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Things We Love: Constance Wu

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NEW YORK TIMES

Constance Wu at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills on Aug. 4. She stars in the new film “Crazy Rich Asians” and is also known for her role as Jessica Huang in the TV comedy series “Fresh Off the Boat.”

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NEW YORK TIMES

Off-screen, Constance Wu would love to channel Jennifer Lopez — in beauty choices, at least. She prefers to keep her skin care routine simple. Here are some of the products she uses.

Constance Wu stars in what may be this summer’s guilty pleasure, the film adaptation of “Crazy Rich Asians,” which opened in theaters Wednesday. She is also known for her role as Jessica Huang in the TV comedy series “Fresh Off the Boat.”

Off-screen, Wu, who is 36 and is from Richmond, Va., would love to channel Jennifer Lopez — in beauty choices, at least. Find out why she has “flighty” issues with her hair and why it is all about the J.Lo glow.

SKIN CARE

First thing: I chug a bunch of water, and then I usually do something pretty simple. You know those Neutrogena makeup wipes (about $7 at drugstores)? I use either those or just water. I follow that with Drunk Elephant vitamin C serum ($80 for 30-milliliter bottle at sephora.com). I shop at Sephora a lot because they’re really cool about letting you try things out. This was a recommended product there, so I gave it a go and loved it.

Then I use La Mer Moisturizing Soft Cream ($175 for 1-ounce jar at cremedelamer.com and high-end department stores). The first time I heard about La Mer was in middle school, and I read that J.Lo used it. I didn’t always use it, but once I started making money, I was like, “I can actually afford to treat myself.” To me, skin care is a pleasure.

Depending on the day, I might use sunscreen. I used to use Neutrogena Ultra Sheer, but then I read that physical sunscreens are better than chemical ones, and I switched to one by La Roche-Posay (about $30 at Longs drugstores or laroche-posay.us).

I have a whole other routine at night. If I’ve had a shoot and I’m wearing makeup, I do different types of cleanser. I use SK-II oil cleanser ($70 for 250-milliliter bottle, sk-ii.com) — that takes the makeup off — and ­after that, I use the Clearasil face wash (about $10 at drugstores). Seriously. I’ve been using it since I was a teenager.

And I’m really into these Alpha Beta peels by Dr. Dennis Gross (drdennisgross.com). If I want to be really glow-y the next day, I definitely use them.

I follow that with the Drunk Elephant serum, and sometimes I use a prescription retinoid called tretinoin. If I do the peel, though, I skip that. I won’t use both. I also like the Shiseido Glow Revival line (available at shiseido.com and high-end department stores) a lot. I use the serum, the lotion and the eye cream.

MAKEUP

Makeup is a kind of mood ring. One day you can be really stripped down and natural, and on other days you want to do an orange lip. Usually I use the Cle de Peau concealer ($70 for 5-gram tube at cledepeaubeaute.com) for my dark circles. And I always do some kind of blush. My blushes rotate depending on my mood and what I’m wearing. Sometimes I do a HD cream blush from Make Up for Ever ($26 at makeupforever.com).

I do brown eyeliner on my top lash line. And I like lip color that mimics my natural color — it’s a pinky mauve. The one I’m using now is by Charlotte Tilbury ($34 at charlottetilbury.com). I do like having a lip liner sometimes. I line just outside my top lip before filling it in. I take a lot of inspiration from J.Lo in that sense. She looks so great.

Mascara irritates my eyes. I get lash extensions now — it’s easier. I try to get really natural-looking ones that are thin and don’t really curl. I don’t want to look like those dolls that blink.

EVER-CHANGING HAIR

My natural hair is a dark, dark brown, very shiny, very straight and very full. I have so much hair. I’ve gone through four different hair colors this year. It wasn’t because of any roles. It was because of my flighty personality.

I took the summer off from work. Because I knew I wasn’t going to be on camera for several months, I thought, “I’m going to just play around.” I was pink, then I was jet black, then I was blond, and now I’m kind of dark blond-light brown.

At first, I thought my hair was invincible — I could do anything to it. And after the first three colors, it was OK. By the time I got to my fourth color, it seemed to quit. I don’t want to be this color, and I’m trying to get it to a richer chocolate brown.

Normally I use the Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil shampoo and conditioner ($31 for an 8.5-ounce bottle, $34 for a 6.7-ounce conatiner, respectively at bumbleandbumble.com). But now it’s not enough. I use the Olaplex conditioner ($28 for 8.5-ounce bottle at sephora.com or olaplex.com), and I have to do a deep-conditioning mask.

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