No way La La Anthony is celebrating the holidays by jetting to some exotic warm-weather environment. Heck, she’s mildly offended at the suggestion that she lives in Los Angeles. “I’m a New York girl!” she says. “I’m from Brooklyn, and there’s no other place I would rather spend the holiday season than right here in the City.”
But walking around a chilly Fifth Avenue to take in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree among all the NYC visitors and attending crowded indoor holiday parties does present — cough, cough — one drawback.
“I love to be out of the house and be social because I’m single, but I don’t want to get sick,” she adds. “That’s why I need my essentials, just in case!”
A little medicine helps. Anthony — an actress, author and TV personality since her early ’00s MTV VJ days — recently partnered with Delsym for its Bring Comfort Home holiday campaign. “You never want a cold or a cough to be the reason why you can’t enjoy the holidays,” she says. “I have a 16-year-old son, and I want to do all this fun stuff with him.”
As part of the collaboration, Anthony is also providing an opportunity for families to receive a Delsym Meal Kit with ingredients to whip up her favorite natural elixir: the homemade Puerto Rican chicken soup that her mom taught her years ago. As she notes, “I grew up in a Hispanic household, so the soup is a mix of the usual ingredients with some extra flavor. Everyone seems to love it, and I’m incredibly proud of it because it’s my one go-to in the kitchen!”
What else gets her through the season? Ahead, Anthony reveals her winter wellness must-haves for CNN Underscored.
Face it: We’ve all gone to sleep with caked-on mascara and bronzer. “I’ve been a culprit of it many times,” she admits. To make her routine more effortless, Anthony stashes these fragrance-free makeup remover towelettes in her purse and bathroom. “I can just take everything off easily after a long day and then clean my face,” she says.
Because Anthony has sensitive skin, she’s selective about what she applies to her face. But she’s a regular user of Darden’s products. The makeup-removing cleanser “is really rich but very gentle,” she says. Anthony also likes the brand’s Hydration Peptide Cream first thing in the morning because “I’m not putting on something too heavy,” she shares.
No, Anthony doesn’t want any coffee. She doesn’t drink tea either. Instead, the star proudly admits that her hot drink of choice is Swiss Miss hot cocoa. “I just mix the powder with hot water, and it tastes really good,” she says, adding that a bit of milk can do the trick as well. She also goes the fancy route and opts for the packet with mini marshmallows.
Though Anthony is tight with R&B superstar Ciara, she still swears by the lightweight liquid serum from her friend’s beauty line. “I wouldn’t be talking about it if I weren’t using it!” she jokes. A 2023 Essence Best in Black Beauty award winner, it targets skin dullness and uneven texture using extracts of Vitamin C, A and E and bearberry leaf.
“I’m an eye cream fanatic,” Anthony says. “I need to use it in the morning and before I go to bed. You always need to give your eyes extra love.” She especially loves this one — courtesy of her pal Kim Kardashian’s skin care brand — which helps to depuff and reduce the appearance of fine lines.
Anthony says that for years, she’s reached for this orange-flavored medication, which temporarily relieves nagging coughs due to colds and minor bronchial irritation. “It’s a staple in my household,” she says, adding that her son, Kiyan, often uses it when he’s not feeling 100 percent.
Anthony is such a fan of this silky and sweat-resistant gel-cream body tint — from friend Rihanna’s billion-dollar beauty line — that she’s wearing it during this interview. “I like that it has a glittery glow,” she says. “It’s not too much, but it gives your skin that subtle bronze shine. People will be like, ‘Oh, what’s happening there?’”
In 2022, Anthony created a hair treatment line and coined it after the backwards spelling of her birth name, Alani. She shares that these oil-free drops help promote hair growth and reduce shedding while hydrating and nourishing the scalp. “You’ll want to target the edges of your scalp where you pull hair back,” she advises. She applies it to both wet and dry hair, morning and night.
Anthony says she’s in the process of placing moisturizing humidifiers around her home. “You need to make sure you’re breathing the right air and taking care of your skin,” she says. Her pick: this sleek, easy-to-clean device that promotes healthy skin while fighting redness, dryness and fine lines. It also includes an aroma sample kit.