Selma Blair Is Going Public With Her Skincare Secret Weapon After Years of ‘Not Taking Any Pictures—It Was Really Bad’
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Selma Blair’s dog, Scout, greets me before anyone else does. He’s an affable English red fox Labrador Retriever, and he’s casually scoping me out. Within seconds, I think he can tell I’m not a threat, and we become pals. Any nerves I have about talking to Selma Blair—of Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde and Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up fame—go out the window, and I spend a minute scratching Scout’s ears.
I’m meeting up with Selma in a Beverly Hills hotel suite because she’s launching a special skincare line which she co-developed called Ultimate A Gold with Australian skincare brand ESK (Evidence Skincare). Selma, who has previously collaborated with renowned fashion designers such as Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, and Isaac Mizrahi, has never professionally ventured into the skincare industry—until now. But when Selma believes in something, you know it’s steadfast. And it all started with a “skincare disaster.”
“Tell me about your skincare disaster,” I ask Selma.
“After my son was born, things started going amok, and then I threw more stuff on [my face].” Selma’s son, Arthur Saint Bleick, whom she shares with her ex, Jason Bleick, was born in 2011. “And then I went to a place that was like, ‘This acne is so bad,’ but it wasn’t ever acne—it was dermatitis,” she explained. Despite the misdiagnosis, she was advised to get a chemical peel. “You should get a chemical peel!’ and that’s all she wrote, because my skin was already so reactive,” Selma continued. “I thought, oh, we’ll just erase it and start anew. It doesn’t work like that.”
The experience took a toll on her confidence. “So it was really bad. I had to stay in. I couldn’t take any pictures,” she revealed, reflecting on the difficult period.
“That was many years ago, but I did live with chronic skin inflammation, boils, burns, things, severe rose rosacea. Trying to have me take things internally wasn’t gonna work. And I tried some of the best products, but they were just too active.” Nothing worked until she tried ESK, which finally helped calm her irritated skin.
“I found that there were so many products in the ESK line that were tolerable for my skin. And so then [ESK co-founder] Dr. Ginni Mansberg and I spoke and met and I started using more products,” Selma added.
Dr. Ginni, a GP of 30 years and medical journalist, started ESK back in 2017 after identifying a white space in the skincare world: There really weren’t many rigorously formulated (and science-backed) skincare solutions, especially not for people over 40. ESK’s core philosophy is rooted in strictly using ingredients with proven clinical efficacy. When she and Selma came together to create a new ESK product, the goal was to not only double down on effective skincare, but effective skincare for those, who, like Selma, may have sensitive skin.
This is Ultimate A Gold‘s origin story. It’s an all-in-one nighttime solution, a multi-purpose moisturizer, that has anti-aging and barrier-boosting benefits—all while being really finicky complexion-friendly.
“So, we’ve got four different types of ceramides,” Dr. Ginni explains, after I ask her to break down the science of formula for me. “We have 5 percent niacinamide, which is vitamin B3; this helps repair the skin barrier.” It also contains hyaluronic acid (for skin repair and hydration), as well as lactiobionic acid (a gentle exfoliator). What really sets Ultimate A Gold apart from other anti-aging products, though, is that it contains retinal, versus retinol. Retinal is a more potent version of vitamin A and is more effective with smoothing fine lines and hyperpigmentation.
“Retinal is like the Goldilocks ingredient that has all the effectiveness of the prescription stuff, but is the most gentle of all, and it can be tolerated by people with rosacea,” Dr. Ginni explains. “We’ve also combined it with some polyhydroxy acids. So they’re like alpha hydroxy acids. It’s just that they have larger molecule signs, so they again, help you shift some of those dead skin cells, allowing the renewed skin cells from underneath, so you’ve got a very smooth and even complexion, fantastic for reducing pore size and building collagen,” Dr. Ginni says, giving me AP chem flashbacks (in the best way possible). “But again, very, very gentle,” she reiterates. “Unlike glycolic acid, which Selma tried and was diabolical for her skin, the polyhydroxy acids are really well tolerated by absolutely everybody.”
The final hero ingredient is 4-n-butylresorcinol , which is a Korean tyrosinase inhibitor. “Tyrosinase is the enzyme that you need to make pigment in your skin. If you inhibit tyrosinase, you can actually inhibit new pigment from forming,” Dr. Ginni explains. This ingredient isn’t cytotoxic, which means it combats hyperpigmentation without destroying the skin barrier, making it sensitive skin-safe.
“I have worked out a really minimal but wonderful routine,” Selma tells me. “Now I’m 53, and it did take a while; it’s been a few years of calming [my skin]. And I’m not someone who’s gone and had, like, procedures and stuff yet. So I’m very authentically in-tune with these skincare products, and really feel proud to bring through this collaboration to more people here,” she says, admitting she hadn’t heard of Australian-based ESK before this partnership. “I’m so, so proud of what we’ve done.”
For awhile, skincare, and really any form of self care, looked different for Selma, who had experienced symptoms of MS years before she was officially diagnosed in 2018 and went through intensive treatments such as hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy.
“Anytime you get a diagnosis, anytime you’re looking to feel better or feel better look better, it does make a difference,” Selma says, when I ask how her health journey has affected her relationship with skin care. “Like, let’s fix all we can, you know, let’s move the needle. Like, it makes me more attentive to how I look and how I present myself. There were so many years and, even as someone who loved fashion and loved going out, there were so many years I was just in a pair of sweatpants in my bed, and that was just kind of easy necessity,” she adds.
“I love finding ways to make [my beauty routine] more minimalist and easy. Like, okay, I want to be better all around, present myself in a better way all around. And I’m always learning with that,” Selma says.
For a week following our meeting, I tested the Ultimate A Gold myself (along with the Soothing & Melt Cleansing Balm and Gentle Glow PHA serum). I confided in Selma that I’d been dealing with postpartum “weirdness” (hyperpigmentation and fine lines that started forming across my forehead due to a year of not sleeping and probably just being 35). Like a close friend or big sister, she told me she couldn’t wait for me to try the products. Not to spoil anything for you, but the formulations really do work. I’m excited to see what a few months will look like after consistent use, but I can already see my skin looking brighter and more healthy. In Selma Blair we trust.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
