Michelle Monaghan Talks the Skin Care That ‘Shrinks Pores’

Manhattan may be half a world away from Thailand, but the Big Apple was abuzz yesterday as actress Michelle Monaghan hosted a dinner to celebrate her new U Beauty campaign. The White Lotus star is the brand’s first ambassador and face of its U Beauty’s Meet U in Your Moment campaign—a job the skin-care lover takes very seriously. On the heels of a much-talked-about Sunday night episode, Monaghan chatted with us before the big news broke.

How did you first get introduced to the brand?

I was working on a film set, and I was working with a makeup artist, and I was complaining to her about some of my skin issues—the big one was my dark spots. I have sun damage and things that I’ve acquired over the years, and I was having some hormonal acne around my chin, and she asked: ‘Have you ever tried this brand? It’s called U Beauty. They have this product called Resurfacing Compound ($88) and I think you might like it.’

Anything that’s approved by a makeup artist within the film industry, I usually really trust. They’re the people who use the products every day, all day long! They have a real sense of how products work and the benefits. I started using it, and, honestly, after a week, the first thing that I noticed was the difference in my pores. I didn’t even think my pores were an issue for me, but then I saw that they were shrunken or diminished, I was like, ‘Oh, wait. If this is doing this for my pores, it’s obviously going to ultimately start helping on my sunspots,’ and it did.

The second thing that I noticed is how much brighter my skin was from using the product, and that was right off the bat. It’s been my holy grail. Then, she introduced me to the Eye Concentrate ($148). I have really sensitive skin, specifically around the eye. I typically will have an allergic reaction to a lot of different eye products, and the Eye Concentrate is the best eye cream I’ve ever used. It’s so fantastic.

I was already a fan of the brand when they reached out to me, and it was funny because I was just introduced to it and was buying it, but I hadn’t heard a lot about the brand necessarily. I was like, ‘Wait, I love you guys!’ They said they were keen on having me become a part of the brand as an ambassador, and I was just like, ‘I feel like I already am an ambassador.’ It felt like a very organic and authentic partnership.

I’ve heard some rumors that you were using the Lip Plasma on ‘White Lotus.’

Yes, I love the Lip Plasma ($54) because I wanted Jaclyn [Monaghan’s character on The White Lotus] to have [it]. In real life, I’m very natural in my beauty. I like a real streamlined approach—another reason why I love U Beauty’s multifunctional products. I love anything that maximizes my results, but it’s very minimal output. My beauty routine is very much like that, too, in real life, but I wanted Jaclyn to have pops of color.

She likes the makeup and things like that. I typically use the Lip Plasma Universal, but, for her, I had her use the pink because I felt like the skin was all plumpy in Thailand because of the humidity, and I wanted her lips to just be a little bit more extra because she’s a little more extra.

That’s a nice way of saying it.

Yes, she’s a little more extra, let’s be honest!

Everyone is talking about the show, and Sunday’s episode was a big one for you in particular. I know you filmed it a while ago, but, as it comes out, how do you keep what is about to unfold under wraps?

I’ll tell you what, it was an intense process. We got all eight episodes at once. We were able to binge-read them all. We all knew what was going to happen, then we all lived and ate and breathed together and created together…but as you know, by watching the shows, all the storylines are quite separate. And how we filmed the scenes were separate, too.

We were spending a lot of time bonding, but I didn’t know the Ratliffs were over there doing what the Ratliffs were doing. I knew their storyline, but they’re just words on a paper to me. Me getting to see each episode every week is like I’m a kid in a candy store because I’m like, ‘Wait, Patrick!?’ It’s that performance, seeing Parker‘s performance, seeing Walt and Amy Lou’s dynamic. It’s so exciting because I never had that experience when we were acting in it.

I think, moreover, seeing how beloved the show is, is the big thing for me. Obviously, I’m a fan first of both seasons, and seeing the collective response to the show and the memes and how big that is, is so fun and funny to me and I’m enjoying it so much. It’s bringing me joy seeing how much everyone is just enjoying it and taking part in it. It feels like it’s a very interactive audience, I guess, in the way that people talk about it. It’s social media and things like that, and I just appreciate how beloved it is.

It is beloved. I think we all need a Sunday show to get us through the week.

That’s right. Exactly.

You’ve been very vocal about the importance of sun protection and your history with skin cancer. How does that look for you right now?

Oh, it’s critical. It’s so important. I don’t start my day without SPF. It is the base, the fundamental step in my routine. It’s super important. I encourage everybody just to start your day with it. We always talk about beauty and aging, but, first and foremost, it protects you against skin cancer. If you’re out there doing all the other things, but you’re not applying SPF, that is your first defense against premature aging. Just do that first and you’re going to save a lot of time and money in the long run.

And then I have my skin checks. Skin Cancer Awareness Month is May, so you’ll start to see me activate a little bit more now because I find it’s been really amazing sharing my story because oftentimes with each year when I activate around Skin Cancer Awareness Month, I’ll get one DM or I’ll get one comment where somebody will say, ‘Oh, thanks for the reminder. I went in and I had something removed. It was [a] basal cell or it was this, or it was that.’

I just want people to continue to spread the word. I love advocating for anyone’s health, but, specifically, I think there’s a real lack of awareness, so I just want to keep that up. That’s really important to me.