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Selma Blair has long been open about her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. The actress has spent years navigating autoimmune disease and early menopause symptoms, including the kind of reactive skin that makes most active formulas a nonstarter (declining estrogen levels during menopause can lead to sensitive skin).
So when Blair invited the Daily Beast to the Maybourne Beverly Hills hotel for an exclusive first look at the product she personally co-created with Australian skincare brand Esk—the recently debuted Selma Blair x Esk Ultimate A Gold—it was clear this wouldn’t be a typical celebrity beauty drop. Her five-year-old dog, Scout, set the tone immediately by trotting over to greet us first. “He’s five. He’s almost menopausal,” Blair deadpanned.
Blair first discovered Esk during what she calls her most “skin-fragile era,” and the brand eventually became the only line she trusted. That trust is what eventually led her to meet Esk founder Dr. Ginni Mansberg. “It really was love at first sight,” Blair says. “I was so impressed and inspired by Dr. Ginni’s knowledge and the evidence-based aspect of their product.” Dr. Mansberg remembers the shock on her end, too. “When we heard that Selma Blair—the Selma Blair—was actually using Esk, we were in Sydney, going, wait, we need to meet this woman.”
Blair didn’t initially reach out for a partnership. “I just wanted to say I was such a fan. What else do I do for my skin?” she recalls. But she also wanted something for her community—many living with chronic illness, autoimmune conditions, or post-menopausal sensitivity. “What can we do for people who don’t have time or interest in a 15-step routine?” she asked. That question became the blueprint for their hero launch: a single, nightly retinoid-based treatment gentle enough for ultra-sensitive skin—and potent enough to actually work.
Ahead, Blair breaks down her pared-down routine and the everyday beauty staples she can’t live without.
Selma on why sensitive, Menopausal skin deserves different care
Blair’s cautious journey with Esk began with a single product handed to her by an esthetician during what she describes as a “last-ditch effort” appointment. It was the Calming Cleanse, the first formula her skin didn’t immediately react to. “It was a very simple product,” she says. “But it helped calm my skin… For me, it was a miracle.”
After that first moment of relief, Blair slowly—and nervously—expanded her Esk routine. The next step was the Repair Cream. “I was afraid to try other ones, but I did start to see improvements,” she says. It became her first real moment of trust. “It was like my introduction into something I could tolerate, and now something that I can actually grow from.”
Dr. Mansberg says Blair’s experience mirrors what she hears from countless women navigating autoimmune issues, sensitivity, early menopause, or all of the above. “They feel like, ‘If I need actives in my skincare but my skin is sensitive, I have to opt out,’” Dr. Mansberg explains.
Blair felt that deeply. “I didn’t know what was going to trigger what,” she recalls. “Nothing in me wanted to go back to the space with open sores.” At one point, she’d thrown away “all the old, amazing, expensive, wonderful, beautiful products”—not because they didn’t work, but because she simply couldn’t risk irritation. Esk was the first line that allowed her to rebuild from scratch without fear.
The hero product
Blair calls the final formula—Selma Blair x Esk Ultimate A Gold—her “hero product.” Formulated specifically for compromised, sensitive, or menopausal skin, the treatment combines barrier-strengthening ceramides with 5 percent niacinamide, plus 5 percent lactobionic acid. At its core is 0.1 percent retinal, a more advanced and better-tolerated form of vitamin A.
Unlike other forms of vitamin A (e.g., retinol and retinyl esters), it bypasses an enzyme conversion that many sensitive-skin users struggle with. Blair is still stunned that she can use it nightly.
Selma’s evening skincare routine
Blair keeps her evening routine intentionally simple. “I always wash my face with either the Calming Cleanse or the Cleansing Balm,” she says. Then she uses the Glow Serum, followed by the hero retinal treatment. “All I need is to cleanse my face, do a little serum, and then do that hero product,” she says. “I like the simplicity. And I feel totally taken care of by it.” She occasionally uses a microcurrent device for tightening, too.
Selma’s sensitive skin-friendly makeup must-haves
Even with sensitive skin, Blair keeps a tightly edited lineup of makeup she trusts—especially when it comes to foundation and concealer. “I love Westman Atelier foundation drops,” she says. “I don’t need very much of it, and I do like its concealer.”
Lip liner is non-negotiable. “I love Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat liner, and I love Kylie Cosmetics’s Precision Pout liner,” Blair says. “Kylie [Jenner’s] products are good… And that girl knows how to make a lip liner that ain’t gonna budge.” She gravitates toward pink-based shades rather than anything too warm. Mascara-wise, she leans toward Kylie Cosmetics again, switching between brown and black Kylash. “I do the brown now, but I notice it casts a little red shade… so I go back and forth.”
Because her lashes are sparse in some areas, Blair often defines her eyes with shadow and liner instead of falsies. Her go-to is a Laura Geller gel liner she smudges before it sets: “It makes the base of my eye look like it has some depth.”
