5 Beauty Secrets I Learned from Ashley Benson

"I’m obsessed with foamy things," Ashley Benson proudly proclaims, as her bright blue eyes widen as big as a kid in a candy store. She's the new spokesperson for Olay's new Foaming Whip Body Wash and gives me a crash course on the product. She reaches for her favorite scent in the collection, the shea butter one, and pours it into my hand.

"I take like a thousand showers a day because it’s disgusting outside," she adds. "I’m constantly sweating, so this foaming body wash makes me want to shower more because it feels like whipped cream, smells so good, and makes showering so much fun. I really don’t even have to moisturize that much afterwards because it's so moisturizing for the body."

These days, the former Pretty Little Liars actress has found herself adopting a less-is-more approach to her beauty routine. After seven seasons of playing the always-glam and girly Hannah Marin on the popular teen drama, Benson admits that her real-life beauty regimen is the complete opposite.

"On PLL, I was always all dolled up but I am not that girl. I try to be but I like to be as comfortable as possible and I feel my best when I’m more downplayed," she says. "We wore pounds of makeup on the show, like it was actually horrendous how much makeup we wore. You could scratch off the makeup and get it in your nails. By season seven, I went back to being super natural, which is when I felt the most comfortable and that was my favorite look."

And her role in the upcoming indie film, Her Smell, is a far cry from her days as Hannah, as this new film sees her and her fellow cast mates—Amber Heard, Elisabeth Moss, and Cara Delevingne—"stripped bare." Directed by Alex Ross Perry, the film takes place in the '90s and follows the life of Becky Something (Moss) and her all-female rock band.

You've likely seen fellow Her Smell cast mate Cara Delevingne pop up in a few photos on Benson's Instagram account in the past few weeks, including a blurry car photo, a candid pic on a rooftop. But it's the sultry close-up selfie that put Benson's necklace, with an "A" and "C" pendant, on full display that had the rumor mill started churning. Reports suggested that Benson's necklace was a subtle tribute to the pair's blossoming romance. But Benson admits the meaning behind the necklace isn't as juicy as everyone thinks.

"There's this company called Lola James that designs these 'squad goals' or friendship necklaces, so that’s really it," she says.

Rumors aside, Benson is excited about transitioning into her new role because "it’s more focused on acting rather than how you look. We all look like we haven’t slept in days and that was kind of the look for the characters." But she doesn't mind, in fact, she loves being able to play a character who's not "the typical blonde, pretty, popular girl. This time I'm very raw, no makeup—these are the types of roles I'm gravitating towards."

Ahead, Benson shares a few of her beauty secrets.

1. "Stay away from heat as much as you can," Benson, who admits to experiencing balding during season three of PLL, warns. "I bleached my hair so much during season three and it fell right off and you couldn't even tell! I got a call from Warner Bros. like, 'You need to do something with your hair,'" and I’m like well, duh, I’m bald! Bleaching my hair was my biggest regret."

2. Coconut oil is your best friend. "Coconut oil is very good for my skin. That’s as glamorous as my beauty routine gets, I don’t really do much. In New York, I’m just constantly sweating all the time, so I don’t wear a lot of makeup in the summer," she adds. "I just moisturize my face with coconut oil, my hair is always in a scrunchie and then I put on a very relaxed outfit and I'm good to go."

3. "I’ve been very into the jade rollers. I keep them in my freezer especially now that I’m shooting a movie out here in New York. Every day, I wake up and put this cold roller on my face—I’m still not sure if it did anything, I think it did. It makes me wake up and it’s so relaxing. And I think it de-puffed my eyes"

4. Simple is always better. "I don’t spend money on beauty routines, I like to save money. Besides coconut oil, I use the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream on my hands and lips, Anastasia Beverly Hills' Brow Gel because brows are important, Peter Thomas Roth's gold eye patches I love to get my coffee in them and watch everyone stare and that's really it."

5. A social media detox every now and then is necessary. "I’ve kind of taken a step back from social media. I don’t want to spend my life on Instagram. I think it was necessary when I was on the show and now that I'm getting into new projects, but I feel like as I’m getting older I don’t want people to see everything I’m doing all the time. I think it’s very important to keep your private life private. Just let the fans see my work and then I can have my own personal life."

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