Why Camila Mendes Wears Deodorant to Bed

This past year hasn't been like any other — and the same goes for season five of Riverdale. The current season of the hit show sees the characters in the real world, seven years after high school graduation. Post-grad life calls for a completely makeover, and for Camila Mendes's character Veronica Lodge, the new look is all about being a boss.

"I see her like this '90s business woman in a power suit," the actress tells InStyle. "I thought it'd be nice to have her hair straight and smooth, slicked back, or in clipped back with a little side part, instead of curls and bouncy."

Along with hair and wardrobe, Mendes also worked with the show's beauty department to elevate her character's eye makeup. "We got rid of the cat eye that Veronica always had and kept it simple on the eyes, but a little smoky. And then always a matte neutral matte brown lip color," she adds.

Off-screen, Mendes is elevating her own self-care routine, too, all while in her Riverdale quarantine bubble — from journaling each morning to applying deodorant before bed (more on that later). InStyle recently jumped on the phone with the Secret Deodorant ambassador for a 10-minute beauty chat.

Secret helps women feel strong and empowered throughout all of their activities. What has helped you stay positive during this past year when we have been dealing with regular life stress on top of a global pandemic?

Having a consistent morning routine, which is just like so simple, but it gets me excited and makes me happy. I like to make my latte in the morning, do my little five minute journal, and then I go do my workout with my trainer. I try to do it as much as possible when I have the morning off and it does wonders for my mental health. At night, I've been really into taking baths whenever I'm feeling stressed. I put phone away, face down, walk away from it, and just run a hot bath and decompress.

People have taken up hobbies like knitting or baking during the pandemic. What new skills have you learned?

I have been taking it upon myself to learn how to cook because I come from a family of great chefs. My grandma is a caterer and my mom also went to culinary school. So I started doing Goodfood, a meal delivery service in Canada, and they deliver all the ingredients and you have to cook it yourself. That sort of taught me the basics, and now I just canceled it and I'm starting to try to learn how to do recipes on my own without the crutch of having three main ingredients.

Your skin is always super glowy. What has been your approach to skincare during this time? What are some of your favorite products?

My routine is pretty consistent with variations along the way. Sometimes I get sent products that I haven't tried and I get curious, so I add them to my routine and experiment with them.
I love Renée Rouleau's Detox Cleanser, that's a cleanser I use regularly. I think it's really important to have retinol in your skincare routine and I was using Alumier for a long time. Also, Sunday Riley's C.E.O is a great thick hydration cream that I put on at night and it smells amazing.

And honestly, one part of my night routine that I love, is one of the best tips that Secret has given me, and that's putting on deodorant at night.

Oh! I've never done that before. Tell me more.

It's the way to do it. You put deodorant on at night and then you wake up feeling fresh and ready to take on the day.

That is a game-changing tip for people like me who sweat a lot at night.

I woke up sweating this morning to be honest, but I always apply deodorant right before bed. So even if my back is sweaty, hey, my armpits are clean and fresh.

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Your dark hair is also always glowing. What are your tips for super shiny hair?

I have a lot of Kérastase products that I'm making my way through. They have a lot of great oils and serums that I put on in my hair after I shower. If I wake up and my hair is super frizzy, which my hair can get really frizzy and hard to tame, I just put a glob of the Miracle Balm smoother in my palms and run that through my hair, and it looks quenched and tamed.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.