The #ITGTopShelfie interview series focuses on the beauty routines of Into The Gloss' lovely, accomplished, and loyal community of readers. Submit your own on Instagram—post your Top Shelfie (tag us @intothegloss!) and include the hashtag #ITGTopShelfie for a chance to be featured on ITG.
"Hello, I'm Hilaria (@hilariabaldwin). I started yoga when I was about 20, mostly because I was looking for a healthier way to exercise. At the time I had an eating disorder, I was very, very thin, and I wasn’t working out in a way that was good for my body. I think a lot of people, particularly women, are taught that exercise is about how we look. But when I went to my first yoga class, it immediately spoke to me because it was the complete opposite of that—it wasn’t about how it looked, it was about how it felt.
I found a studio that had just opened, and I became the owner’s apprentice. Now there’s a 200-hour training program to become a yoga teacher, and I eventually did that, but at first I was just thrown in. As odd and unconventional as it was, it’s my story, and I’m grateful for it because it really made me the teacher that I am today.
I opened up my own yoga studio called Yoga Vida, and then all of a sudden I fell in love with this guy who’s really famous. I didn’t really understand how famous he was at the time. I just sort of figured, oh, he’s an actor, but there are a lot of actors out there. Eventually I realized that I no longer had a quiet life. The first time I was in Page Six we hadn’t even been dating long, and they called me and said something like, ‘Is this Hilaria? I’m calling from Page Six and I know you’re dating Alec Baldwin. I’d like for you to explain yourself.’ All of a sudden people had my phone number, people were following me around with cameras… I have to say it caused me an incredible amount of anxiety, and still does. I shut down for a long time. Then one day, I just decided I didn’t want to be afraid anymore. I realized that posting photos myself brings the bounty down—it doesn’t make sense for companies to pay paparazzi to follow me around when they can get photos from my Instagram for free. So not only was it this amazing tool to keep my life more relaxed, but I also started to connect with other moms. My page really has come to feel like a community. Of course it has my name on it and I’m posting photos, but I want it to feel like a place where we can come to learn, and vent, and cry, and laugh, and, you know, figure things out.
I’m a big believer that if exercise doesn’t work into your schedule, you won’t do it. So instead of saying I’m going to work out for an hour or an hour and a half, I say I’m going to do 20 minutes here and there, and it feels manageable. I get up in the morning before my kids, and I’ll do some barre exercises—I’m obsessed with Physique 57. Then midday, when my two babies are down for a nap, I can do about 20 minutes of stretch and yoga. At night, I’m doing just 20 minutes on the Peloton bike. It’s been nice, because it gives me something to look forward to throughout the day, and I’m keeping my body active. You know, I’m a New Yorker, I walk miles and miles and miles every day. I love walking. And now I don’t walk—I’m in my house all the time. That doesn’t feel good on the body, you know? Ultimately our bodies are meant to move, and we need to give them that opportunity. When I work out, I’m obsessed with the shiny, high-rise Takara leggings from Carbon 38. I have a large size I wear when I’m pregnant, and a smaller size I wear when I’m not pregnant, and I love them because I can do yoga in them, I can go running in them, I can throw on boots and a cute sweater with them and feel sexy and good.
When I run outside in the winter, my scalp can get very flaky. I’m really into leave-in treatments and scalp health. Maybe once a week, I’ll take Moroccanoil, release the oil right onto my scalp, and I sleep on it. The next morning I use this boar paddle brush I found on Amazon to essentially dry brush my scalp with the oil that’s been sitting on it overnight. I keep parting my hair and moving it around, and that's enough to exfoliate. In the shower, I also make sure to really use my fingernails to exfoliate with my shampoo. Frank Body just sent me a scalp scrub—my husband took it from me, obviously. Now you know that Alec Baldwin has a really nice scalp! He’s been enjoying it, but I will go into his bathroom and steal it back. I also love Christope Robin. I know I’m late to the party and everyone knows who he is, but I did not. I use his conditioner.
I probably wash my hair three times a week. I used to get out of the shower and blow it out, but I don’t have the time to do that now. I’ll wash my hair at 6 o’clock this morning, get my kids ready, feed them, homeschool them, and during all of that just let my hair air dry. When it’s just damp, I’ll go through it with a round brush and my Harry Josh hair dryer. That way, it literally takes me five minutes to blow out my hair. To make it look nice after that, I use the Beachwaver. I am so bad at curling my hair, and I could never do it before, but this wraps around the outside and kind of helps you do the motion. It finishes off my blowdry, and lasts two or three days.
In the morning I splash water on my face, and then I put on a few products from Tata Harper. There’s a Contouring Serum—I don’t know what it does but I love how it feels on my skin. I’ve been using Vintner’s Daughter for years now, and I’m obsessed. It just gives you a nice, healthy glow. You know, when I came out to our home on Long Island, I didn’t think we were going to be here for very long so I didn’t bring makeup or a lot of clothes. Not that I need it—I’ve just been wearing the same outfits and washing them. But there was one time I was going to appear on a TV show and they asked me to be hair and makeup ready. I just took a pump of Vintner’s and massaged it into my face before I was about to go on camera, at least in my head it looked good.
Normally, I use the Juice Beauty tinted moisturizer with SPF. I use Sand in the winter, and I go a little darker with Tan in the summer. I actually mix that with Vintner’s Daughter so it’s really yummy and glossy. The eyeliner I’m into is Estée Lauder Double Wear in Espresso, and then I either use the Juice Beauty mascara, which I love—I love the brand, I think Juice Beauty is amazing—or I use Lancôme’s Doll Lashes. I also make sure my lips are moisturized, usually with Vintner’s Daughter in the morning and then a little Chapstick or, I don’t know, diaper cream throughout the day.
I used to be the person who was like, ‘baths are gross,’ and I’d only take showers. But now I like them for multiple reasons. The first is that a warm bath relaxes your muscles. I also find it to be an extraordinarily efficient way of getting clean, because oftentimes I have my kids in the bath with me. That way we’re not using unnecessary water. And baths were actually recommended to me by my OB when I got pregnant. I’ve learned from having so many kids that it actually keeps everything in the south a little bit cleaner than just rinsing in the shower. You know, are you going to soak your dishes in the sink, or are you just going to rinse them off? [Laughs]
I like to take a minute in the bath to exfoliate. I have a loofah that’s made out of bamboo, and I love Sabon bath scrub. Right now I’m using the White Tea one, but there’s an Citrus Blossom one I love, and a Lavender Apple… for me, that one doesn’t smell like lavender or apples but it smells amazing. I’m worried you’re going to have a heart attack about this next part but, at night when I’m in the bath, I pump a little Neutrogena Naturals Face Wash into my hands and wash my face. First of all, I love that stuff because it doesn’t make me break out, it’s got pretty simple ingredients in it, and it’s in a pump bottle. And I do it in the bath because, you know how when you’re at the sink and you’re washing your face, and the water drips down onto your arms and then your clothes are wet? I hate that! So I do it in the bath.
When I get out I use a toner. Right now I’m using the Vintner’s Daughter one—I just put some into my hands and pat it on my face. If my face still feels dry after that, I’ll use the Tata Harper daily moisturizer. Oh, there is this one thing I do that’s life-changing: eye drops. If you ever take your makeup off at night but still have it crusted on your eyes in the morning, try this. After I’m done washing everything, I use these gentle, moisturizing eye drops. Of course your eyes are self-cleaning, but this helps flush everything out faster so makeup and remover don’t irritate them overnight. When I wake up, my eyes are less puffy and irritated, too.
When I am pregnant, I’m very, very focused on hydrating my body. A lot of women love their stretch marks because they remind them of their pregnancy, and I love that. But my reality is that I don’t have stretch marks, which can probably be attributed to genetics, but I also use tons of cream on my belly. I literally lather it up, in the morning, during the day, and at night. My friend started a company that I’ve been using called Mutha. It’s a body butter designed for when you’re pregnant and beyond, and it’s in this really sexy bottle. If you want my lower price point version of that, there’s this product called Waxelene which I think is life-changing. It’s made from beeswax, but it’s almost like Vaseline, and it’s so great for my son Leo who has eczema. Have you seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? This stuff is my Windex. I use it as diaper cream, I’ve been putting that on my belly, I use it on my lips, my arms and legs... All my kids get lathered up with Waxelene.
I have a bunch of different perfumes that I like to wear, but the one my husband calls my signature scent is Christian Dior J’adore, which I’ve worn since I was 17. But I like to mix it with—do you know Bath and Body Works? The Sea Island Cotton spray from Bath and Body Works smells amazing to me. I spray J’adore, and then I put the Sea Island Cotton on my clothes, and the mixture of those two is really my scent. Everyone laughs at me because I have my highs and my lows… Tata Harper and Neutrogena cleanser, Dior and Bath and Body Works. I just find what I like. There are so many great products at all different price points—you don’t have to rub caviar on your face."
—as told to ITG
Photos via the author
