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 the actress and poker shark Jennifer Tilly — who joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills this season — about the perfumed oil and Montblanc pens that she can’t live without.
Duxiana is where I get all my pillows from. Twenty years ago, when I discovered the brand, I was not very well-off. But I had a friend that I played poker with, and he said that the fanciest bed in the world is a Duxiana bed. We were playing poker at my kitchen table for like 25 and 50 cents, and he says these beds cost ten grand! So, when I “made it,” think of the L’Oréal ad — I was like, You know what? I’m worth it. I deserve the best. And the thing is, I travel all the time now, and no matter where you go — no matter how nice and fancy the hotels are — I’d say seven out of ten times, they don’t have real feather pillows. Real feathers seem to create the perfect height. So I bring my luxurious Duxiana travel pillow, and I use it on the plane and at the hotel. Sometimes, after a plane ride, the pillowcase really looks as if Tammy Faye Bakker slept on it. I have a few pillowcases in different colors to change it out.
After M.A.C discontinued the wipes I’d been using, I landed on these. I tried others and I like Neutrogena’s especially because they’re both so moisturizing and effective. They don’t have any alcohol in them, and I don’t know how they do it, but they get everything off — even the eyelash glue. I mean, I just filmed this season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and it’s terrible what these makeup artists do to my face on a regular basis!
In the ’80s, you know, I wore the scents Coco by Chanel and Opium by YSL, and in the ’90s I wore Gucci Guilty, and now I basically wear aromatherapy by my friend Haley Alexander van Oosten — who is L’Oeil du Vert’s founder. She is a really beautiful person and has made scents for The Row, and I love her perfume oils because they’re not really perfumes. They’re perfumed oils and they’re all natural, and I feel protected when I wear them. They’re potions! In fact, around the time I first met my boyfriend Phil, someone told me that she made love potions. I was thinking, Love potions?! Well, hey, I wanted to keep this guy, so I asked her to make a love potion for me, and I put it in a little Tiffany & Co. vial from the 1920s. I’d wear it, and he’d be like, “You smell really good.” Twenty years later, Phil and I are still going strong and very much in love, and part of me believes Haley’s love potion worked! Sometimes, she has special parties. Once, we all walked down to the ocean with flowers and it was a solstice or a full moon or there were shooting stars — it was some sort of witchy holiday, okay? — and we cleansed the flowers in the ocean and watched them float away at sunset. It was magical. I think that’s also the essence that goes into her oils.
How I discovered them is that I was training to do Chucky, and I had to lose a lot of weight really fast because I like to enjoy my life between shows. My trainer would take me on these two-hour walks in my neighborhood: I live in a neighborhood that doesn’t have a lot of cars, but it does have a lot of hills. We’d go up and down the hills and we were always walking on concrete, and afterward, my back would be killing me. I Googled hiking shoes. Like, What’s the hiking shoe, internet? I find these Hokas. I buy them, and they’re so springy — my back almost didn’t bother me at all. It’s as if I’ve been walking on grass instead of pavement. I have several pairs — two in clownish colors and two in white. But I like the clownish colors and never wear the white. The models I have are made for trails and hiking — they’re the Challenger ATR 7 and the Speedgoat 5.
In my lifetime, I’ve probably bought 17 of these? Always ballpoints, never fountains. I bought my first one in the airport en route to shoot a movie in Romania. It was a very classic model and I only had it for like six hours. I was writing with it on the plane and truly felt so fancy. But when we landed, the pen was nowhere to be found. I looked for it. The attendant looked for it. My seatmate had been this sleazy-looking guy, and I’m pretty sure that when I fell asleep, he stole my pen. I bought another on the way back even though it was a lot of money to me at the time. I’d just decided, I’m a Montblanc pen person now. Montblancs are substantial in your hand and they really roll. It’s like they want to write. They encourage me to write — I’ve tended to journal. I always have one of the pens in a case in my purse and one on my nightstand. Provided you replace the cartridge, Montblancs always work. I love to shop the special models at duty-free. One of my favorites is a limited-run JFK pen — it’s red, white, and blue. But I have multiple from their Marilyn Monroe collection.
I remember in the ’80s, Shiseido made a lipstick, before matte was in style, that was matte on one side and glossy on the other. My makeup artist would put it on me without the glossy, and it was my thing, and then they discontinued it. I’d go to Koreatown to get the old stock that was left. I am all about matte. I tried the Nars a couple of years ago, and it was a revelation: It goes on so easy, you don’t need to do a lipliner, and it never gets feathery or goes goopy — and, after a couple of minutes, once the color dries, it does not move. If you want a red lip and you want it not to move all night long, you can wear this and go to dinner, then go to a bar, and it will not come off until you forcibly take it off (with the Neutrogena wipes). In season three of Chucky, my character Tiffany is wearing the shade “Don’t Stop,” a red color — before that, Tiffany wore “Ruby Woo” by M.A.C — and “Don’t Stop” is what I wear in real life if I’m going to an event. I also like wearing the browny shade called “Somebody to Love.” When you’re reapplying, just always check your teeth.
Poker is the greatest game in the world — it’s fabulous. I always try to teach people how to play poker on sets. I used to play with the teamsters all the time between scenes. Whenever you go, a poker game might spring up, and I’m a huge fan of travel poker sets. The Gucci set was a gift, and people are sure impressed when I pull out my little Gucci poker set. I use it with Hermès cards. If I’m flying private with a lot of poker players, I bring in my carry-on. If I’m traveling alone, I check it. I have a big poker memorabilia collection and a lot of poker sets — one set from the late 1800s belonged to a traveling poker player, and it includes a little pearl-handled pistol. I guess you’d call it a derringer. I, of course, just bring the Gucci set.
I have tried and realized that I don’t like canelés from other places. I actually only like these. They’re very caramelized on the outside — even crunchy — and not too cakey or bready while also being soft in the center. They’re neither too big nor too heavy. They’re perfect, and I’m addicted to them, so I can’t even keep them around. A friend always sends me a dozen on my birthday. It’s a challenge to give people presents in L.A., so here is a good idea. And it doesn’t matter how much someone says they’re on a diet. You could definitely send these.
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