Zakhar Perez could not be more opposite. “[While I was] growing up, my mom was an esthetician, so she just always taught us the importance of skin care,” he explains. In his house, the kids were taught to wash their faces “every day, twice a day,” to always be moisturized, and most importantly, to always wear sunscreen regardless of the season or weather forecast. “And I still use [that advice] to this day. I’m kind of obsessed with it.”
If that doesn’t convince you of this man’s dedication to flawless skin, please note that as he was telling me this, he paused to joke for a second about his “ashy” legs. “I put lotion on this morning. I don’t know why [they’re ashy]. I think maybe the lotion’s peeling…I did this for the sole purpose of not being ashy today, and now I look like a lizard scale,” he laughs.
So I knew right away that he was going to have some solid product recommendations, and I was right. I also knew that I had fallen deeply and madly in love with him. If you’re into hot people and skin care — and because you read this website, I know you are — apologies, but your knees are about to go a little weak.
First thing: Zakhar Perez is one to double-cleanse, at least when the day’s activities calls for it. “Sometimes I use PreCleanse from Dermalogica, just depending on if I’m working on a job where they’re putting makeup on me or if I go surfing and I have heavy sunblock on my face,” he explains. When he’s not oil cleansing, he skips straight to Dermalogica’s Active Clay Cleanser, which helps control acne around his T-zone; ”That’s where it gets pretty messy if I don’t use it.”
As far as moisturizer goes, Zakhar Perez oscillates between lightweight formulas for summer and heavier ones for winter. Most days, he’s using Clarins Extra-Firming Day Cream (and no, he does not care that his friends think he’s “like a grandma” for using it). And most nights he sticks to Shiseido’s Vital Perfection Overnight Firming Treatment. You won’t catch him without an eye cream, either. He tends to pick up whatever he happens to find in duty-free shops while traveling or what gets sent to him directly from brands, but two of his favorites are Clarins Total Eye Lift Cream and La Mer’s The Eye Concentrate.
Dermatologist recommendations are where his loyalties lie for sunscreens, so it’s no surprise that his go-tos are all from EltaMD, namely the UV Shield Broad-Spectrum SPF 45.
The man’s got taste, y’all. And it doesn’t end there. He gets facials once every month, though he “would like to go twice a month.” He says he has a go-to facialist in Sherman Oaks, California but also couldn’t help name-dropping Barbara Sturm’s London spa, where he struggled to stay awake during a recent facial because it was that relaxing. He’ll take any facial where a hefty amount of massage is involved, but what he can’t do without is extractions. “I really live for them getting the black spots out my face.”
Looking at literally any photo of Zakhar Perez, I struggle to see exactly where there could be any black spots because he’s got skin even a dermatologist would envy. Even just from hearing his voice over the phone, it seems that despite his overall humbled and laid-back nature, he knows this and is very proud of it. And you know what? He should be. Next time I have a skin-care emergency, Taylor, you’ll be the first person I call. Unless, you know, you want to call me first…