Jennifer Lopez Shuts Down This One Rumor About Her Skincare Routine Once & For All
You never know how you'll react to seeing the Jennifer Lopez over Zoom, much less when she asks how you're doing. Internally, I'm Real Housewives' Dorinda Medley saying, "I'll tell you how I'm doing. Not well, b*tch." Externally, I'm too preoccupied with Lopez's radiant skin, cute blonde bob, and blinding white smile to utter anything other than a quiet "good." We laypeople might chalk that radiance up to celebrity and good genes — inaccessible and attainable only by chance. But with the upcoming launch of JLO Beauty, Lopez's very own skincare line, the star is revealing her beauty secrets once and for all.
When I ask Lopez about the biggest misconception people have about her skin and skincare routine, she answers firmly that she has never "done plastic surgery or Botox or lasers and things like that." "I'm not that person. I don't have anything against people doing that; it's just not my thing," she tells Elite Daily in a recent roundtable Zoom. "I'm more about a natural approach to skincare ... And I like that I have a more natural look, so my skincare products really have to boost that."
That much is evident in JLO Beauty's inaugural launch, a whopping eight luxury skincare products, all of which are priced relatively accessibly and all of which combine natural elements with proven efficacious, powerhouse ingredients like squalane or hyaluronic acid. "Whatever topical things that I use have to be somewhat natural, but also, I want them to work," says Lopez. "I want the hyaluronic acid in there. I want the things that are going to help because I don't want to have to go to the needles at some point."
Lopez maintains she's never — and still doesn't — have plans for any skincare injections, despite one dermatologist's advice when Lopez was very young. While one dermatologist had suggested Lopez stick to a simple, cleanser-and-sunscreen routine, another ushered her toward Botox when she was just in her early 20s. "[The dermatologist] said, 'You know you have a little line right here. We should start Botox.' I mean, I had to be 23 years old," says Lopez. "I was like, 'I'm going to pass.' I didn't like needles any old way, but my boyfriend was like, 'Yeah, you just start it.'" Had she heeded that dermatologist's advice, the JLO millions marvel at now might look a hell of a lot different. "I just wonder what would have happened to me if I would have started Botox at 23," she says. "My face would be a totally different face."
With Botox and fillers out of the question, Lopez's "ageless" glow has seemingly remained shrouded in mystery — until now. With the introduction of JLO Beauty comes the opening of the proverbial floodgates of beauty secrets Lopez has kept up her sleeve for decades. Her beauty philosophy is grounded in what she calls The Five Ss: sleep, serum, sunscreen, supplements, and sano (stemming from the Spanish "vivir sano," meaning to live a healthy, sane life). The environment behind Lopez in her Zoom setup — two fluffy dogs; a cozy, clean living room; and cheerful holiday decorations dotted around the room — rings of sano, even as she momentarily pauses the conversation to let her son know she's busy working.
On top of this, her commitment to sano means she subscribes to life free of drinking and smoking and one that is, instead, filled with healthy eating, exercise, and lots of water. Such a lifestyle demands a dedication to and investment in oneself that can often feel out of reach. Lopez hopes this sort of self-care comes easier with the JLO Beauty regimen.
"I want people to know that this is deeply meaningful for me, that it’s personal. I’ve made my own life better by making it more beautiful, by making it more simple. And now, I want to share what I’ve learned with women everywhere," said Lopez in a press release shared with Elite Daily. "You want to know how I got my skin, how I look this way? This is how. This is how I live my life, and it’s pretty simple.”
Infused alongside a majority of the JLO Beauty products is perhaps Lopez's best-kept, family secret: olive oil. An unexpected hero ingredient and rarely seen among the ingredients of other popular skincare products, olive oil has been hailed for its antioxidant, moisturizing, and anti-aging benefits, as it works to protect the skin from damaging free radicals in the environment. It's a mean makeup remover, too. "My mom used to say that olive oil was the cure-all for everything. And it’s a secret I’ve used over the years because it really does work," said Lopez via the press release. "So, when we went to do this, that was the first thing I said: It has to have olive oil extract as a basis.”
Generally speaking, after two years in the making and more than 100 reformulations, JLO Beauty was born, along with Lopez's JLO Beauty™ Olive Complex, consisting of extra virgin olive oil, hydrating squalane, fermented oil, and leaf extract. The complex is the clear hero ingredient in four key JLO Beauty products, including the Gel Cream Cleanser, the Multitasking Serum, the Multitasking Mask, and the Wonder Cream. Olive extract is also found in JLO Beauty's Dietary Supplement, a product Lopez pushed to include in the brand's lineup.
"[My products] have to really keep the hydration. When I started learning about skincare and talking to scientists about this and doctors, [I learned] it's really the hydration and the inflammation that keeps the youthful look — and the inflammation starts from the inside," says Lopez. "So we have supplements in the line, which was very important. People fought me on that, but I was like, 'Guys, let's develop our supplement, because it's really about a pump and a pill, every single day.' You need to be working from the inside and putting something really healthy on the outside."
"Working from the inside" has a bit of a double meaning for Lopez, who believes in the power of a vitamin supplement, yes, but who also knows the power a repeated mantra, a kind personality, and a little self-love can have on the someone's beauty. Certainly, a healthy life, a commitment to skincare, and a daily sunscreen carry the brunt of the load when it comes to achieving that JLO glow, but you can't help but wonder if something like the singer's own self-love mantra — "I am youthful and timeless at every age" — could work some sort of inner and outer magic.
For now, the jury's still out. Lopez, though, feels pretty confident about it. "Who you are on the inside shows on your face on the outside," she says. "That's number one."
Below, peep all the products in the JLO Beauty line launching on Jan. 1, 2021, at JLOBeauty.com, and on Jan. 14 at Sephora and Amazon.
That Hit Single Gel Cream Cleanser, $38
Striking the perfect balance between a gentle, everyday cleanser and strong one with makeup-removing capabilities, That Hit Single will leave skin looking bright, smooth, and naturally radiant in one go.
That JLO Glow Multitasking Serum, $79
The hero product of the line has to be That JLO Glow Serum. JLO Beauty's Olive Complex, along with yeast-derived ferment, Japanese rice sake ferment, and a sugar derived-matrix work together to deliver a visible glow and noticeable firming of the skin that'll have you on the floor.
That Blockbuster Wonder Cream, $58
This ultra-rich moisturizer combines JLO Beauty's Olive Complex with ferments, peptides, and hyaluronic acid to give you the ultimate hydration in a jar.
That Limitless Glow Multitasking Mask, $18
These two-piece masks are completely soaked in 1 oz. of the JLO Beauty serum, perfect if you need to take that JLO Glow to the next level.
That Big Screen Broad Spectrum SPF 30, $54
Oh, hello to Lopez's lifelong beauty secret! This lightweight, dewy SPF protects the skin from harmful UVA and UVB rays, as well as damage from excessive blue light. Even better, it won't leave a white cast.
That Fresh Take Eye Cream, $48
More than just another moisturizer in a smaller jar, JLO Beauty's eye cream works to brighten, blur, and reduce the appearance of fine lines in the under-eye area.
That Inner Love Dietary Supplement, $36
These supplements contain Lopez's favorite olive extract for hydration, as well as manganese, copper, and vitamin E to support natural collagen production.
That Star Filter Complexion Booster, $39
A highlighter and bronzer all in one, this product can be worn by itself, under makeup, or mixed with your favorite skincare products for different levels of glow.
