Gossip Girl’s Whitney Peak on Air-Dried Curls and Flawless Brows

“My hair has experienced a lot,” explains actress Whitney Peak, who stars in the new Gossip Girl as Zoya Lott. As she lets her damp hair cascade out of a patterned silk scarf, she says. When I was in school, I regularly straightened my hair because I was convinced that the faster I got it straight, the easier my hair was going to be to manage. And thus, throughout my entire middle school to high school career, I straightened my hair every single day, so that had an impact on the damage I’m currently recovering from. “Now,” she goes on to say with a smile, “I do, in fact, have a curl pattern—fantastic news!” Thanks, in no little part, to an air-dried technique that utilizes serums, creams, and gels that provide distinct curl patterns.

Finally, Peak gets the Youth to the People cleanser, which was just introduced to her morning routine. She begins with Enzyme Exfoliant (aka “the best face mask ever”), a drop of hyaluronic acid and niacinamide from The Ordinary, and finishes off with Sunday Riley’s Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil.

Coming to Canada, she was met as a person of color; coming back to Uganda, she was perceived as white, thus it was strange to witness the difference in the two vastly different worlds she was a part of. I’m the only person in my family that is mixed, therefore I have no one to learn from. Despite some bumps along the way, Peak has worked out what works for her: Anastasia Beverly Hills pomade, which she uses to style her brows and lids, as well as Glossier’s sheer lipstick in Cake. With that done, she applies a setting essence spray to complete the look. Good night, Gossip Girl’s Whitney Peak