Stephanie Hsu is so obsessed with this beauty essential it's always in her handbag

She swears by just a few beauty products

Beauty Crew Beauty Editor / February 08 2024

Actress Stephanie Hsu blew audiences away in 2022 with her layered performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. However, by comparison, the 33-year-old's approach to beauty is undeniably pared back.

In fact, in a recent interview with ELLE magazine Hsu revealed her routine is currently centred around four products and it's unlikely to expand anytime soon. 

Her top four beauty essentials are decidedly practical; they paint a picture of a person who prefers to exert their energy in other avenues of their life. A stark contrast to the involved cryofacials and playful makeup looks she wears on the red carpet when working with long-time collaborator and makeup artist Allan Avendaño.

Stephanie Hsu's Top 4 Beauty Essentials

1/ Eye drops

"Right now, eye drops [are always in my handbag] —my eyes are so dry for some reason. Just chronically dry," Hsu said jokingly in the interview.

She told ELLE she always keeps Refresh Tears Plus ($4.99 from Chemist Warehouse) on hand to keep her peepers happy. 

Try: Refresh Tears Plus ($4.99 from Chemist Warehouse)

2/ Evanhealy chapstick

"I love chapstick," she admitted. "Specifically, I can only use one chapstick and I don’t know if they know this, but I’m obsessed with Evanhealy chapstick. It’s like shea butter. And it’s the only thing that helps it when my lips are chapped."

Try: Evanhealy Whipped Shea Butter for Lips ($9.99 at Evanhealy)

3/ Hand balm

"I’m such an old little Asian lady, but I do love a little hand balm too. Especially in the wintertime," she dished to the publication.

She doesn't have a favourite though, admitting that she likes to experiment with different brands and even used to make her own. "But that’s not happening so much these days," she confessed. 

4/ Joanna Czech's The Soothing Serum

"I’m not a huge beauty product person and anytime anyone asks me for advice, I’m like, 'serum is key,'" Hsu explained. "Serum is like the water that your skin drinks before it’s even ready for balm or moisturiser or face cream."

"I travel a lot, I like thinking about the seasons or where I’m traveling [to], and then trying to use things that are more local to different areas, because oftentimes that’s better for your skin, just because the things that are growing, wherever you are, are going to be the things that are going to support your body in the way that it needs," she shared. 

Although she's open to trying new serums, Joanna Czech's The Soothing Serum ($520.91 at Net-A-Porter) is a mainstay in her routine when she's travelling. "I have had the great fortune of working a lot with Joanna Czech [and] she has a whole line that is amazing, but her serum is incredible," said Hsu.

Try: Joanna Czech The Soothing Serum ($520.91 at Net-A-Porter)

Love having a sticky beak into the beauty routines of celebrities? This is every single product in Margot Robbie's skin care routine.

Main image credit: @allanface

Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).