Camila Morrone on Carbs, No-Fuss Beauty Routines, and Instagram

There are few working models and actresses who come across as instantly chill as Camila Morrone. Ask the Buenos Aires–born 21-year-old about her beauty-and-health routine and the answer may catch you off guard. The biggest takeaway: Carbs and drugstore products are a part of it. “I wish I had better beauty tricks, but I’m really simple,” she told W over the phone. “I believe in being simple. I’m not a big product person. I just think there really is no secret behind all of this.” Her low-key approach to her image is refreshing, especially at a time when celebrities often behave in a way that is as meticulously polished as their Instagram grid.

Morrone comes across as a real person you could actually hang with—both in conversation and in her latest campaign for Ramy Brook, shot by fellow Argentinian Sebastian Faena and styled by Kate Young. For this campaign, Morrone and her collaborators went into the photo shoot with the intention of just having fun. “It didn’t even feel like a work day,” she said. “We were all working on what location to shoot at next and what outfit to shoot, so it was really collaborative, and that doesn’t happen every time. The clothes are colorful and springtime, so the energy was really high on set, and we were trying to keep that throughout the day, and I think that’s rare to find on shoots: Something that’s so vibrant.”

In between shoots, auditions, and working on the upcoming remake of Valley Girl alongside Alicia Silverstone, Morrone shared her low-maintenance beauty routine, talked about her secret Yelp account, and discussed how she nourishes her mental health while staying active on social media for her 1.6 million (and counting) followers on Instagram.

What is an average day like for you, in terms of work and how you intertwine beauty, health, and wellness? I like to try to do anything active when I’m not on a movie. When I’m shooting a movie, it’s really hard for me to do anything besides work. So when I’m home in L.A., I like to try to get some kind of workout in. I like to be outdoors because the weather’s so beautiful here. An average day, I wake up, print my audition slides, study for my auditions, and make some matcha to start my day, because I don’t drink coffee. Either I’m flying to New York for a job, or I’m out here reading scripts and meeting directors and then trying to fit in an outdoor exercise and probably eating really unhealthy.

What’s your favorite outdoor workout in Los Angeles? I just got into hiking in L.A. because it’s such an L.A. thing to do. Then I realized why everyone loves it so much. I’ve been doing Runyon Canyon because it’s the easiest one and I’m lazy and you get a great view not very long into the hike. But there’s also Franklin Canyon, and then halfway to Malibu there’s a great hike called Temescal Canyon, where at the end of it, in winter, you can get a bit of a waterfall. I like rewarding hikes.

Do you have a post-hike favorite meal? Unfortunately, I’d like to say it’s salad or vegetables, but after I exercise I like to praise myself with carbs, whether it’s a pasta, pizza, or a sandwich. I like to not be too hard on myself. That’s the most unhealthy that I will do. I don’t have an unhealthy lifestyle, but I like carbs.

Are you more of an eating-out person or a cooking-at-home person? I try to be a cooking-at-home person but every time I buy groceries they just got bad in my fridge, so I guess the answer to that is that I’m more of an eating-out person.

What was the last meal you made at home? I did a Valentine’s Day cooking class last night where I made pasta from scratch. I had learned how to make it before, but I always cook pasta at home, especially when I have people over. I just make a really simple tomato-sauce pasta because everyone likes a tomato-sauce pasta. So I did an Italian cooking class last night and learned how to make pasta dough from scratch, so that’s going to be my new go-to.

Switching gears here, what would you say is the most extreme thing you’ve done in the name of beauty? Well, let me just tell you: Every woman who gets laser hair removal has got to say that during the process it is the most painful thing in the world, but it’s the most worth it thing. Every time I go, I’m like, Why am I doing this to my body? But it’s absolutely worth every single pinch of pain. But it’s such an extreme we go to to actually be hairless—it needs to be spoken about more, that we’re going through a lot over here to keep ourselves looking this good.

Have you ever embraced growing out your leg and armpit hair? I’m not on that movement. I’m currently on the opposite movement. I’m very deep into my laser and loving it. But I praise everyone else who’s into it.

Are there any beauty trends that are off-limits for you? All of that weird stuff that looks like it’s out of a science lab, I stay away from. I’m really simple. I’m just like, wash your face, keep it hydrated, moisturize every night, whether it’s a cream or serum or overnight thing. My mother’s trick—who looks amazing and has no wrinkles under her eyes—is to wear eye cream every night. So that’s my newest addition to my beauty routine. I don’t go to sleep without doing a special cream around my eyes because that’s the most sensitive part of your face.

What are some of your favorite brands when it comes to products? I’m really simple about brands. For face wash, I use anything drugstore, from Neutrogena to Clarins. I can really wash my face with anything. I used to use African black soap, which costs three dollars and lasts a month, and it’s the best thing. I don’t like to go too crazy in my beauty routine because I think you can find products that work for you that aren’t a fortune. I really like this Dr. Hauschka eye cream, and it’s only $30 and it’s thick and amazing.

With as much travel as you do, how do you stay consistent with your routines? I always bring my favorite products with me, but I just flew in from New York and landed with three new pimples on my face. So I think it’s like, you can try to be as consistent as you can, but when you’re changing climates and you’re on a plane with bacteria, it’s going to happen. If you focus too much on avoiding it, it won’t do anything in the end. Just stick with what you do at home, though. Consistency is important.

Do you have any favorite beauty travel hacks? I have a travel hack: Putting Neosporin inside your nose before you fly because that is how you avoid getting sick. I’ve been using that for about a year now and I never get sick after my flights. You have micro cuts in your nose and that’s how bacteria from the plane enters and then you get sick. So it’s not a beauty hack, but you will not get sick off a plane again if you follow that.

What’s your favorite travel destination at this point? I made a rule to not go to the same places if I can avoid it, because there are so many places I want to see and it’s easy to get in the routine of going to your favorite beach or vacation spot. This year, I got out of my comfort zone and went to much farther away places like Morocco, Tokyo, Thailand, and Cambodia. I spent three weeks traveling through Thailand and Cambodia, and it was such an amazing experience. I’m noticing that when you go to all of these different places that aren’t necessarily the first place you’d go, the culture is so different, the food is so different, the lifestyle is so different. It’s been really fun being able to travel to all of these places and try new things.

When you travel, are you more of a sightseer or wanting to relax? I probably do both. I’ll spend a day relaxing, whether it’s on the beach or at the hotel, and then the next day I’ll do a 12-hour excursion. I think it’s important not to feel like I’m on a schedule when I’m on vacation, so I just try to hit all of the points I want to see. I do a lot of research before I travel. I have a Yelp account. I Yelp every one of my restaurants and all of the sightseeing places I want to go to. So I try to hit all the major things I want to see and then, when it’s done, I pick and choose the other things I want to do.

As a person who’s so active on social media, what are things that you do to protect your mental health? I think it’s so important to protect and nourish your mental health on social media. I have girlfriends who have a large following on social media and they have spoken outwardly about how it affects them, their happiness and mental health. Having experienced firsthand social media hate, which I think pretty much anyone who’s semi in the public eye will experience, it can really affect you. I’ve never been one to say that these comments and articles don’t hurt my feelings; I think that you have to be a sociopath for things not to get to you after a certain amount of time. So I just try to protect myself by avoiding reading negative comments and avoiding reading articles about me, because one thing can just throw off your whole day. I don’t like to expose and open myself up to other people’s hate and insecurities and mean messages. I don’t want to live like that.

Do you limit your screen time? I got into a habit this year of deleting my Instagram for a couple of days and then coming back to it. After day two or three of not having the app on my phone, I kind of forget about it and it’s awesome. But the second that you re-download it, you’re back in the hole. I would love to reduce my screen time; it’s one of my New Year’s resolutions. I check it on my settings and try to keep up with it and see how many hours I’m doing a week and challenge myself to at least drop it by 30 minutes or an hour every week. It’s a small, maintainable goal, rather than not having social media at all.