Rooney Mara is a style icon, if ever there is one. She pretty much has a patent on the ethereal, icy, Gothic-ballerina-Audrey-Hepburn look. Every photo of Rooney I’ve ever seen has made me want to try 1) black cherry-like lipstick and 2) not smiling in photos, except that is a *very* hard combination to pull off for most of us, unless “scary and mean” is what you’re going for. Ugh.
But Rooney Mara isn’t just a fantastically gifted actress and beauty. Here at PD, we love the fact that she’s a long time ethical vegan and humanitarian. She is the president of Uweza Foundation that supports impoverished children in Kibera, Kenya, and is also an ambassador for Oxfam.
Can’t wait for the details on how Rooney keeps it so glamorous on one end but also, so real on the other? Read on!
- Gluten-Free Vegan Diet Keeps Her Skin Preternaturally Glow-y: Rooney Mara has embraced veganism for ethical reasons and gluten-free diet for health reasons. Thanks to her fruit- and veggie-rich diet, Mara forgoes a complicated beauty regimen, moon dust or holistic hoolabaloo for something decidedly minimalist: “I try to eat healthfully and hardly ever drink alcohol. When you eat the right things, you don’t need that many products. I’ve never felt better than I do now,” she told InStyle.
- Never pluck your eyebrows: Mara says her eyebrows are full and lush because she leaves them alone. For red carpet events, her long-time makeup artist Kate Lee keeps every strand in place with a clear eyebrow gel. “[Eyebrows] are the framework of the face and have the power to change someone’s appearance greatly,” Lee says. Strong brows also make your features look vivid without eyeliner or mascara. Side note: I used to pluck my eyebrows more to flatten my arches a bit, because I liked the straight look on other people (not unlike Rooney’s). But often, the natural shape you have will be the most flattering one for your face–work with what you have, instead of recreating someone else’s shape!
- Pair bold, red or wine matte lips to a clean, ethereal skin: Rooney’s favorite is Tarte Lipsurgence chubby sticks, which are matte enough for her Goth-chic look. Resist the urge to contour with bronzer, highlighter, and blush which will make the whole look less otherworldly. If you feel too washed out, just even out your skin tone with light-to-medium coverage foundation and swipe a beige-apricot colored blush diagonally across your cheekbones (rather than on the round apples of the cheeks).
- Say no to leather: Rooney Mara is known for wearing fierce haute couture on the red carpet, but in her private life she’s partial to vintage tees, comfortable plaid shirts and workout clothes. After taking some years to phase out her old stuff, she no longer wears leather clothes and accessories.
- Pay attention to eco-friendly textiles and materials: Rooney also made a splash at this year’s Vanity Fair Oscar Party wearing a custom H&M Conscious Collection dress made of recycled polyester georgette. That avant-garde ruffle thing going on against sleek ebony side part and deep burgundy mouth is pure vampy perfection!
- Conscientious is beautiful: Don’t expect this leading lady to be photographed carrying a venti cup of Starbucks like every Hollywood starlet. Rooney Mara is known to carry around a Mason jar to cafes in order to not contribute to our massive paper cup problem: 58 billion disposable cups are thrown away every year.
- For a long, lean body, be multi-disciplinary and time your post-workout fueling: Rooney works out with Andie Hecker, a former dancer with the NYCB and the founder of Ballet Bodies. For a lean, ballerina-esque physique such as Rooney’s, Hecker recommends waiting at least 1 hour after a workout to eat so that “tightening and toning can happen without gaining mass.” (Conversely, if you want to bulk up, you’d eat within 45 minutes of a workout). Woah! Good to know. Rooney is also a fan of Katonah yoga in NYC with Danielle Rosati and The Class by Taryn Toomey. She also stays fit with boxing and karate. It’s all about mixing things up so that your body continues to be challenged.
Bonus tip! “What I try to live by now is: It doesn’t matter what other people think. I try to live for myself,” Rooney tells Vogue. Nowadays, so much emphasis is placed on likability of women. Everyone from Hillary Clinton (“she just wasn’t likable enough”) to celebrities who are arbitrarily judged likable or “annoying” based on superficial factors, to Instagram influencers whose careers are based purely on likability, the message out there seems “You can’t do *anything* in this world if you’re not somehow likable and constantly in people’s radars/social media feeds.”
But Rooney–who is conspicuously absent from Twitter, Instagram etc–shows us all that you don’t need to be a golden girl to be successful, compassionate, and glamorous. Now that’s a vegan girl after our own hearts!
Are you also a fan of Rooney Mara’s style?
Related: The Exact Details Of Meghan Markle’s Beauty Routine, Revealed–And It’s So Attainable
The Crazy Way Miranda Kerr Stays Hydrated For Flawless Skin
Bow Down To Emma Watson’s Sustainable Couture Game On The Red Carpet
Photo: Kate Lee via Instagram; Oxfam; Tarte
