La La Anthony reveals the one product she uses to keep her famous smile Instagram-ready -- and you probably already own it
In a world where we’re constantly being served and offered what seems like a million and one different products that promise virtually the same thing — whiter teeth, clearer skin, softer hair, whatever it may be — it pays (quite literally) to have a staple in your arsenal that can essentially do it all.
And when you’re someone who’s busy running their own empire across so many different industries, being able to rely on a small handful of products not only becomes more beneficial, but almost necessary.
Just ask La La Anthony, who on any given day can be found working on designing the perfect pair of jeans for her self-titled clothing line, rehearsing lines for her hit role on Starz’ ‘Power’ or gearing up for her New York Times bestselling book ‘The Love Playbook’ to be developed into a movie with Queen Latifah. No big deal.
With so many projects taking off concurrently, Anthony needs to know that she has something she can quickly grab that can get the job done no matter what the task at hand is — that’s where her love for Arm & Hammer baking soda comes in:
“Arm & Hammer is something that’s been in my life my entire life! And as you go through the years you start figuring out how many unique and cool things you can do with it. You can use it for body scrub, exfoliant, face scrubs, teeth cleaning, cooking … it’s a product that can do so many things for your home, for your family … it’s awesome because it’s a product I grew up on and now a product I use in my home for a million different things.
I’m crazy about my teeth being white and being clean and it’s great — you can just put a little bit on your toothbrush with powder and … it just works perfectly … it’s something a lot of people don’t know that you can use it for.”
Saving time (and having those Instagram-ready white teeth) is key, especially as Anthony has been filming and prepping for Season 5 of ‘Power’ (which premiered on July 1st.)
This season’s been highly-anticipated by both fans and the cast alike, as was exemplified by the show’s Season 5 world premiere at Radio City Music Hall a few weeks ago:
“It was really a moment and just a testament to our fans and the people that watch the show … all these characters just continue to grow. It’s always a fight for loyalty, a fight for respect, a fight for power and you just continue to see that and this season takes a lot of different twists and turns and it’s going to continue to be an exciting show to watch. Everyone in Radio City [at the premiere] was going crazy after they watched the first episode — literally going crazy! It makes me so excited for the upcoming season.”
Anthony’s character on the show, LaKeisha Grant, is someone who highly values dedication and grit.
It's easy to see how Grant's fictional persona aligns to tee with the real-life La La Anthony -- they're both two women who would go to no ends for the ones that they love and hustle hard to get to where they want to be:
“I would say that my character is a really loyal person, loyal to a fault, and that’s what separates her. My friends, my family, I’m super, super loyal to. In this case, my character LaKeisha is a little bit naive — I wouldn’t call myself naive. But definitley a loyal, ride-or-die, do anything for my friends — I would say we mirror each other in that aspect.”
It’s this clear sense of caring for others and having their best interest at heart that makes Anthony’s denim line at Lord and Taylor as successful as it is — she isn’t simply curating silhouettes and pairs of jeans that fit her own style and likings, but putting her boots on the ground and asking real women what they want and what works best for them:
“It’s all about being involved, and with the clothing line, it’s about getting out there and talking to women … [It’s asking] working women, stay-at-home moms, single women ‘If you were to go out on a date or look a certain way, what would you wear? How would you like your jeans to look?’ And just really being proactive with women and the marketplace to help create the perfect jean. So, it’s been different for me in that aspect, really going out there and having to get all that feedback and just running the company. I work with Andy Hilfiger … it’s great to have that kind of knowledge behind it, someone who knows fashion that well. It’s been a great partnership.”
Having people you can collaborate with and lean on is major when you have your hands in so many (albeit glamorous) buckets, but Anthony also has another method she abides by to keep herself sane through the madness:
“ … Waking up and saying a prayer or meditating for a couple of minutes before you get out there and tackle on a busy day, so I always make sure I have a little bit of ‘me time’ a day even if it’s two, three, four minutes to pray, meditate whatever I need to do to just align myself and get myself going.”
