Beauty Interview

“Pure” Actress Alex Paxton-Beesley Spills Her Best Kept Beauty Secrets

With her radiant porcelain complexion and auburn hair, Toronto-based actress Alex Paxton-Beesley is certainly a stunner. On CBC’s new show Pure, Paxton-Beesley plays strong-willed Anna Funk, a Mennonite woman tasked with challenging the drug trafficking culture of her community. While her new role is hardly a glamorous one, the Canadian star’s natural beauty shines through, in the form of clear and glowing skin.

Real Style spoke to Paxton-Beesley about her must-have products, skincare regimen and top fitness tips. From the all-natural brand that she can’t live without to her unconventional Hollywood beauty icon, here’s everything she had to share with us.

Pure airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET/9:30 p.m. NT on CBC.

Real Style: What are your favourite beauty products?

Alex: In the wintertime, I use rosehip oil on my face. That’s been a real game changer for me. I’ve got freckles and my skin reacts to the sun, so I found that rosehip oil at night has really changed the way that my skin feels.

I recently discovered this incredible brand called The Ordinary. They are Canadian, all-natural and vegan, and basically, they make a line of chemical-based serums which are affordable. I use their Niacinamide serum on my chin and T-zone when I feel like breakouts are coming on.

I use a Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid Moisturizer that also has been a real game changer. I’m obsessed with skincare, especially when I was working on Pure, because I wasn’t really wearing any makeup.

Real Style: Describe your skincare regimen.

Alex: I do a lot of face masks, and we have a couple of phenomenal Asian beauty supply stores in Toronto. I go to Jealousy Beauty on Queen Street West in Toronto. They are so helpful, and I love getting stuff from them. If we’re talking skincare, I also drink a lot of water, because I find that has a huge effect on my skin.

Real Style: Do you have any fitness secrets?

Alex: I stretch a lot. I have a chronic pain condition, so I find keeping my joints lubricated by stretching really helps. I work with a phenomenal trainer, Jane Clapp and she changed my fitness game a couple years ago. She understands the movement of the body isn’t really about doing high-impact work. She’s about sustainable work. You can find space in your body.

Real Style: Who is your celebrity beauty icon?

Alex: There’s not really one person. I really love watching what Solange is doing with her beauty. She’s really challenging the norm, in terms of that cookie cutter style of beauty. I think that’s really awesome, to watch that kind of thing happening. I also love the colours she uses and wears, I’m really drawn to super bright colours.

Photo: IMDB