Jenna Dewan on Her Beauty Routine and Breaking Catholic School Makeup Rules

Those of us who grew up attending all-girls Catholic school know a trick or two for getting around the "no makeup" rule. Believe it or not, actor and dancer Jenna Dewan got around it with a little help from her mom.

"I was 13 or 14 and wanted to play around with makeup, and my mom said, 'Well, hold on, we'll go to the drugstore.' She let me buy gel blush and clear mascara and was like, 'We'll get around it,'" Dewan tells InStyle over Zoom. "That was just my mom's way."

The dancer and Step Up star credits her mom for instilling beauty ideals she hopes to teach in her own daughter, Evie. The main lesson Dewan hopes Evie learns about beauty? Have fun and embrace it on your own terms!

"I remember when I was younger, people [would] say rude things like, 'Oh, well, she's all dolled up.' Makeup, beauty, and all this stuff were sort of looked down upon as it was too soon, too early. But my mom kept it really playful, and I enjoyed it," she says. "There was never any shame around it."

After forging her love for beauty by sneaking into her mom's room and playing with her products, Dewan took a special interest in skincare in her 20s when she began suffering from cystic acne and melasma. It's for this reason that her new partnership with Neostrata, a skincare brand that helps her achieve her personal skin goals, felt natural and authentic.

"It's been a journey of trying to figure out what I can do to help eliminate the melasma or at least keep it under control, so I've tried literally every product treatment under the sun," explains Dewan. "I found such relief with Neostrata."

These days, Dewan keeps her beauty routine pretty simple for the most part. When it comes to skin, she sticks to the Neostrata Foaming Glycolic Wash, followed by a vitamin C serum, and a moisturizer. At night, she'll swap out her vitamin C for a retinol serum ("Sometimes I use straight up Retin-A; I go old school," she says), and she recently started using the Neostrata's Triple Firming Neck Cream. To keep her complexion smooth and bright, she also incorporates exfoliating pads once or twice a week.

When she's not working or attending events, Dewan barely does anything to her hair. "I actually say this to Jen Atkin, who cuts my hair: 'Do not give me a haircut that I have to style. I need you to cut it so that I get out of the shower and it lays perfectly, and it just is what it is,'" she says with a laugh. "I'm not a person that will wake up and curl my hair [or] blow it out and do all that. If I wash it, I just let it air dry."

In the same spirit, Dewan's approach to makeup is minimal, consisting of a concealer, cream blush, curled lashes, and a tiny bit of lip balm. But when she does go full glam, she goes all out. "I'm from Texas, so listen, we love full glam," she says. "I still have to be talked out of putting glitter on my eyes every single event."

As far as beauty advice is concerned, Dewan has two game-changing hacks to share. The first is: Take care of your neck. "Bring all the products [you use on your face] into the neck and chest," she says. The second is to nail a no-makeup makeup look, try using concealer on certain areas of the face versus a full face of foundation.

And as many of our favorite celebs were seen living their best lives at Taylor's Swift's Era Tour, we had to ask Dewan what her favorite era is. With zero hesitation, she answered with "Reputation."

"[Taylor Swift] had some really sassy songs during that time," she says before adding. "Listen, the dancers find that one. We're like, 'Oh yeah, Reputation Era. We rock out to Reputation.'"