The $25 Serum Actress and Author of Reshape Your Life Ali Landry Uses to Reduce Under-Eye Bags

In her new book, Reshape Your Life: Don’t Settle Because You Are Worth It, author and actress Ali Landry shares her inspirational journey of self-renewal and challenges us all to take back our lives with small, intentional changes that can transform your health, mind, soul, and heart to unlock your true potential inside and out.

Former Miss USA, talk show host, model, mother, and health and beauty advocate, Ali Landry shares with Beautytap how she created a lifestyle brand designed to help change the trajectory of her own life and so many others to reclaim confidence, purpose, and wholeness.

As a spokesperson for Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center, AURO Skincare products and her own platform http://www.reshapewithalilandry.com Landry shares her rejuvenating beauty and wellness tips - from being aware of mindset and her earliest days selling skin care products in her mom's salon to her must-have products for getting red carpet ready.

Beautytap Congratulations on the release of your inspirational new book, Reshape Your Life: Don't Settle Because You Are Worth It. This must have been a real labor of love.  Did you always know that you wanted to write something so personal and are you excited about the potential that it might have to help so many people? 

Ali Landry I am very excited, but I am also very nervous. First, I have to say, I didn't seek out this opportunity. I never said, “I'm going to write a book about my journey."  The opportunity came to me, and it was something that I had a lot of fear around because I feel like my story is still unfolding. But what I do know is that I truly believe that when fear presents itself in your life that is the exact thing that you should do.  I feel like pretty much everything you want is on the other side of that fear. So, I knew I had to surrender to that experience, and I did.

I also knew there have been some very hard, profound things that have happened throughout my life, and I've really come through them in the most incredible way. I know that sharing that story will help others in their own journeys. So, for that reason, my greatest prayer has always been, if my story can help someone else then it's obviously all worth it. That was how I dove into this whole process.

B I know you were writing this book for others, but I wonder if it was also helpful to you as well. Just the process of revisiting your own words of wisdom in the book. 

AL That's funny that you say that because you're so "in it" during this process and I had a co-writer helping to really form the book and put all the stories together. I mean that's a talent in of itself and she really helped so much with that. But you never know how it's going to come out or how it's going to be received or how it's going to land, and I think with a book you're never quite finished. I feel like I could have sat with it for another two years, but I knew I had to release that and say, "You know what? It is exactly what it needs to be for those that are going to receive it." So, it was like a surrender moment for me. 

B @reshapewithalilandry and @alilandry are the perfect online companions to the book. You're so open about sharing your journey and inspirations with your fans. I especially loved the behind-the-scenes moment on Instagram when you were in the studio and had an emotional reaction to recording the audiobook.  

AL That was sincere. When I went back to read it myself for the audio book there were many times when I was brought to tears. I wanted to have a notebook with my pen, writing notes for myself. I've been in those places that I share many times in my life, but I don't stay in those places for long periods. You know, there's that moment where that sun is shining so brightly and everything is working out and everything is in place and moving forward in the best possible way but then sometimes in life you kind of fall back off the wagon and you have to figure out a way to get back on, right?

The book presents ideas, different ways and different tools that I've used to get 'back on the wagon,' if you will, like tapping into your mind set, your heart set, your soul set, your health set, to really create that true and lasting Reshape. That's always very helpful.

B What were some of the first small changes that you made that led to big results in your day to day?

AL There's so many in so many different areas. I think that what I've learned how to do is identify protocols or routines throughout my day - like my morning routine, my gratitude routine, and my digestion routine. I even have a very specific routine that I do before I pick up my kids because during the day, I'm by myself, looking out of my window at the beautiful oak trees and as soon as I pick up the kids it's a whole different energy and vibration that's happening, so I have to ground myself back in that peace. I have a routine for that, and I have sleep routines. I share all of those routines in the book that I use to fall back on.

B It's hard for some people like me to get started. It can be overwhelming. Is there something simple we can do to start?

AL I think a super easy concept for people that doesn't require any effort and is totally free would be, having gratitude. It's a practice. It can shift your mind set. It can shift your day immediately. As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, even though I'm still half asleep, sort of tired and not really wanting to get out of bed, the first thing I do is I rattle off a few things that I'm grateful for. During the day I also plug that (practice) into moments where I'm kind of feeling off or a little down. I just really focus in specific detail on what I'm grateful for. It's a practice that I do with my kids too. 

At dinner parties, people sort of want to climb under the table when we say, "Let's go around the table and say what we're grateful for." But when that happens there is a shift in the room. You're connecting with people when you're sharing out loud truly heart to heart and it's a beautiful experience even to do it with yourself. It one hundred percent changes my day.

B Earlier you mentioned routines. Do you have daily beauty and makeup routines? As a former Miss USA I'm sure we are not the first to ask you that. 

AL The funny thing is I sold skin care and cosmetics to put myself through college in my mom's beauty salon in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, It was like the movie, Steel Magnolias. You had your weekly rotations of women. I was always in those conversations with them. I would do their makeovers and honestly, I made enough money to put myself through college. So, I've always taken really good care of my skin since I was a young girl. And one of the first questions I would ask was, "Do you have a skin care routine?” I was probably 18 or 19 and that was just the "Aha!" moment that really clicked for me. I knew I better stay on this because I see the results of not being consistent with a skincare routine. 

But I want to share this first because I always like to make these routines more meaningful than just slapping products on your face.  The conversations over the years have become about self-care and I love that term but I just want to go a little bit deeper than that and then we can talk about the products. You can make that moment in your life, in your day, very meaningful and very profound. It's like one of those moments having gratitude where it's going to change you a little bit each day.  

When I won Miss USA in '96 I was from Louisiana and had just moved to Los Angeles. Part of my prize package was that I got a free facial once a month from Vera Brown. She had Vera's Retreat in the Glen. For me, a smalltown girl from Louisiana, I remember walking through the hallway and bumping into Nicole Kidman and I just couldn't even believe it. She serviced movie stars and celebrities, but I feel like that was just a small part for Vera. 

She took that idea of self-care and she brought it to people who I think really needed it and it affected them in a completely different way. She really took me under her wing. She became a second mother to me and I'd always called her, "My angel on earth."

Vera volunteered at so many different organizations. I remember going to MacLaren Hall. This was a place where these young girls no longer were with their families - teenagers that got lost in the system. They were no longer in foster care but where just in a home provided by the state. Vera would go there regularly. She asked me to go with her and of course I said, “Yes."

She'd show up with these bowls and head bands to pull their hair back and all of her products, and even little mirrors for them. These girls, some of them were tough looking and you could tell they definitely had masks from what they'd endured in their lives, and then here was this little old lady, just so cute, with the sweetest voice and she'd say, "Ok, girls, take a little bit of the cleanser, put it on your hand, you're going to put a little bit of water and I just want you to rub it together. Now look at yourself in the mirror and put your hands on your face and you look at yourself and you say, “I love you; you are special; I am worth it.” She just started giving them this self-talk that I don't think they'd ever experienced or heard before. 

I was just an outsider watching from the side and I could see these girls' faces changing in front of me. That was for me when it clicked. This was self-care but on a much, much deeper level. That for me was super powerful. That's why I never feel guilty about taking care of myself. I tell my daughter the same thing. You should never have guilt around that, so I do that when I'm doing my skincare routine. I just look at myself in the mirror and take that moment for me and say, “You are loved, you are worth it.” If you're not getting it from someone else, it's OK to give it to ourselves and recognize the beauty within all of us. 

So, with that said, let's get to the fun stuff!

B Indeed!  Do you still use Vera Brown products today?

AL  Vera passed over ten years ago. She was far ahead of her time, let me tell you, but after she passed they no longer make the products. I remember she worked with a wonderful chemist and I went with her many times there. She had a papaya enzyme cleanser and she had a jade cream that was sort of like an ointment to put under the eyes. I still have those in my beauty cabinet, and they are probably totally expired but I will not get rid of them because it's just such a reminder to me of who Vera was and what she was about. It was more than what was represented in those little jars, although that product was pretty special. 

She was the first person to tell me, and again I was 19 years old, "Don't forget the neck! The neck goes all the way down!" (laughs), and I said, "I don't need to worry about my neck. It's my face!" Now at like almost fifty I say, "Yes, the neck Vera! You were right!" (laughs). 

B Well all that advice paid off because you still look absolutely gorgeous. Can you share with Beautytap some of your favorite products you are currently using?

AL I think I'll start first with my game changer products. I try a lot of products like you do and so many people that you're interviewing, and I'm interested in ones that really give that "wow" factor.  Those are the ones that I sell on my website http://www.reshapewithalilandry.com

One combo that I love is the Derma Roller by Alitura. Then I follow the derma roller with a KNESKO Skin Nano Gold Repair and Natural Collagen Face Mask. For me if you have a big event or a party, class reunion or red carpet, this is the go-to. The fine lines and wrinkles are gone.  It might just be for a day, but it just plumps up your face. It's like pure hydration. You're glowing. Your skin looks amazing. I love that. I am pretty diligent with that derma roller. That is a product I've always used.

As far as skincare, I've worked for several years now, probably over five, with Dr. Nayan Patel who created the only absorbable glutathione on the market. He came out with a skincare line that has glutathione in it that absorbs. It's called AURO Skincare and I use all of his products. 

What I noticed in the very first two weeks of using it was that my skin felt thicker and that's a good thing. I remember one time when I ran out. I didn't really think that much of it, and I just went a few weeks without using one of the products and I had Melasma and skin discoloration after my last child. I remember looking in the mirror and thought, "Oh my gosh! What is going on?” And it was because I stopped using the product. So, I will never be without AURO Skincare. 

He has AURO Skincare Citrine Vitamin C Radiance Complex and for morning, Rise + Revive Daytime Energizing Creme. It has Coenzyme Q10, Carnosine and DMAE in it. He has a nighttime one - Reset + Repair Overnight Regenerating Crème. In the morning you use the C. And at night you use the glutathione. That is my staple. I always use it.

B Sounds like you're really pampering yourself as soon as you wake up all the way up to when you go to bed. Do you ever add in other products depending on the change of seasons or travel? 

AL I'll add in other products depending on what's going on with the weather. Or if I'm traveling, if I'm staying at a hotel, if the air quality is bad, if my skin gets dried out, if I'm in the city with pollution, during winter, and during summer. I'm very aware of what's happening with my skin, and I always adjust accordingly. 

There's another product I love also that went into my line up that I'll always keep. The company is Biography. Only a few years ago they launched these beautiful oils and they’re antioxidant rich. It's a moisture shield. It has collagen. It's just another layer of moisture. I'm all about that hydration so I use that within the routine. 

B What about your go-to products for your eyes?

AL I'm almost fifty and there's only so much you can do. I work with Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center so I'm able to get wonderful treatments like firming, tightening, and collagen building. But one thing that's very hard to tackle, and even with all my research, are the eyes. I don't get filler or anything like that around the eyes - my eyes can't handle it. What happens is as our faces drop you sort of get that little bag right underneath the eye. I was panicking about that because what else do you do besides an eye lift? There's not much else.

I have a product that was gifted to me. It's by YUM Skincare and it's Hibiscus Cell-lift Eye Firming Serum. When I really rub it in well under the eye area it diminishes that puffiness. I'm out so I just ordered a new one. I don't normally go for seconds with many things, but I just ordered a new one of that. And then for Christmas I got Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. I do that at night and it is so luxurious. That's just like a little treat right before bed and I love that one. 

B When you are making red carpet appearances do you use specific products? I know you've worked with Davia Matson @makeupbydavia - your stylist and makeup artist for 25 years now, so I imagine she must know you better than any other stylist.

AL Davia is a best friend and also my go-to with everything - style, fashion, hair, makeup, and beauty. All of it. Just overall a cool girl. She makes me cooler just being around her, and better actually. Those are the kind of people you want around you. We talk about that in the book. Davia worked for MAC for years. In the beginning of my career, we had everything MAC ever made and I found my favorites. 

From the MAC line I would say, and I still use them today, that I love the MAC Lip Spice Pencil. It goes with absolutely everything. I also love Ricepaper. It's a MAC Eye Shadow and I use their bronzer which is called MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural GIVE ME SUN! Those are the three MAC products that I use. 

Another staple, and it's a classic, is the Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder. I use it more sparingly as I've gotten older.

As for shadows for the day to day, I work with a company called Girlactik and they have a metallic Shadow Stick - the specific color is Desert. I love it. I could just wear Desert. Put a little bit under the eye, just a little in the crease and it's so easy to apply, I can do it in the car.

B How about for those lips?

AL I love lips. I always get asked about what lipstick I wear. It's this combination of two colors: Lancome makes a creme lipstick and it's called, L'Absolu Rouge Cream Lipstick 264 Peut Etre and it's a reddish pink. Then in the center I use Girlactik Star Gloss in Bella. It's a lip gloss - it just softens up that red and it looks like a more amplified color of your natural lip. It's beautiful. Maybe a little more pumped up, maybe a little more vibrant than your natural lip color, but it looks so good on everyone. 

B Do you use foundation?

AL There's a foundation I love. I like finding things that do a little bit more than just cover, especially for when I started getting treatments like microneedling or Ultherapy and when you walk out, you're going be a little bit red. There's a foundation called Oxygenetix and I not only use it after a treatment, but I use it daily. What I love is that it introduces oxygen to the skin. It covers any redness you have from a procedure, but it also speeds up cell production. It can heal wounds. It keeps the moisture in and bacteria out. I always have this foundation on hand. 

There's one more I’m going to add. My daughter loves it, her friends love it, everybody loves it. Gucci Westman has highlighter sticks. The one I use is iridescent. I think as I've gotten older, less is probably more. But I love makeup. I love it all, but you have to be a little more aware of your application process as you get older because of fine lines and wrinkles.

B   You mentioned how you've evolved and grown from those early pageant days and the time spent in your mom's beauty salon.  Do you think that the definition of beauty has also evolved from when you first started out? What can we say about beauty then and now?

AL   I think back, growing up in the South, it was the big hair, the makeup, all of it. I guess I put a little more structure around my idea of beauty these days. When your light, a light that's inside of you, shines out for the world, that is beauty. But you can also stop that light by putting on the mask, by not being you. There's no need to gossip. There's no need for jealousy. You are uniquely you and that's where beauty comes from. 

Ali Landry's new book, Reshape Your Life: Don't Settle Because You Are Worth It is available now in bookstores and Amazon. 

You can follow Ali's journey @reshapewithalilandry or @alilandry and learn more, including Ali’s beauty product picks at her health, beauty and wellness platform - http://www.reshapewithalilandry.com