WHERE THE HEART IS

How Nina Dobrev's Skin Has Changed While Staying at Home

At home in L.A., the actor finds calm in workouts with her dog and experimentation with her brow regimen.
portrait of actor Nina Dobrev at home wearing jeans and a Tshirt her hair down and minimal makeup
Photographed by current housemate, Nicole Cogan

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

For our June/July issue’s Where the Heart Is portfolio, celebrities and beauty pros share portraits and thoughts while staying at home during the pandemic. Dobrev (above) is in Los Angeles with her dog, Maverick.

As told to Cotton Codinha.

My coffee maker broke, so I've been living caffeine-free this whole time. It's torture. I don't recommend it to anyone. I miss coffee and sushi and human contact. I've started to prioritize my mental health [which for me means] cooking more and trying to find new activities and things that will feed my soul and keep me occupied and busy and give me purpose in this difficult time. In the first couple of days, Netflix was a welcome distraction from what's going on in the world. Then, after a while, well, we're humans. We crave purpose and we crave meaning to what we're doing and why we're here. And so I've been trying to pick up new hobbies and get outside to exercise when I can. I've been reading a lot, which is therapeutic for my brain. I'm calling my parents more. I'm talking to all my friends more. We are connecting more now than we were before, even though we can't see each other.

I've definitely been doing a lot of at-home workouts with random things for weight. You can't go to the gym and I don't have a home gym. I'm not fancy like that, so I was trying to do squats and things, but I usually do them with weights, which I don't have. So I have to get creative. I have this big, really heavy candle that I lift above my shoulders. I grabbed a planter from my backyard that I use to do squats. And then my hip thrusts: I put my puppy on my hips and I was lifting my dog. It's not just about looking good but feeling good, and I feel so much better when I've blown off some steam. And right now we all need to be blowing off steam because you feel so trapped. You need to get it out somehow. So I've been doing that, or going on bike rides as much as I can, or going out running.

In terms of straight-up beauty, honestly, I think the best thing that I've done for myself is I've been letting my skin breathe, and cleaning it, washing it, and then putting a lot of moisturizer on. Because of my industry, I wear so much makeup all the time. My skin is so much clearer now than it was before. My makeup artist gave me Augustinus Bader moisturizer before the quarantine and I just opened it and I've been using it every night. I've been sleeping a lot more than I normally do, going to bed really early. And you'd think that my dark circles would disappear after a month of good sleep, [but] no!

I feel most confident when my skin is clear, and even, and glowing, so I put on Dior Forever foundation [Dobrev is a spokesperson for the brand.]. Lately, I have been brushing my eyebrows up really high and messy. I like them to be messy and unruly. I put on a little bit of mascara, and some highlighter on my cheekbones for glow. I use a highlighter wand. It’s like a liquid-y blush-highlighter combo. You just dab it on and rub it in. I just put it on my cheek and cheekbones, and then sometimes I even put it on my lips because it's really dewy and glossy. I like moisturizing things, and two-in-ones are my favorite because, with my on-the-go lifestyle, I usually don't have time to do everything. Dior just came out with this gloss line, Dior Addict Stellar Gloss, and they're colored but they're super moisturizing and super dewy. They're kind of the dream.

I'm the worst with hair. I honestly don’t do anything. I have wavy hair and usually just go in the shower and let it air dry. I've been showering at night before I watch whatever I'm going to watch to go to sleep, I braid my hair into two French braids. Then I [pull] them apart [a little] and make them bigger so they're not tight. I spray them with Magic Myst [Universal Elixir from In Common], and then I sleep in it, and it dries overnight in the braids. Around 11:00 the next morning, once it's really dry, I take out the braids and it's like this crimpy, curly situation.

For me, beauty is about embracing the change that has been happening over the years and will continue to happen for many years to come. We're constantly evolving, and [my priority is] making sure that I still love myself in every phase of my life, because the only constant in life is change. When I was younger it was harder for me to accept that. But as I get older and wiser and more accepting of myself, frankly I just don’t care as much. What you see is what you get, and I'm okay with that.

All products featured on Allure are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.


A version of this story originally appeared in the June/July 2020 issue of Allure. Learn how to subscribe to the print magazine here.


Read more stories from Where the Heart Is:


Now, watch this ballerina's 10-minute morning routine:

You can follow Allure on Instagram, or subscribe to our newsletter for daily beauty stories straight to your inbox.