Auto-Refill: Our favorite beauty pros share the products they love — the ones so good they’ll make you hit that little “auto-refill” box at checkout.
Photo: Richie Lubaton
Heated Rivalry is a feast for the eyes. The sexy Crave original series, an adaptation of a Rachel Reid novel, has it all: yearning, steamy sex scenes, and two breakout stars, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who have as much chemistry off-screen as they do on. While I watched, I couldn’t take my gaze off of Williams’s skin. Sure, he’s only 24, but his complexion is smooth and poreless in a way that can only be achieved through phenomenal genetics or lots of focused effort. Turns out, it’s probably a mix of both — his Korean mother and her three sisters drilled skin-care habits into him from a very young age. “My interest in beauty was always bound to be there, being half Korean,” he told me over Zoom from Los Angeles. “My one auntie is the plug. She gets skin-care products for me every birthday and every Christmas.”
Williams says that Storrie, on the other hand, doesn’t even like to wear sunscreen, which horrified the Canadian actor. “I was like, You look like a crazy person, and your skin will hate you,” he says. Thankfully, it seems Williams’s habits are rubbing off on his co-star. “I’m staying at Connor’s right now and I just found sunscreen in his bathroom,” he says. “He’s been liking my skin care, and I think he got a little competitive, so he stepped it up.”
If you want to know more about the routine that’s making Storrie change his ways, it’s your lucky day. I implored Williams to share his beauty secrets, and he spelled it all out below.
I usually fast — I don’t eat until 1 p.m. For skin care, I start with the Celimax jojoba-oil cleanser before my shower, especially when I have blackheads. It cleans out my blackheads better than anything. On a day like today, after I had a glass of wine and some bread last night, I’ll use the Beauty by Earth gua sha with the oil cleanser to take the puffiness down. Sometimes I also use the Foreo Bear for that. My mom makes fun of me because she uses it too, and she says it doesn’t hurt. For me, it pinches my skin, and it’s pretty annoying. But it tightens my face and makes me look well rested, even if I’m not. Also, after I use the jojoba cleanser, if I still need help with my blackheads, I use my Clarisonic. I got it as a gift from my auntie when I was 13 or 14.
I shower twice a day, almost every day. I use the Skin1004 Poremizing deep-cleansing foam to double cleanse. I only use cleansers in the morning, twice a week. The other five days, I wash my face with water and these silicone face scrubbers you put on your fingers, because I heard some Koreans say that you’re not meant to put cleanser on your face in the morning. I only shampoo once or twice every week. I mainly use conditioner. Both are from Le Labo. For bodywash, I also like Le Labo and Every Man Jack.
After I get out of the shower, I use the Numbuzin No. 3 toner. If I still have blackheads, I use the CosRx BHA, which shrinks my pores. On certain days, I use the Avène vitamin-C serum. Sometimes I’ll put on the Skin1004 Poremizing gel cream. I also like using the Skin1004 Madagascar Centella ampoule as my moisturizer because it’s super-light and doesn’t feel heavy. I don’t really like when my skin looks like I’m glowing, like I’ve put on 45 serums. I like things that make your face look as if you just woke up and threw some water on your face, and that’s the look it gives me. And I feel like this really helps with that, so I won’t even put a true moisturizer on top. If I’m going to use a moisturizer, I like the simple lotion from CeraVe.
For sunscreen, I love the Skin1004 SPF 50. If I have a pimple, I’ll use the CosRx pimple patches during the day. Sometimes I use a Murad spot treatment instead if I’m going to be around the house, because I feel like it’s better at powering down the pimple.
My other favorite oil cleanser is the Shu Uemura Sakura cleansing oil. I have a giant one that I restock often, because I use it every night. Sometimes I use the Skin1004 Poremizing stick clay mask. I like it because you push it out like a lip balm and push it around your face. After I wash it off, I notice it washes everything out of your pores — that’s if I really need to do a deep clean of the house. Sometimes I get little acne scars if I pop a pimple, and I’ll use the VT Cosmetics Reedle Shot 100 and leave it on overnight. It’s a little aggressive, but it’s so good for evening out my fine lines and acne scars.
I use the Numbuzin toner, and I also apply a CeraVe retinol serum three to four times a week. The goal is to work up to a prescription retinol. The other days, I’ll use The Ordinary’s salicylic acid serum, which makes my skin glow. Another serum I like is Medik8’s Liquid Peptides. I’ve never had a skin-care product like that — if I use it at night, the next morning my skin is so even and moisturized. But when I really need to moisturize, I use the Beauty of Joseon Glow Deep serum with rice and alpha-arbutin. It makes me look too dewy, though, so I only use it at night.
If my skin is tired from accidentally smoking a cigarette or drinking, I like the JMsolution Placen Horse mask. I’ll use that at night, or if I have somewhere to go in the evening, I’ll use it in the morning. Once I open one, I’ll make sure to reseal the essence and use it for around a week after as my moisturizer. I also have the Klairs Midnight Blue Calming cream, which I pull out when my skin’s a little red. But again, I usually don’t use an actual moisturizer. And if I have a cystic pimple, I’ll apply a pimple patch with those tiny needles from VT Cosmetics.
Once a week, I use a derma stamp micro-needling tool on my hairline in the evening because I’m terrified of losing my hair — I have a fear that I’ll look like Ryan Gosling’s Blue Valentine character when he ages. After seeing that, I was like, Oh my God, I need my hair. I can’t do bald. I’m already using Rogaine and castor oil just for prevention. I also use the iRestore red-light helmet every second day.
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I’m pretty lip-obsessive. I hate when they peel. My least favorite sensation is when I have some crusty-ass, peel-y lips. So I use a brown sugary lip scrub from Lush. If my lips are getting dry on me, I’ll use it twice a day for two days in a row, but usually, I only use it once a week. I also use Aquaphor on my lips. That really bodies the Laneige lip mask. If I don’t feel like I need something intense, I’ll use Burt’s Bees lip balm.
When I’m breaking out, I eat a fuck ton of kale. I’ll eat arugula salads, and I also keep spinach in the freezer. I’ll drink a very green smoothie with a lot of those dense, fiber-y greens two days in a row, and my skin just glows up. I’ll add fruit, a protein powder, a collagen protein powder, and some PBfit. That fixes my skin better than anything else. It’s my quickest way to get an even complexion.
Depending on how busy I am, I work out three to five times a week. If I don’t have much to do between jobs, I’ll try to get to the gym five times. I’ve tried a lot of different workout splits, like upper, lower, legs, but the one I like the most is full body, because even if I get in the gym twice a week, I’ve hit everything. I never work out for more than an hour. I also box sometimes, and that’ll be my cardio. In the gym, it’s lifting heavy. I really want to grow. I want to put on ten pounds of muscle, especially if we get green-lit for season two. I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos for tutorials and tips. I like Jeff Nippard a lot; he is a Canadian bodybuilder. I’ve also been loving my resistance bands, which I bring no matter where I go, even if I’m on vacation. I’m trying to grow that Connor Storrie butt, so I’m doing banded walks. I’ve been making them heavier and heavier to try to grow this shelf.
I take a double scoop of creatine monohydrate every morning. It helps me wake up and it’s really good for you. I take potassium to counteract any excess salt and de-puff — I do be peeing a lot, but I find it’s the quickest way. EPA, which is a type of omega-3, is a big one for hydrating my skin. I also take vitamin B12, because I feel like it makes your skin a little glowier — Connor does that a lot, too. And I take AG1.
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I love Tom Ford’s Eau d’Ombré Leather. I like Creed’s Aventus. I tried it once, but it broke my bank account at the time. But if I get another paycheck, I’ll go back. I like to mix colognes — I feel like that kid who goes to the soda fountain and makes their own drink. I also like Black Orchid by Tom Ford. Armani makes the best men’s scents, too, but I have to special order the ones I like because they don’t have them at Sephora. I do like the unisex Margiela scents — I wear By the Fireplace in the fall and Jazz Club if I want something a little more sexy. By the Fireplace is something that pleases my nose when I smell myself, and it feels very calming.
Fillers scare me. I haven’t seen them work well on men yet. By 30, I would want to try Botox. I don’t mind my smile lines by my eyes, but I think my forehead moves a lot, and I get some lines there. But I would do the smallest amount, and then a little for maintenance. I’m not even opposed to a face-lift, maybe by 60. By then, they’re going to be so good.
When Connor and I get stressed, our faces puff up. If I do some good Huberman breathwork, it calms my nerves and my skin and my face will de-puff, and it’s very nice. Sometimes I take ashwagandha in the morning if I’m feeling stressed and my cortisol is really high. It lowers the nerves. I also have a mushroom cordyceps complex that’s stress relieving.
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