No foundation or sweet drinks for Jeanette Aw

The star, whose new drama will air in 2026, says the secret to her youthful complexion is consistency

- Carmen Sin

Jeanette Aw has not worn foundation on screen in 22 years.

The local TV star says she was told to ditch the base make-up to better suit her breakout role as naive ingenue Mo Jingjing in the Channel 8 drama Holland V (2003).

"When it aired, nobody realised," says Aw. Later, it was simply "a lot easier" to act in her bare skin, when full coverage would have meant tedious touch-ups after sweaty outdoor shots or her many crying scenes.

Now, some 30 TV series and a six-year acting hiatus later, the 46-year-old is filming her comeback show – still sans foundation. While acting, she typically wears only concealer.

When The Straits Times meets Aw on June 27 at the opening of nail salon Nailz Haus' new Ngee Ann City outlet, she says her secret to youthful skin is consistency.

She has kept up the same skincare regimen – "not beauty", she is careful to say – since her 20s, finding little to tweak in her 40s.

Keeping off thick make-up to let her skin breathe is one thing. Other habits she swears by include drinking lots of warm water, no sweet drinks – which she quit in secondary school after her PE teacher said the sugar would undo the work done in class – and double cleansing every day.

She says: "I use an oil cleanser first and then a very gentle face wash. That's the thing I really believe in."