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.
Her makeup routine, however, has a bit more room for experimentation. While she's used the same exact foundation since her Gossip Girl days (Chanel's Les Beiges Foundation, if you're curious), she's recently dabbled in the world of complexion sticks thanks to her 16-year-old daughter. "I saw her one day doing her makeup, and she had just put this concealer stuff on, and it looked so much better. I was like, 'What are you doing?' And she said, 'I'm using this concealer stick just to cover up a little bit.' Now, I've been doing that, and it's amazing. … I think it's by Merit. I don't know if I'll stick with it, but it's been good so far. Gucci Westman makes some good ones too."
A "nice concealer" actually makes a wonderful holiday gift, she tells me—as does a designer lipstick, stylish hairbrush, and luxury cosmetic bag. "It's not always what we buy for ourselves, right?" she quips. After waving her own cream La Bonne Brosse detangler in the camera frame ("It's just so pretty, and it works really great. … You can have them engraved, which is a cool gift," she adds), Rutherford has me fully convinced that the chicest beauty gifts are the ones that double as fashion accessories—beautiful vessels that you can proudly display on your vanity or, if you're Rutherford, showcase in a quick mirror selfie.
In fact, she's worn one of Veronique Gabai's perfume pendants in a previous shot and still swears by the juice today. "[Veronique's fragrances] are very natural, very sophisticated, and the bottles are beautiful," she shares. "You can put a little sample size in the necklace, and it's very chic. She does it in gold and silver."
Her own beauty staples are closely aligned with those of her refined Upper East Side character. According to Rutherford, Lily van der Woodsen would saunter into a festive soirée wearing a designer lipstick and eye shadow ("Probably Hermès"), Armani's Luminous Silk Foundation ("It's old school, but it's still so good"), and a delicate rose scent courtesy of Veronique. Her hair, I'd imagine, would be tied in an elegant French twist—and I can practically hear the Kristen Bell voice-over.
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