For Good Skin and Great Wine, Keep It
Simple (and Go Easy on Sugar)
Cameron Diaz
cofounder of Avaline, actor, author, and mom
In some ways, Cameron Diaz’s search for a wine she wanted to drink mirrors her friend Gwyneth’s search for beauty products she wanted to put on her skin. “I naively thought wine was simply fermented grapes,” says Diaz, who discovered wines can contain upwards of 73 additives—and that those additives are rarely listed on the bottle. Like beauty companies, wine companies aren’t required to reveal their ingredients. “There’s pretty much zero transparency,” says Diaz, who founded Avaline in July of 2020 with Katherine Power and has two bestsellers to her name, The Body Book and The Longevity Book. “We’re used to looking at the ingredient list of anything we plan to eat, but we can’t see whether a wine’s been made with extra sugar, extra sulfites, artificial colorants, or things like grape juice concentrate (another way of adding sugar). So we’ve stripped all that stuff away—and we’re fully transparent, so you can see for yourself what’s in there.”
Anyone who’s concerned about the effects of sugar on their skin would do well to question the ingredients in the wine they’re consuming—or simply buy wines like Avaline’s crisp, citrusy white; the rich, delicious Syrah; or the excellent rosé, now also available in single-serving cans. “They’re farmed organically, because it’s better for the planet and our bodies,” Diaz says. “We don’t add sugar, concentrates, colors—any of it. We went and found the wines we wanted to drink, and that’s our company.”
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Beyond the wine itself, the whole brand reflects Diaz and Power’s thought process. “We did a screw cap, because that’s an easy way to moderate your intake,” she says. “You can just put it back in the fridge for the next day. And we just came out with cans for the same reason.”
That practical yet unconventional approach shows up in almost every aspect of Diaz’s life, including her attitudes about being almost 50, with a two-year-old. (She and GP are both 49, and they discuss it all on this week’s podcast.) “The whole concept of aging has just changed completely, even in the last 10 years,” she says. “It’s totally opened up. I’m excited. I’ve got 50 or 60 years to go—I want to live to be 110, since I’ve got a young child. I think you have this amazing moment in your 40s where you appreciate who your parents are, and I want to have that moment with her—be there with her in her 40s.”
She’ll doubtlessly look incredible doing it. “My family’s from sturdy stock,” she says. “My grandmother was running around in the hot San Fernando Valley sun at 72, hauling big bags of rabbit feed and chicken feed around. I think I’ve got some of that. And as is true for most people, I think how I look and feel is some combination of what I do and what I don’t do.”
1
Keep it simple for your skin.
I’ve been wearing makeup every day for most of my life, because of work, and it was really depleting to my skin. I always had a breakout. And since I stopped wearing a lot of it, in my 40s—obviously I’m older, too, but I was getting breakouts well into my 40s—I like my skin much better.
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I’m so into the goop glow. I just love the Microderm scrub—it feels so good and really makes a difference in my skin. I have a face oil, and a retinol from Versed, and that’s about it. When I get up in the morning, I run my skin under the water in the shower—I don’t even use a cleanser in the mornings.
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2
Have fun with (a little) makeup.
After the years of having to wear it, I love makeup as a fun little touch. Merit makes absolutely beautiful things, like my favorite lipstick, their Signature Lip in Cabo, which is just bright and light and effortless. And Gucci Westman’s highlight is so pretty, and her lip palettes are amazing, in every shade.
3
Fully reset every so often.
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It’s worth it—it helps you stay mindful about what you’re putting in your body. We all start off in a great place, but it’s easy to end up getting further and further away from the place that’s your optimum. I’m the mother of a two-year-old, so we’re both having a little of this and a little of that, and do I need to be snacking as much as she is all day? Doing a little reset kind of brings you back. It helps you be more present in the moment, staying aware of what you’re saying and what you’re doing. I’ve just started working with Will Cole, doing his amazing program, and so far, it’s just great.
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4
Be gentle with yourself.
I’m still healing from an injured Achilles, so I’ve been away from working out for eight months. I used to be really strong and really active, and I was made to sort of be still for a while. And for anyone who’s been trying to come back from something like that—it doesn’t have to be an injury; it can happen after giving birth or any process in life that stops you in your tracks—going easy on yourself is the way through it. Being so strong most of my life, I was used to going hard and leaning into my strength, and I’ve had to do the opposite. I took so many steps in my mind before I ever took an actual step. I did a lot of lying on my floor, being with my body to understand what it needed: Maybe my hips needed to twist or my back needed to arch. I didn’t force it into anything and just honored the fact that I had an injury. It wasn’t about jumping back into my usual workout. It’s been a process of building myself back, and I feel like I’m stronger now than when I started. I’m looking forward to all the aspects of growth to come in my 50s. I’m working on building my muscle mass so I’ll have it as my hormones change.
5
Embrace being the oldest.
I’m the oldest mom in my group of girlfriends with kids, and it’s great. I’m lucky to be my age, lucky to have those girlfriends, lucky to have my daughter, lucky to have all the support I do raising her.
6
“Sexy” isn’t the point.
I want to feel youthful, of course—we all look in the mirror every once in a while and go, Oh, that looks different. And I’m not opposed to whatever interventions people want to do. But as women in our society, we spend so much time under pressure to be highly sexualized, thinking we need to be desired sexually at all times. I’m here to say I’m moving past that: I don’t care! I want to be strong and healthy, to have the stretch and resilience in my body to be able to do the things I want to do.
It’s a tough society we live in. It comes with all kinds of benefits, but living in the public eye can be very damaging to your soul. No matter who you are, it’s important to take care of the whole person—not just the visual, not just what people think of you, but all of you.
7
Wineglass stems are just waiting to be broken.
It’s undeniable. And who needs that drama? I love stemless wineglasses. And of course a great wine to pour into them.
You share wine with friends, family, lovers—it’s a way to create connections or have a moment of self-care. So ask winemakers, “Hey, what are you putting in your wine? Can I have a list?” Transparency should be table stakes. Our bottle is an invitation to the industry: Why not be transparent with your labels? Come forward with ingredients you’re proud of.
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