Around this time last year, Viola Davis was scheduled to begin shooting a movie in Toronto when public-health officials enforced stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19. Like many of us, the Academy Award-winning actress couldn’t have anticipated the profound impact the pandemic would have on her life and perspective, but she opened up about it in a recent interview with Refinery29. “This time has been about refocusing on all of the things that are important to me,” Davis says. “I’ve had all this time to focus on really taking in my daughter, being present and not being so busy, appreciate life and health, and really using my home for the first time.”
Davis is the face of L’Oréal Age Perfect Midnight Serum, the beloved high-street brand’s latest innovation for smoother, more radiant skin. The new formula, outfitted in a sleek amber-colored bottle, has served as a dose of luxury and self-care for the actress since adding it to her routine. “I cleanse in the shower with Revitalift cleanser; I’m big on doing that for 30 seconds straight,” she tells us. “I follow up with the Age Perfect Midnight Serum, which I love — and so does my husband.”
The Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star says that, in addition to spending more time taking care of her skin and creating “spa days” at home with Epsom salt baths, she’s taken up meditation and cooking. “I started using the Calm app, and it drowns a lot of the noise in my head,” Davis says. “What I’m left with when I open my eyes are my husband, my child, my mom, and my siblings. They become the best affirmation and reminder of what’s important.”
Davis recently starred alongside her husband, Julius Tennon, and daughter, Genesis, in a W Magazine spread titled Black Americana. The family photo opp was a beautiful moment shared between Davis and 10-year-old Genesis, to whom she’s been teaching the importance of self-love. “I always tell my daughter that everything about her is beautiful — even her imperfections,” Davis says. “I also stress being liberated from status, because your meaning and value has to come from within.”
Despite her long list of accolades — including L’Oréal beauty queen — Davis says she’s still a student in life’s book of lessons. “I always felt like I had to barter for my beauty and my worth, like there was a ticket I had to buy to be accepted into this world,” she says. “I didn’t realise that I held my power with me all the time.” While Davis acknowledges that self-love is a journey, she’s learned to find her strength in the qualities and experiences that make her unique. “My life is my beauty,” she says. “Me overcoming poverty, my skin tone, my kinky curly hair, my deep voice is my beauty. I just had to realise that I had it all along.”
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