Cooking guru, TV star, and now Clairol Natural Instincts ambassador, Giada de Laurentiis, knows how to look glam in flash. We quizzed her on all of her get-gorgeous tricks!

Real Beauty: How do you change your beauty routine for summer?

Giada de Laurentiis: Summertime is about being more relaxed. Because I’m a mom who works a lot, it’s difficult for me to spend a lot of time getting all dolled up. But since I’m on camera all the time, I have to. I lighten my hair a little bit and let it loose. My hair is wavy with a bit of frizz, thanks to my lovely southern Italian roots. I let it dry naturally during the summer, and I have dewier skin.

RB: What products do you use?

GDL: I always use a shampoo and a conditioner for color-treated hair to make sure that my shade stays intact. For years, I put lemon juice on my hair, and let the sun highlight it. Then, eight years ago my brother died of skin cancer, so I decided not to spend time in the sun, I began dying my hair.

RB: How to you color it?

GDL: I had never used a box color before I tried Clairol's Natural Instincts. It highlights my hair and gives it some golden hues, which makes me look younger. I absolutely love the conditioner. My hair goes through a lot of processing, so I need the hydration. It makes my hair shinier and softer, because colored hair can get really crispy. And it only takes ten minutes to apply. So when my daughter goes to bed at night, I can give my hair a little oomph.

RB: How often do you use it?

GDL: Every two months. The older I get, the more color I have to use because my lovely grey friends come visit me. Also, I can't have heavy roots when I'm on camera.

RB: Do you have any tips for looking fresh early in the morning and on camera?

GDL: One of the most important things I learned from my mom and my grandmother is to exfoliate. Your skin is your biggest organ, and it’s always out in the world being penetrated by pollution. Because I wear a lot of makeup, I exfoliate often. When you take off all of the dead skin, makeup sits better.

RB: What do you use to scrub your face?

GDL: A really great recipe is about two tablespoons of baking soda and one tablespoon of olive oil. I mix it together like a paste, rub it in, and take it off. The baking soda exfoliates and the olive oil leaves me with a rich glow.

RB: Are there any other tricks you have?

GDL: I exfoliate every night before I go to bed, and I don't sleep with makeup on. In the mornings, I use a tinted sunscreen to give me a little coverage, mascara to make my eyes pop, and lip gloss to give my pout shine. That’s it!

RB: Do you have any favorite beauty goodies?

GDL: There are some things, like concealer and foundation, that I spend the extra money on, but when it comes to mascara, the drugstore CoverGirl kind is great and inexpensive. I spend quite a bit of money on my Chantecaille foundation. It’s expensive, but it works for my skin. When it comes to lip gloss, I buy a pot of strawberry flavored balm at Anthropologie, and my daughter loves it. Every time she gives me a kiss she says “Mommy, you taste like strawberry!” So then she wants to kiss me more, which is lovely. Sometimes the easiest, simplest things can make a woman feel good. Blush is awesome, too.

RB: Are there any other kitchen finds that you incorporate into your beauty routine?

GDL: If you don’t have a moisturizer, olive oil is always the best. Sometimes I put it on my lips just to keep them moist. Olive oil is one of those things that people are still afraid of. They don’t really know how to use it. Kosher salt is also great. I mix it with papaya to make a light body scrub.

RB: Do you have a chic way to wear your hair when you’re cooking?

GDL: For my cooking show, my clothes, nails, and hair are the three things that I pay the most attention to. For a long time, cooking was not a glamorous thing. It was seen as something no one really wanted to do. It was considered a housewife thing. I’ve always wanted to glamorize it—make it chicer, cooler, and more fun. When cooking, I like to wear my hair up in a loose bun with a couple of face-framing pieces. I also wear my hair down and wavy. I pin the front pieces back and fold the rest of my hair over the bobby pins to hide them. It’s finding those little tricks that make you look effortlessly elegant and feminine.

RB: Do you stay away from certain body or makeup products when you’re cooking?

GDL: When I am on camera, I try to stay away from things that are scented, because it takes away from what I can smell and taste. So I don't wear my strawberry lip balm. It's the same thing with hand creams. I actually put olive oil on my fingers and nails before I go on camera so that they look shiny.

RB: You’re an olive oil person!

GDL: I eat a lot of olive oil. I don’t really do butter. I try to live a balanced lifestyle. But obviously at times you indulge. Part of being healthy is eating enough good fats in your diet, such as olive oil. My job is to empower women to feel good about themselves.

RB: Cancer is an important topic to you. How can women prevent it?

GDL: I put SPF 50 sunscreen on my body every single day. My brother was diagnosed with melanoma at the age of 29, and he died at 30. I never thought that was possible, especially with somebody that young. I always thought, “Who dies of skin cancer? Don’t you just cut that off?” I’ve realized how important it is to shield yourself from the sun, wear SPF constantly, and really watch what you’re putting into your body. Stop eating processed foods; stop eating excess of anything. You can have a glass of wine, and you can have dessert. But if you have a lot one day, you’ve got to balance it out the next.

RB: What does real beauty mean to you?

GDL: It’s passion and feeling good in your own skin. My job, through cooking, is to make women feel good about themselves. Hopefully when they get into the kitchen, they feel inspired, elegant, sexy, and beautiful. I’m trying to make cooking a stylish thing, the way that it used to be. It really brings a lot of joy and creates a lot of long-lasting, life-long memories and traditions for people.

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