Say hello to Unfiltered, a fresh beauty series where you’ll get an exclusive glimpse into the dressed-down beauty routines of our favorite celebrities and content creators. They’ll reveal their guilty-pleasure beauty practices, the five-minute-routine product lineup they can’t live without, the one good-skin tip they’ll be forever thankful for, and so much more. To bring every conversation full circle, we ask each celebrity to send us a selection of self-shot, filter-free photos of their choosing to capture the essence of their Unfiltered beauty philosophy.
Up next, we’re getting to know model and Baywatch reboot star Brooks Nader, who appeared in John Frieda’s “Hot Hair Hotline” campaign. Below, she’s answering all of our rapid-fire questions, including her favorite on-set beauty staples, go-to fragrance, worth-it skincare treatments, and more. Enjoy!
To start, you’ve recently starred in John Frieda’s Hot Hair Hotline campaign. I’m curious, what does “hot girl hair” mean to you?
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I think I feel most confident and that my hair is the hottest when I have that messy, bed-head volume… an undone version of myself is my hottest hair.
What would you say are the essentials?
The volumizing spray is amazing. I just bump my roots with it, and it adds so much volume. That’s the main ingredient if I have to choose one product to give me that sexy, undone hair.
I feel like you’re known for that ’90s supermodel, bouncy style. Do you have any blowout tips?
Oh, my gosh. Okay, this is going to sound horrible. I’m so bad at my own blowouts, but I have a hack. I used to do this, even when I would have no money in New York. I would get [a salon blowout] once a week, and it would last me four or five days because I would just put in texturizing spray, throw in some volume spray, and then it just got sexier as time went on. Luckily, with Baywatch I’m getting glam every day, so I’ll just make those blowouts last. It’s nice because we’re on the beach, we’re in the ocean, so the hair gets salty. It’s the lived-in blowout [that I love].
I try to be so low-maintenance with my hair. I’ll wake up, hit it with a brush, bump it with the texturizing spray, maybe a little dry shampoo, and that’s pretty much it. [John Frieda’s] is my go-to right now. I’ve literally just been using one product and doing a little tease.
Love it. Do you think you’ll ever change up your signature look? Any shot of going back to brunette, or any other ways you think you might experiment?
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I think that as my style evolves, and as I enter new eras or new roles, I’ll change it up. I’ve never been a big slick-back girly, so I think it’ll always be something down. That’s when I feel most confident.
I totally agree. I’m not a big slick-back person either, so I feel that.
My sister is, and I get it—she nails it. But I cannot.
This interview is for a Who What Wear series called Unfiltered, so I obviously need to hear your unfiltered beauty thoughts. What would you say are your top three beauty hot takes?
Such a hard one. Okay, I know everyone loves the natural-girl glam, like “no-makeup makeup,” but I’m from the south. I grew up on pageant culture, and I love a full beat. I don’t care what anyone says. I love doing my own makeup and going all out. I’m a little bit more of a maximalist. I do think it’s pretty when people wear minimal makeup, but that’s my hot take.
What else do I not like right now? I’m not into everyone thinning their eyebrows out.
Yeah, I always hesitate to follow brow trends, because they just jump back and forth so quickly.
I know, and then sometimes the hair won’t go back, so you’ve got to be careful.
Well, I love what you said about full glam. Speaking of, if you had to leave the house in five minutes, what are some beauty products that you’d either apply or bring with you?
Obviously, I’d bring the John Frieda Volume Lift Pushed-Up Texture Spray. [Being on] the beach and running around, you need it. I would bring Charlotte Tilbury’s Airbrush Powder because it’s the best, and I would bring the Clarins Lip Oil—my current favorite right now.
I also love that one. What do you love about it?
I just like the applicator. It’s so easy. The product is so juicy, and it lasts. I feel like with lip oils, I absorb them so quickly, and this one actually stays on.
You famously mentioned on Love Thy Nader that you prefer to use your sisters’ toothbrushes. Do you also share beauty products?
Oh, god. I mean, we share everything. Everything is fair game in our family. Our getting-ready routine is all of us together in one bathroom. No matter how big the house we’re getting ready in is, we’re on top of each other. We’re like, “Wait a minute, what’s this? Is this new in your kit?” Like, stealing everything. So any time one of us gets a new product, it’s part of all of our routines.
So fun. Is there anything they saw recently from your bag that you guys started swapping?
I have these mini perfumes—I carry them everywhere—and they’re gone. Like, every time I go to the drawer to look for them, they’re completely gone. And of course they deny it. They’re like, “No, that was you, you just don’t remember. You have ADD.” I’m like, “No, that was you!” I’m about to install some sneaky cameras to bust them.
You should! What perfume was it?
It’s a French brand. They sent me, like, a gazillion samples. It’s called Maison d’Etto. It’s so amazing. Mine is called Durban Jane, if I’m not mistaken, but they have four or five different options, and they’re all amazing. I get so many compliments, and so do my sisters, I guess.
What kind of fragrances do you typically gravitate towards, and does that one align with your signature scent?
Kind of! I mean, I’m all over the place. I have a top three or four, and this one’s a little more musky than flowery, but I like it.
Okay, moving on to Baywatch. Are there any on-set beauty tips you can share?
We just started filming this week, and it’s been a dream. There is this spray sunscreen that the makeup artist has been using on me. It’s amazing because it gives your body this little sheen glow. It’s just Neutrogena from CVS. It’s almost a body glow mixed with sunscreen, and I’m addicted to it. And then my makeup artist in New York was like, “Oh, I use that all the time for red carpets.” So it’s a thing.
Oh, that’s interesting. You wouldn’t think a sunscreen would be a red carpet staple.
I know! It’s insane. It’s so beautiful and looks so natural.
I also bring my John Frieda spray on set, and [the hairstylists] absolutely love it. They’re like, “This stuff is amazing.” So I gave them a bottle to keep in my trailer.
Now, moving on to skincare. You’ve always been so open about the cosmetic treatments that you’ve done, which people really appreciate. What’s something you’ve done recently—whether it’s a high-tech facial, type of Botox, or an injectable—that you would say is 100% worth it?
Ooh. You know, I’ve been going to The LA Facialist [Candace Marino], now that I’m here, and she did this one thing on me called liquid microneedling. It’s so crazy. It’s almost a balm she puts on, and then it beads up and is a little rough. It does what microneedling does without the downtime. I’m kind of obsessed with it, and I never heard about it. I was scared to try it, but it was amazing.
I’ve actually done that before! Did you find that it hurt?
It hurt so badly! She was like, “It’s not bad.” And then after, my face was on fire. Was yours?
Yes, and every time you touch it, you can feel the little spikes! But it was so worth it.
I know, every time I touched my face, I was like, “Do I have needles inside?” It was worth it. I felt like it changed my skin.
And as we’re heading into summer what summer beauty trends are you hoping to follow this season?
I’m going to try to wear more sunscreen. Last summer, I just went all out. I was like, whatever! [Laughs] It’s terrible of me, so I’m going to work on that.
Amazing. Well, this is a question that we end all of our Unfiltered interviews with: What is your Unfiltered beauty philosophy in seven words or less?
I would say more is more. More treatments—within a line. I just touched on this recently, I did some silly things and got some surgeries when I was way too young. Now I’m done with all of that, and I’m reversing everything. I dissolved all of my filler. I’m being more natural in that sense, but I’m doing all the facials, lymphatic drainage, and all the treatments without going too far.
And full glam, as you said. More is more.
Yeah, why not? I love it. Sorry, I really like what I look like when I have a full beat!
Shop Brooks Nader’s Unfiltered Beauty Edit
John Frieda
Volume Lift Pushed-Up Texture Spray
Charlotte Tilbury
Airbrush Flawless Finish Blurring & Setting Powder
Clarins
Lip Comfort Hydrating Oil
Maison d’Etto
Durban Jane
Neutrogena
Ultra Sheer Lightweight Sunscreen Spray SPF 45
