This is the one facialist Rooney Mara always sees in London

rooney mara beauty interview
Rooney Mara on her holistic beauty regime©Thomas Whiteside for Givenchy Parfums

Rooney Mara has a serenity to her that's instantly palpable, even through a laptop screen as the actress chats to Bazaar from her home in Los Angeles.

"I feel like I understand beauty in a way that is more holistic to me now than when I was younger," she says thoughtfully. "It's much more of a state of being. Or something internal as opposed to external."

rooney mara beauty interview
©Thomas Whiteside for Givenchy Parfums

For the 39-year-old actor and face of Givenchy L'Interdit Absolu Eau de Parfum Intense, her beauty regime starts from the inside out. "I find that when I'm eating really well and I'm drinking lots of water and sleeping, the rest is really pretty simple," she shares. "Your emotional wellbeing is as much a part of your beauty as what you're doing on the outside, of course."

As for what she does on the outside, Mara has a fondness for a good berry lip, strong brows and restorative skin treatments. Ahead, she shares her favourite London facial spot, pregnancy-friendly workouts, and beauty bag staples with Bazaar.

On her beauty muses...

"My mum is just so beautiful, and people like Joan Didion, Isabelle Hubert, Sinead O'Connor and Audrey Hepburn were very true to themselves."

rooney mara beauty interview
Marc Piasecki - Getty Images

On her minimalist approach...

"I'm into putting Vaseline on eyelashes – I've always been more of a minimalist, [but] I'm really into lips; with stains, glosses, lipstick. I like a darker berry.

"To me, a little lip stain, some brows and a little blush, and that's all you really need."

On playing characters with iconic looks...

"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was so fun to get to transform into; to have that haircut and the piercings. It was so different than how I looked before that. It was really fun to get to live in that for a year, [it] was a really cool experience."

rooney mara
Mara as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon TattooHearst Owned

On her everyday beauty routine...

"It's pretty minimal. I wash my face with water and use the LVLC serum by By Chance. It smells really beautiful and it's light. I always put it on in the morning. I'll put on a sunscreen; Carasoin Spa [in West Hollywood] makes one or Karin [Herzog] – it's super light. I also like a rosewater spray.

"If I'm going to a meeting, I'll cover up spots. I try to get my brows and lashes tinted so I don't have to do anything to them, and I can just throw on blush and a little lip. I really like the Olio E Osso, I wear them daily. They're very moisturising.

"I love Herbivore Coco Rose Body Polish, I don't use it as much anymore but I do it every once in a while."

rooney mara beauty edit
©Thomas Whiteside for Givenchy Parfums

On her relationship with perfume...

"I've always been sensitive to smell and I love the scent of jasmine, lavender, and rose. I don't wear perfume every single day, but I like it for special occasions or when you want to feel a certain way.

"What I love about Givenchy L'Interdit is that it has a duality to it. It carries these two sides that I feel like I carry as well. It has the more floral, feminine side with the jasmine and it also has these masculine earthy undertones, like the tobacco and the neroli. It's intense but it's an understated smell.

"I'm a light sprayer. I like to spray and walk through."

rooney mara beauty interview
Getty Images

On scent memories...

"When I was doing The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Agatha who made a lot of the leather costumes also made roll-on perfumes, and so a lot of the clothes that she made would seep in certain scents. I remember the screen tests for the audition process, I was wearing those clothes and it was a very strong scent. When we started shooting the film, I made sure to get some of that scent - and it was already on the clothes, anyway - and I wore it for the year we were shooting. I don't anymore, but I still have a little bottle and the smell brings me back to it. It think it has a lot of amber; it's a bit musty and dark."

On the scent of childhood...

"My grandparents had a farm when I was younger, that we used to spend a lot of time at. There's always mothballs in the house. I grew up on the countryside, so when I smell horses or hay, that always reminds me of my childhood."

rooney mara beauty interview
Emma McIntyre - Getty Images

On professional beauty treatments...

"I love getting a facial; I love microcurrent. Right now I'm pregnant so I'm not doing it at all but it's definitely the first indulgence I'm going to do.

"In L.A, I see Lena at Carasoin Spa for the greatest facial. There's a woman called Chance in L.A who does a treatment called Le Visage Contour. She makes the serum I use twice a day. She does a microcurrent treatment and it's amazing. In London, Ada Ooi is one of the my favourites. I love her – every time I go to London I see her. I wish she was here. What she does is so holistic.

"I also love cryotherapy in the chamber. I hate the cold so much and I can't do wet-cold yet, but [a cryotherapy chamber] is three minutes and anyone can do anything for three minutes. You feel so amazing after and I noticed a big difference with my skin when I was doing it religiously."

In her make-up bag...

"I always have the Olio E Osso lip and I have this new one called Violette_FR. They make the Bisou Balm and I love the colour Bêtise. It's amazing because you can put it on and it's the perfect stain. Sometimes I'll use my lip stuff on my cheeks. Givenchy makes great lipsticks.

"I use the Roz hair oil; I like their shampoo a lot too. And Virtue's shampoo and conditioner. I like Ada's Cleansing Dew to wash my face; it smells so good."

On finding solitude...

"I'm an introverted person and I need time alone and time to recharge after being around other people. Our society really values extroversion so much. There's this great book called Quiet by Susan Cain that's all about that. I like being an introverted person. I've grown to be really comfortable with that as I get older.

"Since becoming a parent, it's much harder to recharge because I'm never alone. I'm always with my child. But you just find your own pockets of time. With my exercise now – that's maybe my time alone. I got for a walk or a hike and I do it alone. "

rooney mara beauty interview
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin - Getty Images

On pregnancy fitness...

"I try and walk or hike everyday but a mild one, nothing uphill. I love ballet, I do real ballet but for beginners, and that's really fun. I've been doing Pilates for 12 years now with the same person, Andie Hecker. But being pregnant I do much more yoga than Pilates; I try to do gentler things."

On self-care...

"If I'm meditating everyday, eating well, exercising and getting enough sleep, I just incorporate that into my everyday life. Things like unplugging from technology and getting out in nature – just being present, whether that's by myself or with my son, or with my family – that's the best self-care to me."

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