Mandy Moore
Traditionally when we interview celebrities, they show up with an entourage—a publicist, a bodyguard, a gaggle of girlfriends. But Mandy arrives at Aura Shop in Santa Monica, California, alone. Our next two hours together reveal why—the woman is more earnest, more adaptable, and lower-maintenance than most people I meet in Los Angeles, famous or not.
Everything in Moderation including Moderation
This fall, after half a decade out of the spotlight, Mandy made her big comeback as the star of NBC’s wildly popular new drama This Is Us; but her laid-back demeanor bears no sign of this. Perhaps it’s because her time off humbled her—before this season’s pickup, Mandy pursued three TV series that never made it to air. During that period, she considered changing careers. The rejection was “debilitating,” she tells me.
But I get the sense that graciousness is in Mandy’s nature. Throughout our day together, I almost feel like she’s hosting me instead of the other way around. After our aura reading, she walks me to a vegan ice cream shop down the street and buys me something called Death by Chocolate. “You’re going to love it,” she says. And I do.
Mandy’s beauty look reflects her authentic, self-effacing attitude. Her hair is tucked under a floppy, camel-colored hat. It’s shoulder-length and effortlessly waved. When I compliment it, she blushes. Her makeup is equally minimal—no foundation, just a trace of coral lipstick. (I make her dump out the contents of her purse at the ice cream parlor, where the secret to her pout is revealed: Linda Rodin’s Luxury Lipstick in Tough Tomato, $38, and Glossier’s Balm Dotcom, $12).
Mandy is 32 now, but her skin doesn’t seem to have aged like it should have since her smash hit “Candy” dominated the radio in the late ’90s. She chalks it up to genetics—when I ask about her anti-aging routine, she’s embarrassed to admit she doesn’t have one. “I’m trying to get better,” she says. “My boyfriend [musician Taylor Goldsmith] is really good about vitamins, and just this morning I made a pact to start a vitamin routine.” Before our meeting, Mandy swallowed a veritable pharmacy of pills: vitamins C and D, fish oil, selenium, iodine, and more. “I want to have kids in the next couple years,” she says. “I always said that I want to take care of myself to the best of my ability before I venture into that phase of my life.”
But even someone as low-maintenance as Mandy has her beauty vices. I spy a set of eyelash extensions, which Mandy breathlessly admits are her “most favorite thing in life.” As she explains, “I would have them a little bit longer and more glamorous if I could, but I can’t for work right now.”
In the likely event that you’ve never had your aura read before, this is how it works: Mandy and I meet individually with our spiritual guru, Kate, who takes a photo of each of us. Then a computer maps out head-to-toe images of our auras and spits out two detailed reports for Kate to analyze. Ever since I first heard of aura readings, I’ve been amused by the idea but never taken it too seriously. “I promise I’m a rational, skeptical person,” I assure Mandy. “Oh, I’m rational,” she smiles, “but never skeptical.”
Mandy and I compare auras: Mine is yellowish, apparently reflecting a state of knowledge and philosophical thought. Mandy’s is objectively prettier—a vibrant lavender, representing imagination and mysticism. “Are you in a period of change right now?” Kate asks her. Mandy nods, wide-eyed and attentive. Kate tells her she’s in a state of floating, needs to do something to get grounded. “Go home and write down two lists,” she says, “one of your top values in life and one of all the people you wish to forgive.” Kate pegs Mandy as an especially selfless person who needs to be careful with her heart. “You can’t give too much,” she says. “You need to have an open heart but with boundaries.” Mandy agrees, knowingly.
Before we leave, Mandy thanks everyone in the shop, then does a quick spin for a crystal souvenir. “Let the crystals choose you,” Kate tells her. On the way out, Mandy drops a breezy $312 on half a dozen colorful quartzes, reminding me, if I had any doubt, that she is indeed a world-famous celebrity. With a velvet bag of crystals in our possession, Mandy and I emerge into the cool Santa Monica air.
source byrdie.com
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