Chandler Kinney Shares Her Curly Hair and Skincare Routine

Transitioning from child star to young adult celeb isn’t always smooth, as navigating the politics of cutthroat Hollywood is no easy task. Chandler Kinney, however, who’s been acting since she was nine years old, joins a small class of stars who’ve successfully conquered the challenge. Like many young actors, Kinney spent time on Disney Channel (Zombies and K.C. Undercover) and Nickelodeon (The Haunted Hathaways) before taking on more mature roles, like Riana Murtaugh on Fox’s Lethal Weapon and Tabby Hawthorne on Max’s Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin in recent years.

Now, Kinney is introducing a new talent to fans as a top contender on Dancing With the Stars season 33. Partnered with Brandon Armstrong, she’s made a remarkable impression on judges and viewers with her compelling and technical movement. Ahead, the actress and dancer candidly opens up about this new era in her career, managing wellness, loving her gorgeous curls, and more.

You trained at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and the Los Angeles Ballet Academy as a child. How has that training helped you on DWTS?

“In those studios, I learned discipline more than anything. Of course, the dance experience is there. But having a commitment, showing up, and pushing to improve every single day were the qualities that I think I took out of it more than anything. It’s been over 10 years since I’ve properly trained [as a dancer] in any capacity. This has been the best way to incorporate it back into my life and in such a meaningful way, too.”

Have your skills as an actor helped you on the dance floor?

“My acting experience helps a lot because I approach each dance as a story. In each world that we create, I have a little character that I play. I think that translates directly into the performance part of it. Technically, you can be good, but I think the performances that are memorable and leave a lasting impression are the ones that create a moment. And that requires showmanship, it requires personality, it requires story and narrative.”

Competing on national television requires a lot of you, mentally and physically. What are your wellness practices?

“It’s a work in progress. I am looking to everyone else for wellness and self-care practices because I historically have sucked, and I’m not even going to pretend that I haven’t. Things that have helped me are mostly mental and emotional practices. A lot of it is unplugging, unwinding, and not underestimating the impact that has on me. I love to work, but the work has to stop at a point in the day. Rest and play have to come in to create an equilibrium. So that’s been my goal. I’m protecting my time with friends and family outside this competition and getting some light. I’ve also given my feet a few ice baths, so that’s helped.”

You have to spend hours in glam, whether dancing or acting. Tell me about your routine to keep your skin healthy.

“People don’t realize that on [DWTS] show days, you get in around 8 a.m. and start hair and makeup. We don’t film the live show until 5 p.m. You do the show, which lasts two hours, and you do an hour-and-a-half of press. So you’re not taking that makeup off until 9 or 10 p.m. Hydration has been great for my skin. I love Osea’s Seabiotic Water Cream. I’ve also been double-cleansing because it gets all the little gunk and blackheads [off my skin]. I start with Tatcha’s The Camellia Cleansing Oil). And drinking water [is important]. Hydrate inside and out.”

It’s so important to see natural hair represented on TV. Do your feel fans feel seen or inspired by your hair?

“Yes! And it brings me so much joy because it is something I have fought for. I’ve been acting for 15 years, and when I was really young, I didn’t feel like I had much of a voice. I was so grateful to be in this space and said ‘yes’ to everything. I had a lot of heat damage growing up. I was so sad because I thought I’d lost my curl pattern forever. And then, funny enough, the pandemic hit, and I was not working. It gave my curls time to heal and grow out again. With every project I do, I try to maintain the health [of my hair] as much as possible because it is really important to see your hair texture on screen.”

“Moments that stick out the most are with kids because when I was a kid, I didn’t love my curls, which breaks my heart to say now because it’s one of my favorite features. One of the biggest subsections of the online world was tutorials [for] hair and makeup, and I would only ever see white blonde girls with stick-straight hair. I would sit in front of the home office computer, watch all these tutorials, and try to copy them. I was so disappointed every single time because my hair wasn’t doing what I saw on the screen, and I didn’t make the connection that we had different hair textures. So that’s why it’s so important to me to rock my curls anytime and anywhere I can. [My character] Willa, our fierce werewolf queen on Zombies, has a mane of curls. I’ve had so many kids and parents talk to me about how they love their curls now. Moms will say, ‘My daughter wears her hair natural now because she saw Willa rock her curls so proudly and fiercely.’ I was not expecting it, so it means the world.”

Do you have any favorite curly hair products or tips?

“Yes, and I’m excited to talk about it because I’ve been very fortunate to be paired with Brandon Armstrong this season, who also rocks his curls. It’s been so fun teaching him about hair care. The first thing to do is to wear a bonnet. It just prolongs the longevity of your curls and the integrity of the definition. For products, I’ve been using Kenra’s Curl Defining Cream. I love the mousses from Lottabody and Nairobi. Diffusing has helped me a lot, too. I’m on the go, so setting my curl before I get out into the elements of the world helps keep my hair a little bit more tamed.”

It was recently announced that Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin isn’t returning for a third season. What is your biggest takeaway from that experience?

“The biggest thing I’ve taken away is to embrace insecurities and imperfection. That was such a fast-paced show. We shot season one while coming out of the pandemic, [and] during season two, we were dealing with the strikes. There were so many days where I felt like I was showing up on set, not at 100%, and I would beat myself up for that. But I realized the best thing I can do, not only as an actor but also as a human, is to meet myself where I’m at and accept whatever’s going on.”

What’s one tip that has helped you be more confident?

“Everybody says, ‘Be you.’ I’m starting to understand why they say that. Comparison is the thief of joy. When you’re focused on yourself and what you’ve got going on, the more you’ll find that there are a lot of beautiful things there. That’s what’s been my experience. It’s human nature to want what everybody else has, but everybody has something cool going on. So, I’m just trying to focus on my thing. And that’s made me feel a little bit more confident.”