdough bread toasted with raw butter.
My favorite form of fitness is dance. I take an African dance class that I live for. I just walked in one day, and I have been doing it pretty regularly for seven years now. I also do Pilates twice a week, yoga once a week, and I go to the gym twice a week. I was a gymnast when I was very young. I ran track and field and cross-country when I was in school. I probably would have been an athlete if I hadn’t become an artist.
