Model Chanel Iman was discovered at 12 years old and walked her first New York Fashion Week runway that same year. She quickly became one of the top supermodels featured in magazines, in campaigns, and on runways. By the time she was 19, she was a Victoria’s Secret angel and has since been in shows by the likes of Hermés, Burberry, and John Galliano. When I ask her about the wildest modeling memory of her career thus far, she ponders a bit before saying, “I’ve had some wild things that I cannot even share with the world.” However, there are vivid career-marking moments she remembers, like being able to work with Beyoncé. She’s been in the public eye for almost her entire life, but she’s stayed grounded through it all. “My mom raised me not to live in fear,” she said.
Now, at 34 years old, when she’s not modeling, she’s home with her three daughters and husband, Davon Godchaux, a defensive tackle for the New England Patriots, and building her new lifestyle brand, CHASA. Its products include cozy blankets, robes (the robes feel like you’re bundled in a soft cloud), and luxury candles poured in a ceramic CHASA vessel. “Too blessed to be stressed,” one of her mugs reads.) As for her own home, it’s filled with warm floral candles and her snug blankets, her idea of luxury. As a model with access to every luxury product, Iman chooses to keep it as simple as possible — like really simple. Her skin-care routine today still looks like it did when she was a teenager just starting out modeling.
Here, how Chanel Iman gets her skin so good:
Step 1: Removing her makeup with Neutrogena wipes
When wearing makeup, Iman always uses makeup remover wipes before cleansing her skin. Neutrogena wipes were introduced to her early in her career and she’s never strayed away from them. “Neutrogena wipes is something I’ve been using ever since I was in fashion shows and on set or behind the scenes,” she says. They’re easy to use and remove even the most stubborn makeup from her face.
Step 2: Cleansing with a Dove soap bar
After using her wipes, she cleanses. But she’s not turning to exfoliating cleansers or cleansing gels; she’s always using her tried-and-true Dove soap bar. It’s been her go-to since she was a teenager, and it works for her. She uses the Dove exfoliating bar because it removes excess dirt and debris from her skin. “It makes my skin feel clean, but also nice and smooth.” The bar is made with mini exfoliating beads to renew the skin’s barrier and remove dead skin without stripping it.
Step 3: Moisturizing with Pond’s
If you thought Iman used an array of serums on her glowy skin, think again. She doesn’t believe in super-expensive moisturizers. Pond’s ultrarich drugstore cream is suitable for sensitive skin and moisturizes it with its velvety smooth texture. “There are no serums; I’m just very simple with how I care for my skin,” she says. She applies her moisturizer directly after cleansing her face. Her mom brought her her first jar of Ponds when she was 13 years old, and it has been in the family since. “Ponds is just what I’ve always used. You can get it at the pharmacy and it’s always worked on my skin. It’s inexpensive and it applies so smoothly, it does the job for me. Don’t sleep on it.”
Step 4: Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen
One step she never skips is her sunscreen. She uses La Roche-Posay’s Daily Invisible Sunscreen. She’s in the sun often, usually in Florida, and the SPF 50 keeps her skin protected and doesn’t leave a white cast. The hydrating sunscreen with hyaluronic acid is beloved and highly recommended by dermatologists. It leaves her skin with a dewy finish.
Step 5: Moisturize her lips with Rosebud lip balm
Lastly, a must-have for her is lip balm. Her go-to is Rosebud Salve, a cult classic among makeup artists and models to soothe lips. “I’ve been using this since I bought my first makeup kit, and I love the way that it just feels on my lips, and I feel like it really moisturizes my lips for a very long period of time.”
On her wellness rules:
Two things Iman will always do is find time to go to the spa and the gym. The gym “is my time away from my life at home, and just feeling good about my body and feeling good about myself — working out really helps me,” she says. And when it comes to the spa, her go-to is 60-minute Swedish massages because of how relaxing they are; she loves a good foot rub, “but I don’t have to go to the spa for that one,” she says, blushing. She has her husband, whom she often refers to on social media as “Big Daddy,” for that.
On sleep rituals:
She isn’t the model who’s out all night partying and not getting her sleep, so her skin is good. “I need my sleep. I don’t know how people can stay out all night, because I am not one of those people. I need at least eight hours of sleep,” she says. Sleep is one of the most important things for her. When she’s winding down, she usually has chamomile tea with lots of honey and lemon or English breakfast tea to end her day, the complete opposite of the coffee she has to kick-start her in the morning.
On her pregnancy beauty hack:
In the past six years, Iman has gone through three pregnancies. She dealt with dry and “really itchy” skin when she was pregnant, specifically on her belly. Her favorite beauty hack was a belly mask from HATCH Mama. The soothing aloe vera mask hydrates the stretching skin on the belly while minimizing scars and stretch marks. “It really helped make me feel a bit more comfortable throughout my pregnancy,” she says. It was also her way to just sit on the couch and do nothing because she was letting the belly mask sit on her for ten to 15 minutes — a great excuse for a self-care moment.
On beauty lessons she’s teaching her daughter:
Being a mother of three young girls, the model is focused on teaching her daughters beauty lessons at an early age. While they may watch their supermodel mommy get glam all the time, she’s teaching them internal beauty lessons. “In my house, it’s all about who you are as a person, who we are on the inside and not the outside,” she says.
On aging:
“Honestly, I love my 30s, and I feel like I know myself a lot more than I did in my 20s. I think aging is a good thing. You mature and you grow, and I think in life that’s what you’re supposed to do. I definitely find myself not caring as much as I did in my 20s, and I love it. It’s like you just let a lot of stuff go.”