When Kelly Rutherford joins our Google Meet call, the Gossip Girl alum and “OG Birkin mom,” according to the internet, looks as polished as ever, donning a black turtleneck underneath a gray sweater and buttoned-up tweed jacket with thick, oversize black glasses. She looks like she’s about to take one of her glamorously nonchalant elevator selfies, which, if you haven’t yet had the pleasure of scrolling through the sartorial feast that is her Instagram feed, present an endless source of winter outfit inspo. There’s a lot I could ask Rutherford at this moment—I immediately want to know who makes her outerwear, and after some digging, I’m 96% sure it’s Penelope Chilvers—yet I ultimately resort to what we don’t see in the iconic shots: the beauty picks hiding in her (typically Hermès) bag.
She takes a beat to respond. Rutherford, admittedly, doesn’t normally wax poetic on those staples. “Beauty products are tough for me. Talking about fashion is a little bit easier,” she tells me with a laugh. It turns out, however, that the actress has some of the chicest beauty recs around, and yes, I took copious notes.
Below, Rutherford reveals the stunning beauty products she’d show off in those mirror selfies, the holiday beauty gifts she’d love to receive this year, and the items Lily van der Woodsen would wear to host a 2025 Christmas party. (The Gossip Girl holiday episodes were always the most iconic.) Alexa, play “Whatcha Say.”
To be fair, Rutherford doesn’t carry a ton on her person. Her beauty routine as a whole is rather minimal (I wouldn’t expect anything less from the quiet luxury queen), consisting of French pharmacy staples and daily supplements—namely from Biosil, which fronts Rutherford as the face of its most recent campaign—that streamline her skincare regimen. “It’s always been that way,” she says of her “less is more” beauty MO. “My mom dragged me to the makeup counter at 18 years old and was like, ‘You’ve got to put on some makeup and skincare.’ I still have to make myself put on stuff, but I do love it. … I’ve always liked [simple products] for the most part.”
When it comes to skincare, clean, simple, and moisturizing is the blueprint. “I do love Caudalie. I’ve been wearing that [cream] for many years,” she shares, also praising Avène’s XeraCalm body balm as a fabulous multitasking hero for the wintertime. “It’s hypoallergenic, and you can use it on your face, body, everything. It’s just a good, very rich cream.” Biosil’s Advanced Collagen Generator Capsules round out her routine, keeping her skin plump and healthy for the long-haul. “I’ve known about it for many years and have many friends that have taken it and love it,” she shares. “It’s such a beautiful, clean product. It’s simple, and it works from the inside out.”
As for the skincare items she’d take with her on the go and place front and center in her Instagram shot? Lip balms—lots of ’em. Rutherford is quick to rattle off heroes from Hermès (“It’s chic and looks good in the purse,” she notes), Sonsie, and Rhode as well as a natural shea butter–based formula she recently picked up at a health-food store.
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