When It Comes To Her Skin Care Routine, Salma Hayek Plays The Long Game

On a spring afternoon in New York City, I walk into a suite in The Carlyle to meet Salma Hayek, whose effervescent energy greets me as I sit beside her on a plush couch. She’s wearing a black dress and a red lip with her dark, wavy hair, complete with a smattering of gray highlights, cascading past her shoulders. It’s been years since the last time we crossed paths, at an event where she was promoting a skin care collab with a smoothie company — Hayek is no stranger to the celebrity beauty hustle — during which she gave me a hand massage to showcase the product. I remind her of this prior rendezvous as we begin chatting.

“Oh, yes, here in New York!” she recalls, laughing with a familiar low-octave laugh.

This time, we’re talking about a beauty partnership the actor and director has with the new Ultherapy Prime cosmetic treatment by Merz Aesthetics — a decidedly more high-tech remedy for lines and wrinkles. Specifically, it’s a non-invasive, nonsurgical skin lifting treatment that uses personalized ultrasound technology, and Hayek can’t stop singing its praises.

“I tried it, and they told me, ‘You’re going to start seeing the results between two and three months,’” she tells me. “But I started seeing them in two weeks. I went to dinner with Victoria Beckham and she said, ‘You did something.’ She saw the difference. Just look at my neck!” Hayek gushes, waving her hand beneath her chin and across her décolletage.

In addition to her newfound fealty to Ultherapy, the star still honors her DIY beauty roots. Here, she chats with Bustle about the skin care rituals she learned from her grandmother, her go-to beauty treatments, and her thoughts on injectables.

What’s your earliest skin care memory?

My grandmother used to make creams, and she was obsessed with beauty experiments. I don’t know how old I was — maybe 12 or 13. She made a special scrub for me. It had sugar, lavender oil, all kinds of other things. She would give me a loving massage, and it was lovely — it was a bonding moment, and it taught me the importance of self-care.

How has your approach to beauty changed over the years?

It hasn’t changed that much. I’ve been very conservative about procedures — I have a philosophy that prioritizes longevity instead of doing everything possible to look the best that you can look today. I want my husband to see me at 70 and still see my face when he looks at me — that’s important to me.

Because I’m an actress and I’m a mother, it’s very important that my expressions are still there. It’s part of my identity. I’m 58, and I’ve always used my go-to treatments, which all have to do with energy, since it stimulates what I already have.

But I was feeling like I was getting stuck and hitting a plateau — especially on the neck. I started doing research, and that’s how I found Ultherapy.

What kind of energy treatments were you doing?

Ultrasound. But also everything like that. It was the only thing I had been doing. I’d have these fairies that would come to my house and do it to my face. Sometimes I would go to an office. But I love Ultherapy because you only have to do it once a year.

What are your thoughts on injectables?

I’ve never gotten Botox or filler. I have no plastic surgery. Look — [she shows me behind her ears that there’s no facelift scar] — I’ve done nothing. And that’s how this relationship [with Ultherapy] started. It’s so exciting when you see a little difference. It boosts my confidence and feels really great.

What’s the most nontraditional product or beauty hack that you’ve ever tried?

Oh, baby, we have all kinds of strange stuff in Mexico. [Laughs.] There’s this disgusting thing that comes from snails that I’ve tried. In Mexico, we’ve been using it forever. It’s kind of gross. I like it to smell good and feel good.

What’s the best beauty advice you’ve ever received?

My grandmother taught me not to wash my face in the morning. Your skin does all the work while you sleep — she told me it’s just a marketing stunt for you to buy products.

You’ve been open about your gray hair in the past, which I love. Talk to me about your relationship with gray hair.

In reality, I’m just lazy. This is why [Ultherapy] is so fantastic for me — it’s once a year. I don’t want to go to the salon every three weeks. I know maybe I would look better, but it’s not about looking better to me — it’s about longevity. And my hair isn’t nice when I dye it. It gets more frizzy. I have really good hair, and I have a lot, so I’d rather have nice white hair than not-white hair that’s ugly.

What other things do you do for longevity?

Meditation. Pretty much every day. I love it.

How long do you do it for?

Well, I invented my own style, so it’s not boring. I can do it till they come and drag me out of my room. I can go for three hours. I just access energy, and I’m like tripping for hours.

What do you do for exercise?

Well, my body moves sometimes during my meditations, so I guess that’s exercise. I also love to dance. My daughter also loves to dance, so we dance a lot in my house. I had to take a break from makeup to dance this morning because they were playing a good song.

What’s your favorite music to dance to?

Right now, Bad Bunny. He’s brilliant.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.