Jessica Simpson on Confidence, At-Home Lasers, and How Daisy Duke Changed Her Skincare POV

Say hello to Unfiltered, a fresh beauty series where you'll get an exclusive glimpse into the dressed-down beauty routines of our favorite celebrities and content creators. They'll reveal their guilty-pleasure beauty practices, the five-minute-routine product lineup they can't live without, the one good-skin tip they'll be forever thankful for, and so much more. To bring every conversation full circle, we ask each celebrity to send us a selection of self-shot, filter-free photos of their choosing to capture the essence of their Unfiltered beauty philosophy.

Up next, we're getting to know pop star, actress, and fashion designer Jessica Simpson, who is partnering with Kiehl's for its Better Screen Miner-all UV Serum. Below, she's answering all of our rapid-fire questions, reflecting on motherhood, reminiscing on Y2K beauty staples, and more. Enjoy!

First, I want to talk about the Kiehl's "sun sinner" campaign, which pokes fun at early 2000s sun-worship culture. I'm curious. When did you start to prioritize suncare and realize, "Oh wait, maybe I should be more careful about this."

Growing up in Texas, it was hot as hell. It was humid, and I was always in a pool. I was always spraying Sun In in my hair, pouring lemon juice on my head to make myself blonder, or any accelerator you could find to be the tannest cheerleader you could be. I definitely worshipped the sun. My mom was an aerobics instructor … and a very young mom. We're only 20 years apart. In between her aerobics, we'd go swim and lay out together, so I grew up just always being in the sun not really knowing much about sunscreen that I can remember.

I started taking it seriously in my 20s once I did The Dukes of Hazzard. We were shooting in the freezing cold, but I had to wear next to nothing. I was going to tanning beds, spray-tanning, and wearing body makeup. It was a whole thing to be Daisy Duke and look the same every day. The continuity was important, and that was a hard thing to keep up with. That's when I started being conscious of how it's probably not great for me to be going to these tanning beds all the time. [I was like,] "I can't imagine that this is good."

We all get that one sunburn where our skin keeps peeling for weeks, and you're like, "How do I have this many layers of fucking skin?!" It takes that to be like, "Okay, I've got to take care of myself." So I would say probably in my early 20s.

I'm a Texas girl too, so I totally align with everything that you said about the summers there.

Right? You get your Big Gulp [with] perfect ice… Laying out sounds amazing!

It does!

[Protecting] my face has always been important. And my hands—I feel like we forget about our hands a lot. Whether we're driving or whatever, our hands are very exposed to the sun, and they're a dead giveaway of how old we are.

Is the Kiehl's sunscreen serum something that you put on your hands as well?

It absolutely is, yes. I put it on my hands as I'm putting it on my face. It's really an easy thing to do. I know a lot of people just wipe off [the excess], but you might as well get the tops of your hands.

Right. Derms always give that tip to not waste the product. You've mentioned in past interviews that you feel younger in your 40s than you did in your 30s. I'd love it if you could elaborate on that. Specifically when it comes to beauty, how has your outlook changed over the years?

I'm big on journaling. I get to know myself every day, so I don't judge myself or feel effected when the world judges me. As long as I'm confronting myself on a daily basis and checking in with myself, if I feel aligned and spiritually connected to myself, I do feel beautiful.

There's so much pressure to feel perfect, but "perfect" is so overrated. I don't even understand it, to be honest. All the filters and things that people do… It's hard because I'm raising children in this [digital age] as well. [But] I just know myself, and I always challenge my oldest daughter [Maxwell] to really know herself. I get her advice all the time because she's just the best. She even said something to me just the other night, and I damn near cried. I was asking her how she was feeling about school or something. She's about to be 14, and it's that age when everything changes. That's when I got my first kiss. I love this age for her. It was hard for me in life, but she seems to be rocking and rolling through it. She was like, "Mom, I really wish that you were my age and we could go to school together." I said, "That's so cute, Max! You do?" She was like, "Honestly, I think that we would hang out and be real best friends."

To me, that's beautiful, you know? That's probably not answering your question at all. I've gone on a tangent, but it is such a special thing. Beauty is not just in how we take care of ourselves but [also] in how we nurture ourselves, how aware we are of what's real and what isn't and what is important and what isn't. Perspective is everything.

Well, I almost hate to ask a product-specific question after that beautiful answer!

No, you're good! I love products.

You're obviously such a Y2K style icon, but I'd love to ask specifically about beauty. Are there any beauty products you used back then that you still consider staples today?

I still love Epicuren. I use the Epicuren kukui-nut body lotion. It's kind of [fragranced], and it's a little bit oil based. I even shave with it. I've used it since I was 22. That's my go-to. I even have the little bottle in my purse. I like the over-the-counter Palmer's coconut stuff. If I want to exfoliate, I'll use baking soda with a face mask—definitely not before tanning. I do love red-light therapy.

Do you have a mask that you specifically like?

I have the Lyma Laser, which I love. It's the [handheld] one that you move around, and it's really good for pigmentation. It's great for fine lines and wrinkles, but it's also good for just glowing skin. It's good for scars. I even put it on my C-section scar, and it has made it look incredible. It's honestly shocking how amazing it works.

I've realized the older that I get [that] I like a creamy cleanser so my face is always moisturized. The drier my face is, that's when I break out. I thought if you wash your face, it should suds up, like washing your hands. That's not true, and I just realized that maybe three to four years ago, and my skin's never looked better. I'm like, "Wow, I should have really been using a different cleanser my whole life."

I do think it's important to use sunscreen. People forget about it. I like Kiehl's, and I wouldn't partner with anybody if I didn't believe in it. At this point in my life, I could make my own sunscreen if I wanted to and sell it under my brand. Kiehl's has been around for such a long time. They're one of the first companies that actually gifted me product when I was 19 or 20, and they're still so strong and always current. It's not overdone. What you see is what you get.

Before we go, since we're almost at time, I'd love to ask one more question: What is your Unfiltered beauty philosophy in seven words or less?

Self-confidence is the most beautiful thing we can wear.

I love it—simple.

I mean, it's not as simple as it sounds! You've got to get that self-confidence first, but the way you do that is to know yourself. The more we know ourselves and get in touch with ourselves, the more we see how unique we are. That's what matters. That's what shakes things up.

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