TEST IT OUT

Scarlett Johansson Made Colin Jost Test Her New Skin-Care Line

The SNL star has been secretly wearing The Outset's new eye cream for a year.
Scarlett Johansson smiles in a blackandwhite portrait.
Courtesy of brand

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Colin Jost is an eye cream guy. At least, that's according to Scarlett Johansson. "I've never had a partner who used eye cream before," she tells Allure over a Zoom call. (The actor and Saturday Night Live star married in 2020, and share a six-month-old son, Cosmo.) "I always forget to put eye cream on, even though my makeup artists always tell me to."

And so Johansson tapped Jost to be the "guinea pig" for her new eye cream, part of her new skin-care brand, The Outset. "He was the first one to use it regularly," she shares. "He's been using it secretly for a year." Before The Outset came into his life, Jost regularly used Kiehl's Facial Fuel Eye De-Puffer. "I think it makes him feel invigorated," Johansson adds.

The Outset's first drop contains five products. First, there's a Gentle Micellar Antioxidant Cleanser. For the uninitiated, micellar water is a combination of water, ingredients like glycerin and surfactant. Board-certified dermatologist Francesca Fusco, M.D., previously told Allure that this formula works well on acne-prone skin since micellar water "removes trapped debris from the skin, but doesn't dry it out."

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The Outset

Gentle Micellar Antioxidant Cleanser

Then there's the Firming Vegan Collagen Prep Serum, and as the name implies the collagen does not come from fish (as it has in the past). "Newer collagen sources can be bio-engineered or from plant sources," cosmetic chemist Ginger King previously explained to Allure.  

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The Outset

Firming Vegan Collagen Prep Serum

Next up are the Nourishing Squalane Daily Moisturizer and Restorative Niacinamide Night Cream. Squalane works best for folks with dry or mature skin and that the ingredient can "aid in skin-care problems wherein the skin barrier is disrupted and transepidermal water loss is an issue," says board-certified dermatologist Samantha Fisher, M.D. (The Nourishing Squalane Daily Moisturizer is also a favorite among the lucky Allure editors who received the line ahead of the launch.)

The Outset

Nourishing Squalane Daily Moisturizer

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The Outset

Restorative Niacinamide Night Cream

As for niacinamide, New York City-based board-certified dermatologist Marisa Garshick, M.D., says "it provides a great option on its own to help target skin-care concerns, such as discoloration and redness while being gentle on the skin."

On to Jost's favorite, the Smoothing Vitamin C Eye + Expression Lines Cream. Board-certified dermatologist Patricia Wexler, M.D. once told Allure that vitamin C "is a potent antioxidant that can neutralize free radicals," which means it can help repair damaged skin cells — and in the Expressions Lines Cream, it can brighten the undereye area over time.

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The Outset

Smoothing Vitamin C Eye + Expression Lines Cream

"This project to me was not a vanity project," Johansson says. "I really spent five years familiarizing myself with this industry, and we've really been very mindful every step of the way of creating something that's clean, effective, sustainable, and purpose-driven."

But she's definitely heard the common complaint that resurfaces every time a celebrity launches a skin-care line: another one? And lately, there have been so many: in the last few weeks alone, Idris Elba and John Legend announced they will launch respective brands. ("For sexy men only?" Johansson deadpans upon learning this news.)

And then she gets serious. "It is a lot," Johansson acknowledges. "I guess the bigger question is: does the world need another skin-care line in general?, which is something I thought about a lot. The idea to just license my name and have somebody else do it for me, because it would be much easier and less risky in some ways, was floated by me. But if you can feel like a brand may help shift the standard in any way, I think that's positive."

Courtesy of brand

Johansson refers to her line as "sustainable," which is a word that can have a nebulous definition. For her, it means that The Outset's products are fragrance-free, vegan, gluten- and nut-allergen-free, with packaging that incorporates glass, bio-resin, and post-consumer recycled materials when possible. The brand will also donate 1 percent of annual sales to support environmental nonprofits. 

Johansson swears she likes to keep her routine simple; despite easy access, she's not getting expensive, luxurious skin treatments every month. "I'm honestly telling you that I never do anything like that," she says. "I had such problem skin for such a long time that I'm honestly terrified of facials. I'm terrified to let anybody touch my face. And I think it's because I'm also touched all of the time, nonstop, so that is the last thing I want to do — get a facial."

OK, sure, but what is the most indulgent treatment she's ever received? "You ever get a scrub at a spa and they lightly exfoliate your body with warm towels, and it’s not a big, wet process?" she asks. "Well, I went to this place where somebody washed me with a big rain hose. I was washed, lying down. I didn't like it. And it was strange because I was being washed like a baby by a grown man who was also attractive. It was odd." So it makes sense that she'd develop a phobia of facials.

Courtesy The Outset

The skin-care simplicity Johansson prefers is reflected in her line. "I've never been a person who wanted to spend 25 minutes preparing my skin for the day," she says. "The routine that works for me is very gentle, and I stick to that routine. The Outset's regime is based on my personal one: cleansing, prepping, and moisturizing. There are no ingredients that will interact with whatever crazy peel you’re using. It plays well with others."

When Johansson was 12, she starred in Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer. She experienced some teenage acne onset. "I had this male makeup artist who I still have a lot of resentment towards — he probably feels it — because I remember him making fun of my acne. He'd be like, 'Whoa, what do we have today, Mount Vesuvius?'"

She says that was the first time she felt bad about her skin. "As you go through puberty, you're acutely aware of how you think other people see you," she says. "And so I think I just became really hyper-aware of how that affected my self-confidence." It led Johansson to try "every product — every scrub, wash, brush, cream, prescription, exfoliant" in search of an acne cure.

Johansson ended up working with makeup artist Pat McGrath for previous brand campaigns. "She was the one who said, 'I had the same breakout as you,' and she taught me that I was having bacterial acne moving from one side of my face to the other. I think just using different makeup brushes [on set] moved it all over my face," says Johansson. "She was the one who recommended some prescription cream — I can't remember what it was but it got rid of it. Oh, Pat, what would we do without her?"

An unexpected perk of brand-building is choosing a team, Johansson says. "I was surprised at how welcoming beauty is, much more so than other industries, like fashion," she adds. "Running a startup is challenging. It's crazy. Especially now during the pandemic with the supply chain issue and everything else that's going on, it's very challenging and stressful, but I have enjoyed it. It's problem-solving, which I like. I will say it's a miracle that our Day Cream is, our Day Cream just came in, like half a day ago?" 

It's a labor of love. Johansson says her office feels like home — quite literally, since it's made up of some of her old furniture. "It even has my dining room table and chair in the conference room," she says. "Kate [Foster Lengyel, her cofounder] and I share my old bedroom rug under our desk." Talk about sustainability. 

The Outset is available for purchase starting March 1 for $32 to $54 at theoutset.com and Sephora.com.

Additional reporting by Jenny Bailly.


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