Just after winning the 2024 Paris Olympics––a gold in the Women’s Artistic Team All-Around and first individual bronze for her floor routine––gymnast Jordan Chiles’s race to the top didn’t stop (or start) at the podium. From the Team U.S.A. French tips she competed in to her full glam makeup moment on the bars, the medalist also played into what the media dubbed the “beauty Olympics” which, according to her fans, earned her another gold.
Leading up to the games, building a skin-first beauty routine was at the top of her busy training schedule. “When I’m in the gym and really working hard for hours a day, I tend to keep my makeup routine light and easy,” Chiles tells ESSENCE. “This year, before I left for Paris, I really put focus into my skincare routine.” In a recent Vogue Beauty Secrets video, the gymnast is seen using Fenty Skin Total Cleans’r to help manage her oily skin before applying the Bliss Bright Idea Vitamin C Serum.
With the serum formulated to reduce hyperpigmentation, the Afro-Latina Olympian explains her difficult history with the skin concern. According to the NIH, active melanin in combination with inflammation––often caused by acne––can lead to discoloration and scarring which disproportionately affects darker skin tones. Regardless of her gravity-defying gymnastics stunts, using skin-first products in her routine was a must before the Olympics. “I knew I was going to be on TV, and I wanted to look and feel my best,” Chiles says.
Then, she entered the Olympic Village. “If I am competing, or if one of my girls on Team U.S.A. is competing, I will do a full glam look,” she says. A step up from her no-makeup makeup mascara and eyebrow gel during practice, Chiles added a stylistic white and black eyeliner, concealer and a dark red lip to compete in. “It took me a while to really love my beauty, love my skin, and love makeup,” she says. “Through the years of competing and realizing how fun it is to play with my makeup, I cannot live without my full glam days now.”
As a can’t miss detail in her glam look, “nails have become such a fun thing that me and my teammates do,” she says. “For the most part, we all have our nails done with fun designs, colors, and yes, we do have long nails sometimes,” she says, as fans questioned how she flips in nail extensions. While three-time Olympic gold-medalist Simone Biles and two-time bronze-medalist Suni Lee showed off their white oval French tips at the games, Chiles stamped her Frenchies in patriotic colors with a textured tip. “Before big competitions and especially before the Olympics, I like to get a fresh set and bring out my personality on my nails.”
Now, straight off her first Olympic win, she celebrates her success by leaning into recovery. “I cherish being part of this moment with every brand I’ve collaborated with, as they have helped me deepen my understanding of beauty,” she says, partnering with Bliss World for this year’s games. “Right now, [that means] making sure I’m taking care of myself physically, emotionally, and mentally.”
