The One Thing
Our series The One Thing is a Sparknotes version of the products, rituals, and moments your favorite celebrities and influencers swear by—their go-tos, must-haves, and can’t-live-withouts. So go ahead—take a brief, intimate peek into the lives of your favorites through the things (and people, and moments) they hold dear.
One scroll through Meghan Trainor's TikTok, and you'll see that family is everything to her. The pop star regularly shares family videos with her 18 million followers that are always equal parts cute, wholesome, and funny. Whether they are just with her husband, Daryl Sabara, or with her kids, it's clear family comes first.
So when her e.l.f. Cosmetics family—with whom Trainor has worked with a few times over her career—asked her to be part of their biggest commercial ever, she had to say yes. The ad, which aired during the Super Bowl, saw the pop singer reprise her 2022 role as a news reporter. Only this time, she was reporting live from Judge Beauty's—aka the Judge Judy—court, alongside the cast of Suits and a stacked celebrity jury.
Trainor tells Byrdie she'll never forget the "iconic day," which she got to share with her oldest child, Riley. However, it was made even better when she got to watch the ad air live with her family. Everyone was jumping and screaming, even her babies, who "couldn't really understand" why everyone was so excited—just pure family joy.
In celebration of this milestone, Trainor sat down with Byrdie. Ahead, everything from the products she swears by to the memories she cherishes most.
The One Product That Changed Her Beauty Routine
"I mean, I just don't live life without my Glow Revival Lip Oil. I have dry skin and I have dry lips. The other day I smiled too fast outside, and my lips started cracking, so I live with this lip oil now—morning and night, right before bed I even put it on.
"E.l.f. also has a Holy Hydration collection that I'm obsessed with. Sunscreens... I'm always trying to remember to put it on and there's Suntouchable All Set For Sun SPF 45, that’s easy. You just spray it on and that's the kind of life that I have right now—quick, on the go. That's been a game changer for me."
The One Thing Her Routine Feels Incomplete Without
"Putting on eyebrows—in general having some type of brow on. I also love the viral Halo Glow Liquid Filter because you could use it as a primer or just as foundation. For my dry skin it makes it nice and dewy and stunning."
The One Beauty Tip She Learned On Set
"I once learned, this was very fun, that you could spray hairspray on a spoolie and comb your eyebrows with it and it'll keep them locked in place. It's just hair!"
The One Thing That Always Elevates Her Mood
"T-Pain's music. Every time I have to work out I only play T-Pain—or my songs, but only because I'm working on albums, so I'm checking to see if they're great. After the album's out, I never play them again. Also seeing my kids just immediately brightens the day."
The One Family Tradition She Loves
"Yesterday I had my core family—my mom, dad and my two brothers—in the vocal booth with me and we were recording gang vocals. We were recording extra sound for the background of this party song and it was just such a beautiful moment to be like, 'Wow, I'm with the people that I love the most and who have supported me since I was a baby and we're all in here singing together.' Now they sing on every single album I have. I guess that's a good tradition."
The One Thing She Always Has in Her Bag
"My Lip Reviver Oil. That's all I have. That's all I want in life. Lip Reviver Oil in Pink Quartz, that’s my favorite one."
Her Winter Skin Savior
"Just extra moisturizers. I love to do a mask or use the Holy Hydration collection. I love a thick mask that you could sleep with and go to bed with. I'm like, 'Darrell, don't kiss my face, it's slimy.' That's what I love."
The One Thing That Inspires Her the Most
"My babies. Before my babies, it was my parents. But now I see those kids and I'm like, I have to show you that if you work really hard, you can accomplish any dream you have. So I'm up every morning before they get up, and I get some type of walk in and listen to positive affirmations."
The One Way Being a Mom Has Changed Her Beauty Routine
"With kids, I've definitely been learning less is more. I definitely like less steps because I don't have much time. But, I also love when I bond with Riley, I’ll go 'do you want to go to mama’s glam room?' And he's like, 'Yeah, mama's glam room!' He always grabs a brush and paints his face and I just love those memories with him in there."
The One Beauty Mistake She'll Never Make Again
"In high school I never put makeup on my eyebrows. I didn't know that was a thing. I grew up with red hair and orange-blonde eyebrows. Without eyebrows I would put black eyeliner in my waterline and I was like, I'm the coolest girl in the world, no one can tell me otherwise. Now I look at pictures like, Oh no. My sweet mom tried. She was like 'you look crazy.' I was like 'You just don't get it.'
"I learned about [brows] on the "All About That Bass" music video set. I was 19 and I was in my first makeup chair ever. No one ever did my makeup before. They started painting my eyebrows and I was like, 'What are you doing?' I thought it was so crazy. And she was like 'I'm sculpting your brows. You're welcome.'"
The One Piece of Advice That Changed Her Life
"Give yourself some grace. I'm super hard on myself, which a part of why I am where I am today. I could be nicer. I'm doing the best I can. I hear it more as I'm a mom, because my mom guilt is heavy. My mom guilt is, if I'm not with them at all hours of the day, I'm bad. But I'm like, 'no, no, no, you were working so that you can support [your kids] and you're doing the best you can.' I got to be easier to myself. That's why I wake up now and do positive affirmations."