All About Ashley

Whether kick-boxing on screen or kicking; back at her Tennessee farmhouse, embracing haute couture or homespun comfort, Ashley Judd has the simple sophistication of a natural beauty

Growing up in a matriarchy of country-music legends can have its side benefits, especially if you're a young girl who adores beauty products. "I was raised in a house full of suede-and-sequins showbusiness glamour," says Ashley Judd, sipping herbal tea at Zen Palate, a vegetarian restaurant in Manhattan. "Whenever my mom discarded her newest shade of Lancome, I grabbed it."

Of course, Ashley Judd, 30, inherited more than face cream and makeup from her mother, singer Naomi. They have the same exquisitely sculpted cheekbones. But when it comes to style, that ineffable presentation of who you are, Ashley developed hers all on her own. As she dines on steamed vegetable dumplings, she crystallizes her philosophy: "Fashion may be irrelevant, but it sure is fun." Combining country spunk with a sprinkling of chic, Ashley's subtle beauty has radiated in films like Ruby in Paradise and Kiss the Girls. That loveliness, along with the ability to project the underlying intelligence of each character she portrays, has made her one of the nation's top young actresses.

The evolution of Judd's style has been lifelong, and a bit bumpy, perhaps because her childhood was somewhat chaotic. Her parents divorced when she was very young, and Ashley lived with her mother during the school year, and her father in the summer, attending 12 different schools in 13 years. With little extra money in the early days of this nomadic existence (her mother was just starting out as a country singer), she immersed herself in the fantasy world of dress-up. "I loved going into my mother's closet and trying on her secondhand forties dresses," says Judd. "While my girlfriends dressed as ladybugs at Halloween, I came as a full-grown woman in cocktail attire. By fifth grade I had bought pearlized mauve and gray Borghese eye shadow."

In junior high in the early eighties, Ashley had the requisite Farrah Fawcett feathered hairdo, as well as a passion for anything preppy. "I worshiped at the altar of Izod. It was 'Give me the alligator or watch me suffer,'" says Ashley, who painted her bedroom pink and green in the 10th grade. "I think I fixated on the preppy clothes of the establishment because it was an easy way for me to fixate symbolically on what we didn't have at home." She also went through a Laura Ingalls Wilder prairie-girl period, a Laura Ashley phase, and a brief Doc Martens moment. But when she entered the University of Kentucky she cut her hair in a bob and stopped wearing makeup altogether. "All of a sudden I didn't go into a new situation and like something just because it was part of the paradigm," says Judd, who graduated with honors in French. "I liked something because I thought it looked great on me."

Has her style changed now that she's a star? Not really; she just gets to indulge it more. "What's great is that as an actress I have this professional right to legitimize the frivolity of beauty," she says. For a night out, "the first thing I do is brush my eyebrows, because that is the place where the presentation starts," says Judd. "If I'm a little tired and feel like my face is whacked, I add some slate to this one eyebrow I have that gets kind of cockeyed, and then I use my Shiseido eyelash curler." Judd dabs on some Kevyn Aucoin mascara, sent to her from Japan, puts on Chap Stick instead of lipstick and, if she wants to have a little fun, applies a touch of Stila's plum-brown All Over Shimmer on her eyelids, or the rose-hued shimmer on her cheeks. She finishes with a touch of essential oil, either jasmine or vanilla. "My main goal is to cover up anything that needs to be covered up, and otherwise just let it be about skin and shimmer," she says. And for that unexpected last-minute special occasion, she always keeps evening bags on hand, each filled with a handkerchief, a $20 bill and a package of Emergen-C powder for quick energy.

Though Ashley refers to the world of premieres and award shows as her "imaginary life," she dresses for it with real zeal, favoring designers like Badgley Mischka, Armani and Valentino. She also loves the colorful, contemporary clothing of London's fashionable boutique Voyage. "There's just something so glamorous about a dress when you cross your legs," says Judd, who attended the couture shows in Paris in January. She prefers Manolo Blahnik shoes, and praises the underrated psychological benefits of wearing high heels. "If you don't feel so great about your legs or if you are carrying a little extra weight, you can feel very perked up by wearing a good pair of heels," says Judd. "They do a wonderful job of giving stature to your silhouette.

In her off-hours she cuts a different figure, that of the down home Ashley, the Southern girl who, after losing her possessions in a 1993 Malibu house fire, decided that she wanted to return to Tennessee to live near her family (see "Judd Country," December 1997). So Ashley built herself a farmhouse on the family's 1,000- acre homestead. When she's home in Peaceful Valley, she dresses casually, wearing her favorite pair of button-fly green Levi's, J Crew T-shirts and green Chuck Taylor tennis shoes. "Dressing casually never makes me feel sloppy," she says.

The one thing Judd is fanatical about is exercise. She loves to play softball, "horse around" with her sister Wynonna's kids, Elijah, 3, and Grace, I, or hike to a crest overlooking her beloved "hollers." When she wants a proper workout she runs, swims or puts in an hour on the Stairmaster. "You feel pretty sassy when you've got a great bum," says Judd, deciding to forgo Zen Palate's desserts and order chamomile tea instead. Her ultimate relaxation is yoga, which she values as much for its spiritual qualities as for its physical benefits. In February she spent a week on a retreat at The Ashram in Calabasas, California. She's careful to get plenty of rest (nine hours, if possible) and she drinks as much water (room temperature) as she can. "The most important lesson I've learned in life is that I have to take good care of myself," she says.

That includes pampering. Ashley gets bimonthly manicures and pedicures, and frequently unwinds in the steam shower she built in her farmhouse. Before going to bed at night she takes a quick shower and then jumps in the tub. "I light candles in the bathroom, put on my favorite CD, In Search of Angels, which includes verses by poets like Milton, and just soak for hours."

Even when she's on location, Judd focuses on healthy self preservation. She begins her day with herbal tea and lemon, eats salads at lunch, and augments her vegetarian dinner with wheat grass. Before eating she blesses her food, often with a passage from The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Integral to Judd's sense of well-being is making sure that she brings mementos with her wherever she goes. When she checks into a hotel, she always brings her own homey touches: "Mr. Rabbit" and "Mr. Bear," her favorite stuffed toys, on loan from her nephew, and an antique quilt for her bed. Although comfortable in the Hollywood limelight, she says, "I'm happiest when I'm surrounded by my Southern heritage."

InStyle - 04/1998

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