Nico Parker on the One Beauty Product She Wishes She Could Tell Her 13-Year-Old Self to Ditch

Welcome to The Glowdown, the series where we dive into the beauty secrets of our favourite celebrities as they get real about their routines and non-negotiables exclusively with us. Join them as they sit in our beauty hot seat and we fire off a round of quick questions, giving you never-before-shared insight into the products they can't live without, their secrets to getting red carpet–ready, beauty pet peeves and the genius tips they've picked up along the way. This is no-holds-barred beauty at its finest.

This month, we sat down with Nico Parker. The 20-year-old actress became a global ambassador for luxury French beauty brand, Lancôme, at the end of 2024, and we were lucky enough to catch up with the star earlier this year, to ask her all about her go-to makeup products, her best beauty advice, and even her most-worn perfume...

1. Which beauty product gives you the biggest mood boost?
A good fragrance is key to boosting [my] mood. At the moment, I’m really loving Ô Zenith from the Lancôme Les Ô collection, because it’s always a quick way [to make] me feel more confident.

2. If you could steal someone else’s makeup bag, whose would it be?
It’s a tricky one because, in terms of makeup, I’m constantly finding new people whom I’m inspired by. In this moment, I’d have to give it to Celia Burton, who did my makeup a lot for press recently. She’d always whip out these random new products that I became obsessed with.

3. You’ve got a spot. Are you team pop it or team leave it alone?
I’m technically team leave it alone, but I’m a terrible player for the team.

4. You only have one product to use for the rest of your life—what is it?
Lancôme’s Lip Idôle Squalane-12 Butterglow. I will talk about this magical product until the end of time. Any shade. Any time. They have the loveliest sheen and finish to them. I’m yet to meet someone who hasn’t immediately fallen in love with [this product].

5. It’s a bad hair day. What do you do?
I’d like to give some productive advice, but the real answer is to cry out of frustration.

6. Strong lip or a strong eye?
Strong both. But not at the same time. Or maybe at the same time, if you feel confident with that. I personally think I start to look quite Gollum-y quite quickly if I don’t pull it back.

7. You’re having your nails done. What’s your go-to colour?
Nude. Boring but consistent. Or red. The choice is very impacted by the season.

8. What's your favourite lipstick colour?
I think it really depends on what other makeup you have going on. I tend to go for a mauve brownish tone, but I also love a pinker nude to play into the natural shade of my lips.

9. What’s your biggest beauty no-no?
You don’t need to drown yourself in black eyeliner the second you become a teenager. This isn’t a no-go for everyone; some people absolutely rock it. This is targeted to my younger self specifically. From my recollection of things, as soon as I turned 13, the eyeliner pencil was out, and I looked very similar to a raccoon. You don’t need it! Give yourself time to see what works for you; don’t immediately start trying to hide behind something. It took me a while to get out of that one.

10. Candles, reed diffusers or nothing at all?
I’m a very big candle person. I love smells and scents, and I also really love the [warmth] candles leave in a room. I think candlelight is one of my favourite kinds of light.

11. If you could share one piece of beauty advice, what would it be?
Less really is more.

12. What beauty product do you recommend to everyone?
I recommend Lancôme mascara to everyone, to the point where it’s probably quite annoying. Not one mascara in particular, I think it can be dependent on your lash type and what style you think looks best on you. My current favourite is the Lash Idôle Flutter Extension Mascara, but I was married to the Hypnôse Mascara for a while. I feel like a bit of a cheater.

13. Name one beauty product that is always in your handbag.
Lip balm. Never without lip balm. Lip liner is a pretty close second

14. Describe your brows in one word:
Trying their best. Not one word, but I think that sums them up quite well.

15. The greatest drugstore product for under £10?
I think tweezers are essential. Not just in regards to beauty, they’re honestly more of a tool than anything else.

16. Are you team dewy or matte?
I’m team dewy! But that’s partially because my skin type is more so on the oily side, so I don’t know if I’m dewy by nature or nurture, but I’m here nonetheless.

17. Makeup primer: love it or hate it?
I think if you have a good moisturiser or skin prep routine, then it’s essentially the same thing. Is that a controversial opinion?

18. Confession time–how often do you clean your makeup brushes?
I actually pride myself on the fact that I clean my makeup brushes somewhat regularly. Nowhere near as often as I should, but cleaning is cleaning. Maybe once, twice a month? Now that I say that, I feel like that’s actually not a lot at all.

19. What beauty rule do you always break?
Not picking spots. Those small ultra-close mirrors in hotels have become my enemy.

20. Would you rather have ultra-skinny brows or bleached brows?
Bleached? I’m not too sure either of them would suit me very much.

21. Which era of beauty inspires you most?
The classic old Hollywood look always winds up on my mood boards somehow. [There's just] something so gorgeous and enticing about that time.

22. Eyelash curlers: love them or hate them?
I can’t use them! When I was younger, I was on FaceTime with my friend, and her sister came in arguing about a stolen top, and my friend, while curling her lashes, whipped her head around to yell at her sister. In the aggression of the moment, she pulled too hard on the curler and all her eyelashes came out. I’ve been scarred ever since, so curling eyelashes is a no-go for me.

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