If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what everyday stuff famous people add to their carts — like hair spray or an electric toothbrush. We asked actress Natasha Rothwell, who’s starring in the newest season of White Lotus and recently partnered with Claritin for the launch of Claritin Liquid — about the acupressure wristbands, jasmine perfume oil, and makeup-removing balm she can’t live without.
I get a little carsick when I try to look at my phone if I’m sitting in the back seat. But I just can’t help myself; it’s a natural muscle-memory action. I didn’t want to take Dramamine while I’m in a car. I discovered Sea-Bands from a friend of mine. They play with acupressure. It’s game-changing. It’s all fine until you forget you have them on. It’s been a bit embarrassing to reach out and shake someone’s hand and they look down. But it’s a quick fix. It taught me about that specific pressure point. So even if I don’t remember to take the band, I remember where to press down. I can get relief anywhere.
In the world of perfumes, I’m very new. I grew up when you got some Bath & Body Works spray and you poured it on yourself. That was my approach to perfume. I’m trying to layer scents. I got some jasmine oil, and I think I was gifted it. Most of the things that are leveling up my life have been in swag bags. I’m like, I see why it’s in the swag bag. I remember putting it on and then layering it with the other perfumes. Everyone that day was like, “Oh my God, you smell amazing. What is this?” I use it as my base scent. It’s so subtle. It’s light. It’s not too floral. It’s got some warmth to it. It makes people think that I’m way more cooler than I am.
When I’m working on a production, I’m getting in camera-ready makeup every single day. I need to be able to take everything off completely. I know Farmacy’s Green Clean is going to do the job. As a Black girl with Black makeup, white towels are enemies. I can actually take a white towel and wipe my face and there will be nothing. It makes my skin feel even better. I obviously follow up with more cleansing because that’s part of my skin-care routine. But I’m not asking a cleanser to do the job of a makeup remover.
I take sleep so seriously. I used to not. I took it for granted. As I’ve gotten older, I’m trying to make sleep the most magical, ritualistic process possible. The joke is, the uglier you go to bed, the prettier you wake up. I’ve got my serums on. I’ve got my sound machine going. I wasn’t always a sleep-mask girlie. I actually got gifted one of these; I subsequently bought 10. I take them everywhere when I travel. It’s just the softest thing to put against your face. The silk goes all the way around, so it doesn’t mess up my hair. It doesn’t have the harsh edges of other eye masks. You get the full coverage. Some masks can fall down on the left or the right. You don’t want to play tug-of-war with an eye mask.
Being able to play the day’s theme music in every room does make me feel like I’m in a movie. I’ll move from my living room into the kitchen and the same song is playing, and then I’ll go to my bedroom, my bathroom, and my office, and it’s playing there, too. It fills the house. It’s like the energy equivalent of a thermostat for temperature. I can roll over in the morning, open up my phone, go to Spotify, pick a playlist, and then it plays on every Sonos speaker. That’s a pretty sexy way to wake up. It feels like you’re pressing start to the day.
I feel like Spotify knows me in a relationship sense. It’s romantic how intimately Spotify understands me. It’s better than some relationships I’ve had. I’m like, You’re really paying attention to my needs. I listen to it to get me through the day. I make my own playlists. I have a playlist for every script that I write. I have a morning playlist that I play every morning. I do party playlists. It’s very cinematic to score a moment. I don’t share a ton of my playlists because some of them can be about someone who’s bothering me and I don’t want other people to see them.
I have them on right now. I can pick up my phone and make this call to you and then when I press play on my Spotify, they’ll start playing immediately. It’s all really intuitive. I don’t like to be tethered. I can bring my music anywhere. You can do the noise cancellation without playing the music. I’ll have them on and turn the volume down on the world a little bit because the world can scream. It’s nice to be able to have some control on how much input is going in my brain and my ears. One of my favorite, favorite things, especially whenever I’m in New York City, is to put on my AirPods Maxes. I walk through the city like I’m in a movie. You can stop the music and have silence. Or you can listen and still have a conversation with a barista.
I don’t use them to work out, which is the comedy. The texture of the material they use is just so soft and yummy. Sometimes spandex can feel tight and confining. But this is breathable. It’s movable. Your kitties will thank you. It’s such a comfort. It’s like walking around in a hug all day — even the onesies and leggings. It makes you feel like you’re getting away with something. I shouldn’t be this comfortable without being in sweatpants.
If it’s not clear, I’m all about comfort. I like sweat suits. I have maybe 15 of these sets. The colors are nuanced. They don’t only come in primary colors. There are corals and teals and pinks. I love being able to look up at my whole closet rack full of sweat suits and pick one. Part of my approach to my mental health is how can I mitigate decision-making where I don’t need to because my brain is overtaxed and I’m working on so many projects. So this is one area where I can take care of that: with a shopping cart full of sweatpants. Sometimes I want to be able to wear one brand of sweatshirt with another brand of sneakers, but if the logos don’t match, my neuropathic brain is like, You can’t do that. I know you can, but I can’t. The logo on these Adidas sweat suits is so inconspicuous. Some of the ones I have from a season ago, the logo is down lower, so they’re even more inconspicuous.
Editor’s note: Her hoodie of choice is almost sold out, so we linked to a sweatshirt instead.
I’m a very dedicated crossworder. It started on set. There’s a lot of hurrying and waiting on set. You can’t really get too far out of your mind-set of the character or the things that are happening. I need a lot of mental stimulation. The dopamine of getting the answers right is addicting. I will literally spend hours happily doing the Sunday puzzle. It’s such a niche brag because other people are like, You spent three hours on this. You could have done something better with your time. They don’t understand. I keep upping the level and trying to get a gold star, meaning that I got it done without any help. I remember posting on my Instagram that I got an entire month of gold stars. What sucks is just then, immediately after that, my streak was lost because I got to one puzzle. Thursday puzzles are notoriously difficult. They graduate in difficulty — Monday being the easiest, Sunday being the hardest. Thursday, they really like to get up to shenanigans. I could not figure out the game going on behind that puzzle for the life of me. I was so pissed. The thrill is, I’m still chasing the high. I’m like, Wow, we’re going tomorrow.
This is where I wanted to talk about Claritin. My family, they’re allergy sufferers. I am a little bit of the mom of my family, even though my actual mom would hate that I say that. I have a kit for my fanny pack or purse or backpack that has all the meds. I definitely keep Claritin for whoever might need it. So when I go home and I want to walk around with them, it’s handy to have on hand.
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