Jennifer Aniston Talks "Me Time"
Jennifer Aniston doesn’t like to spend too much time on her makeup. She also prefers to keep things as simple as possible. “I love the idea of following trends, but any time I’ve ever tried something in particular, it ends up looking ridiculous,” she tells Cosmopolitan.com. “I admire women who experiment with makeup. I just prefer to stick to the basics.” For Jennifer, a longtime Aveeno Global Brand Ambassador, these basics include the Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion (“I send it to everyone I know – it’s absolutely fabulous”), concealer, and a lip balm or nude lipstick. “Back in the day, people would say I looked better without makeup,” she says. “It took me a while to feel comfortable enough to remove that armor, but I eventually realized they were right.”
These days, Jennifer is also focused on carving out “me time.” Speaking on behalf of Aveeno’s new #MomentForMe campaign, which encourages women to take time for themselves to reset and recharge, she says “me time” can look like anything, as long as it “allows you to shut out all the noise of the world that exists today.” Here, Jennifer discusses the perils of social media, “me time” on Friends, and her ideal Hollywood.
What does your “me time” look like?
I’ve always loved spending time alone. But it can look like anything. It can be a 20-minute meditation, a great yoga class, a run, a hike. It seems to be getting more and more crowded, the space of the days, now that we have the oh-so-lovely internet to be a never-ending black hole. I just think, at any time more than now, it’s so important to get that in so you can mentally and emotionally, spiritually, [get] prepped and ready. This is a crazy time we’re in right now.
It’s so hard. I’m guilty of watching TV with my phone all the time.
It feels like in the last 15, 20 years, the amount of channels there are, Apple TV, the computers, the internet, the iPhones – what are we doing? We’re creating it. It’s like a death wish. We’re just stressing our bodies out so much. I think they’re great for some people, for their work, for promotion, for advertising and all that, then there’s just a whole other side of it that seems kind of damaging and time consuming. And you know, a lot of those apps and things are [designed] to hijack your brain. I try to, without completely losing touch with what’s going on, cherish the time when we didn’t have all of that noise, that added, extra noise.
How has your “me time” routine changed over the years? Was there room for something like that when you were on Friends?
“Me time” was easily attainable on Friends. That was the greatest job. We’d go to work, we’d have fun, we’d laugh, we’d make something great for people to watch. Then I’d come home. Life was simpler then. Honestly, it was just simpler. There were not paparazzi chasing you everywhere. I mean, they were there, but not like they are now. You could, after work, go grab a little coffee with your friend or meet girlfriends or come home and sit on the deck and watch the sunset and have a glass of wine, whatever. It just felt easier.
It sounds like a completely different time and world.
We had way more human connection and contact and interaction than what happens today. You picked up the phone. You actually had conversation. It’s weird. I’m very nostalgic for it. It’s also interesting that Friends has had this kind of comeback being on Netflix and that people are loving it when they’re watching something that’s just so different than what they have today, which is just people on phones.
You recently spoke about shame culture and how things haven’t really changed since your op-ed from last summer. What will it take to really make a dent? What does your ideal Hollywood look like?
It’s an unrealistic ideal. I’d say remove the tabloids and social media. If there’s no sewer to dump the crap in, then there’s no sewage to have to read. We have this sensational appetite for negativity. I don’t understand it, I really don’t understand where it comes from. All we can do is take care of ourselves. There’s only so much you can do. When you were bullied in school, there was always bullying, kids being mean to each other. But now, we’re doing it as adults? Still? As grown-ups? There are people behind their computers in the middle of the country or God knows where, just writing, throwing out, spewing negative things about people, or creating narratives about someone’s marriage and life and family status. I don’t know what the need is, the hunger, the appetite. The appetite has to change. It’s like when people go on a sugar cleanse. We need to go on a tabloid cleanse and see if people can shut that down or have a day where we don’t have social media, for one day, to see how people are.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
For a chance to win the ultimate “me time” wellness retreat from Aveeno, enter the #MomentForMe contest, which runs through Aug. 28. Details here.
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