Helen Mirren, most known for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen and The Audience, is one of Britain’s most highly regarded actresses. She’s had a long career of notable achievements, earning multiple awards for her performances. At 80 years old, Helen is still active in showbiz, appearing at award shows and premiere events looking as radiant as ever.
Fans still refer to her as “the Queen” to this day, so it might be surprising to learn that the woman who played royalty and elegance so well is actually also an avid fan of drugstore beauty.
In fact, Helen recently shared that her go-to for nighttime is a face cream from L’Oreal. “I have no beauty routine, except I do always clean my face at night. I'll always put a moisturizer on at night, usually the L'Oreal Paris Revitalift Triple Power Anti-Aging Face Moisturizer.” Right now, it's on sale for Amazon Prime Day.
It sure feels nice knowing that I share the same love for a L’Oreal cream the way the Queen does.
That's not all, though, when it comes to drugstore beauty. In an Instagram post the actress shared in 2021, she photographed a bottle of CVS castor oil sitting on a counter, writing: “Things I like.. Castor oil, not for its laxative properties, but for hair, skin, nails in tiny amounts.” My favorite part about this post is that it didn’t seem affiliated with any ads or sponsorships, it was just a woman sharing a beauty secret she was proud of.
Indeed, castor oil has its share of beauty benefits—our pros at the GH Beauty and Personal Care Lab just advise to use with caution. "Castor oil acts as a lubricant, coating and conditioning [hair] strands to improve smoothness and shine," says Senior Chemist Danusia Wnek.
Beauty Lab Reviews Analyst Chiara Butler agrees, adding that products formulated with castor oil are "designed to work well on hair by combining the emollience of castor oil with other conditioning ingredients." She just notes that too much oil can cause your hair to feel oily and weighed down. She also cautions to use a small amount on your hand at first in case you might be allergic.
