Josie Totah’s Glow Routine: Rare Beauty, Chanel and a Lighter Touch

Photos courtesy of Josie Totah.

Josie Totah’s beauty routine has two distinct moods: a short list of skincare staples, followed by a layered, glow-forward makeup look. The actor, who plays Tina Blake in Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie, says she sticks to face wash, moisturizer and SPF. Makeup is where the layers arrive: Chanel glow serum, Charlotte Tilbury complexion products, two bronzers and a luminous setting spray.

There’s no elaborate treatment schedule behind the look. Totah, 25 at the time of the conversation, says she has never had Botox or filler. She’s curious about treatments she’s heard about, including salmon sperm, but hasn’t tried them. Her approach is more revealing as a set of preferences than a prescription: use a few skincare basics, build the glow with makeup and think carefully about what earns a place in the routine.

A simple skincare base

Totah says she didn’t grow up with a skincare routine, and credits working on The Buccaneers with helping her get more consistent. The other women on the show care about skincare, she says, and their habits encouraged her to get organized. Her own daily lineup remains concise: Youth to the People face wash and moisturizer, plus SPF.

Her mother, Totah explains, believes their Middle Eastern heritage means they don’t need sunscreen because their ancestors were accustomed to sun exposure. Totah says she hasn’t taken that chance. She now wears SPF every day, a change she describes as a meaningful step for someone who previously didn’t use skincare.

She also mixes Chanel glow serum into her SPF. She doesn’t specify the formula or how much she uses, but the combination fits the rest of her look: a skincare base that stays simple, with radiance layered on top. Totah says she hasn’t had a treatment for acne and isn’t sure what accounts for her skin. She mentions a brown spot on her head that her friend Aubrey Ibrag, who plays her sister, has described as melasma. Ibrag has suggested lasers; Totah is open to the idea but says she hasn’t tried any.

That distinction matters: a friend’s suggestion is not the same as a treatment Totah has chosen or a result she can speak to. For now, the products she names are straightforward. The linked Youth to the People moisturizer and face wash are her staples, alongside SPF and the Chanel glow serum.

Glow, built in layers

Totah’s makeup starts with a lip liner she’s prepared to repurchase: Rare Beauty in what she thinks is the shade Gifted. She likes that it lasts all day. That loyalty stands out because she says she rarely replaces products after running out. Sometimes, she jokes, she’ll go weeks without moisturizer rather than order more.

Her reluctance to own things is less a strict stance against spending than a response to the clutter and effort of acquiring them. Totah says she’ll gladly pay for a nice dinner, but having another object can make her anxious. She’s often moving between places and worries that extra belongings will get lost. Her friends, she says, are more enthusiastic shoppers, and she borrows their things.

When she does apply makeup, the complexion is deliberately luminous. She uses Charlotte Tilbury Glow [Foundation Stick] as foundation, then adds Charlotte Tilbury contour with glow, which she describes as a contour stick. She also uses Charlotte Tilbury under-eye primer beneath Giorgio Armani concealer, a pairing she reaches for because she has dark circles.

For the eyes, she curls her lashes, applies drugstore Maybelline mascara and uses M.A.C. eyeshadow as a little liner. She specifies that she doesn’t draw a wing. A small amount of Hourglass bronzer comes next, followed by Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Cream by Chanel.

The finishing step is a Dior setting spray introduced to her by Ibrag. Totah says she uses the version in the clear bottle; she likes that it holds the makeup in place while adding even more glow. Taken together, the routine is less about a single hero product than a repeated finish: complexion products with radiance, cream bronzer and setting spray that keeps the sheen visible.

She calls it “doubling the glow,” and the phrase captures the look better than a long list of techniques would. The practical idea is simple: she uses a glow-focused base, adds dimension with bronzer and chooses a setting spray that keeps the finish luminous. Her exact products are specific; the overall effect comes from layering.

Curious about treatments, not committed

Facials, lymphatic drainage, lasers and peptides aren’t part of a treatment routine Totah describes. She calls herself boring on that front. She says she’s heard that salmon sperm is something she might try in five years because she’s heard it’s “really good for you,” but she hasn’t had Botox or filler.

That interest is hypothetical, not a report of a facial she’s already had. Totah says she may consider cosmetic surgery when she’s 50, joking that she’d want a procedure to pull her head back. Her mother urges her not to pursue a look that makes her resemble everyone else. Totah’s playful answer is that she’d want a custom version.

The exchange turns more serious when the conversation moves to what Totah calls “Instagram Face.” She agrees that many people seem to be adopting a similar look and says women should be treated with more kindness. On the period drama, she and her castmates sometimes ask for makeup to be pared back so their faces don’t look overly sculpted or out of place for the story’s setting. Their concern is about believability as well as appearance: makeup that feels too modern can distract from the period drama.

Totah’s own relationship with her features is still a work in progress. She says she has had to learn to appreciate the features she once questioned, including her nose and dark circles, which she connects to her Middle Eastern heritage. Even though she uses several products under her eyes, she can see a photograph and think, “Work, I love that.” Her mother taught her that she had to love herself, but Totah says she still has to remind herself to do it.

She doesn’t claim to have settled every question about how she may feel later in life. What she does say is that she doesn’t want to erase her culture: “That’s where I came from, and that’s who I am.” It sits alongside her interest in possible future procedures, leaving room for uncertainty rather than a fixed position.

Growing up in public

Totah has worked since childhood, though she says she never felt like a major child star. She went to regular school and describes her childhood as not especially unusual, but being recognized for even a small role was strange. Her early Disney work came before Instagram, when she says people would approach her every day. She sees the experience of fame as different now, with streaming changing how audiences encounter performers.

That visibility shaped her memories of high school. Totah says teenagers can be cruel and that she was both treated badly and mean to others. She attended Catholic high school while also appearing on television, and believes her role gave her social standing that helped protect her from bullying. She describes herself at the time as a skinny, awkward kid and thinks that, without the recognition from her work, she could have been an easier target.

Social media arrived in her childhood through a birthday party with Frankie Jonas and Noah Cyrus. Totah recalls her sister asking whether they had joined Instagram because everyone was getting it. She says it seemed useful when she was young, but later became troubling. Now she admits she spends time on the platforms and can get pulled into posting. She jokes that TikTok rabbit holes about subjects like Wall Street in 1989 can feel educational, even as she recognizes her relationship with social media isn’t healthy.

From Tina Blake to a personal short film

Totah calls joining Carrie an honor, and says working with Flanagan exceeded what she imagined. The role also draws on her memories of adolescence: Tina is a vicious, approval-seeking sidekick in Carrie White’s orbit, and Totah understands the pressure to navigate high school before knowing who you are.

Her interest in horror extends beyond the series. She names Let the Right One In as a favorite, praising it as beautiful and frightening, and also cites Titane and Raw. For sleepovers, she says she puts on the French film Revenge, which she notes was made by the same director as The Substance. At home, Misery is a Christmas movie for her family; she and her family enjoy James Caan and Kathy Bates. As a child, she also loved Stand by Me and had a crush on River Phoenix.

Beyond acting, Totah has written for years and has written and directed a short film with her best friend in the cast. She describes it as her most personal work and says she wants to introduce it when she’s ready, which she hopes won’t be too far in the future. The project is a glimpse of a more private side of someone whose makeup routine may be easy to list, but whose next creative move remains her own to reveal.

For now, her beauty choices are clearest in the contrast: a few skincare basics, a well-loved lip liner and a full, gleaming makeup finish. She keeps the routine personal, and the products she’s willing to rebuy are the ones that make the cut.