Hilary Duff has been a staple in our households for so many years — we grew up watching her in "Lizzie McGuire" and "Cheaper By The Dozen" and, later, took on adulthood with her in shows like "Younger" and "How I Met Your Father" — that, for many millennials, it's easy to think of her more like a longtime friend than the mega-star that she is.
And when we hopped on the phone with the actress and mom, that's exactly how it felt. Like we were chatting with a close confidant — one who is funny, kind and down to share beauty secrets and hacks for maintaining her sanity at home with four kids.
When it comes to that last bit, you may be surprised to know that fragrance is a key part of the equation. Duff is the chief brand director for Below 60, a home fragrance brand offering diffusers and candles.
As a mom of a teenager, three kids under the age of 7, three dogs and two cats, Duff says she's "constantly covering up smells" at home, so to be able to do that with a product that she feels good about is a bonus. (The scents are made without dyes, parabens or other unwanted ingredients.)
"The world is so crazy, everyone’s just busy, busy, busy," Duff says. "It’s important that you come home and have your space the way that you like it. I mean, I’m just very Libra like that, so it’s a very good tool for my life."
Serving as the company's chief brand director is a fitting role for Duff, who has always been a self-proclaimed "fragrance addict" since she was young.
"My mom, she had a little tray with all of her perfumes on it," she shares. "She would always find me in there mixing and concocting. I’m sure it smelled awful, but I’ve just always been a fragrance junkie."
That seems to be something that her own kids — particularly her daughters, Mae, 4, and Banks, 6 — have inherited from her. Duff shared: "They love to go in my shower and make potions, so I try to find products that I don’t like anymore and let them make potions with them."
When it comes to the products that they steal from her, thankfully, they aren't on the skin care train yet ("I’m really not looking forward to that because I’ve heard it gets completely out of control with the girls," she says), but makeup is another story.
"I can’t tell you the amount of times I find my lipsticks in the cap because it hasn’t been rolled down, but it’s cute!" Duff says.
Below, we asked the singer and entrepreneur to walk us through some of her current favorite products, from her beauty must-haves to the item that's a "game changer" for parents.
Shopping Diaries: Hilary Duff
Below 60 Plug-In Fragrance Diffuser Starter Kit
Below 60 just launched on QVC with a fragrance starter kit, which features an exclusive-to-the-retailer fragrance, Meet Me in the Garden. "It was really important to me when we named these fragrances that they evoke feeling, because obviously you’re buying something without smelling it. So there’s a very sweet little nod there of spending time in the garden with someone that you care about, and fresh blooms and the time of year where everyone’s getting outside again. And the main notes are black currant, rose — a very beautiful, soft rose — and then it’s balanced with violet leaf, which brings in a little bit of herbaceous balance."
The set comes with two plug-in diffusers and six scent refills (two of the exclusive Meet Me in the Garden, as well as two each of If Citrus Were a Feeling and Vanilla Buys a Timeshare in Paradise), so there's enough to share if you're feeling generous. "Or you can keep them both!" she says.
Blue Bottle Craft Instant Espresso Multiserve
Duff has "told everyone" about this instant coffee from Blue Bottle. "I called my mom ... I was like, 'I’ve been buying this coffee in a jar from Blue Bottle. It's these gorgeous flakes, they’re shiny. It’s so easy to make my coffee in the morning, you just scoop it and it’s dry.' And my mom was like, 'Hilary, are you talking about instant coffee? ... it sounds like you're explaining Folgers, but from a nice brand.'"
She continues, "So I’ve been using their instant coffee and it’s so great. I travel with a jar of it. You put a spoonful with a little hot water — and I like my coffee iced, so I put ice in there — and I add milk and Stevia and it’s so good."
Biba de Sousa The Daily Cleanser
If you can believe it, Duff is a mom to a teen! Her son Luca is 13 and is just starting to figure out a grooming routine of his own. “My son is starting to wash his face and have his hair product that he likes, it’s very cute,” she says.
Duff continues, “There’s a facialist in town and I’ve used some of her products for a few years now, her name is Biba de Sousa. And she has a very gentle cleanser, and it’s not targeted toward kids or teens, but it’s just a really balancing, clean product line, so right now he’s using that.”
She continues, “There’s a hydrating toner mist that he uses. He’s not like really getting acne, but he’s getting a little bit of congestion. And all I remember from being in that stage of my life is I wanted to use like so many drying products. And I think that that’s like doing the reverse, right? Drying out your skin too much will make your skin want to produce oil to help soothe the situation, so then you’re back at square one again. So we’re trying to use slightly moisturizing products [for him].”
Roz Milk Hair Serum
For her own beauty routine, Duff says she’s “obsessed” with this hair serum. “I put it on wet hair or after I’m done blow drying. Or if my ends are a little frizzy, I add it to my dry hair, too. It smells so good. And it’s the perfect weight. It’s not weighing your hair down, but it helps the frizz.”
Vitner's Daughter Active Botanical Serum
Duff says this serum from Vitner's Daughter is "super hydrating." "It feels like a mix between an oil and a cream, and it’s really balancing. I feel like it’s good for redness. It smells very earthy, so you have to be down for the earth smell. But it’s lovely. It's an extra hydrating element. I live in California, so I don’t have crazy dry skin, but at night, I try to nourish it a little bit more."
MBR Enzyme Cleansing Booster
"I’m pretty good at washing my face morning and night, I do it quickly," Duff says. And she loves this product from MBR. "It's an enzyme cleansing booster, it's amazing."
According to the brand, the booster provides a gentle yet deep clean that helps even complexion and enhances the absorption of products that come after it.
Maxi-Cosi Peri 180-Degree Rotating Infant Car Seat
As the mom of four kids, we'd guess that Duff has tried her fair share of parenting essentials through the years — and this is one that she wishes she had known about earlier. She got this car seat for her youngest daughter, Townes (who is 11 months) and says it's been a "game changer."
"If you’re a mom of multiple kids, I’m assuming you have some sort of an SUV and you're having to climb in to put them in and your back is destroyed because you’re doing it multiple times a day. So now my car seat ... you push a button and it swivels towards you so you can pop the baby in and then you just swivel them back into place."
Doona Two-in-One Car Seat and Stroller
Duff says that she uses this two-in-one stroller and car seat when traveling, both for Townes and Mae when she was younger. "It's amazing for travel, and it turns into a car seat when you’re getting in an Uber, cab or you’re in a car service from an airport — it’s just a crazy invention."
