Austin Butler on His Morning Routine, Motorcycles, and Using Fragrance to Get Into Character

If you often choose fragrance based on who you want to be that day or an aesthetic you want to create, you’re in good company! Austin Butler does it too. 

Fragrance is an important part of the actor’s world, not just in his personal life but as part of the process when prepping for a new film or stage project. Despite the fact that his head-to-toe grooming routine is pretty low-key (as in, splashing water on his face low-key), he relies on a specific fragrance to help him connect to each character. (He didn’t specify if he wore Elvis’ reported favorite scents, Brut and Old Spice, while playing the iconic King of Rock ‘n Roll, but I’d love it if he had.)

Butler is the face of YSL’s MYSLF fragrance and its new flanker, Le Parfum, which recently joined the YSL fragrance family. As the name suggests, MYSLF Le Parfum is a more intense take on the original woody floral, with black pepper, vanilla bourbon, and orange blossom playing the starring roles in the formulation. You can wear the scents interchangeably, choose one for day and one for night, or stick to the one that you vibe with most.

In honor of the new campaign, we chatted with Butler about his favorite smells of all time, the way he uses fragrance to chill out after a long day on set, and more.

You’ve been the face of MYSLF since it launched. I’d love to know how the new Le Parfum differs.

“What they’ve done with the Le Parfum is intensified the previous notes of the eau de parfum so it’s more floral-woody-ambery. It has the same orange blossom but more black pepper, and this sensual, velvety vanilla warmth to it that it’s really beautiful.”

What’s your favorite note in the new fragrance?

“I think it’s the combination… the balance between the woody, spicy notes and more subtly sweet notes.”

What are your favorite smells in general?

“The smell of a dog’s paws. It’s like popcorn.”

Do you use fragrance when you’re prepping for roles or to get into character? 

“I do. I started doing that when I did this play in New York called The Iceman Cometh. I found this essential oil that I put on during rehearsals, and I was sort of experimenting at that time thinking if this was possible. And I found that that I would put it on before the play every night, after wearing it at rehearsals for months… our sense of smell has a way of bypassing our unconscious mind more than any other one of our senses, so I found that it would trigger the emotional states that I’ve been working on rehearsal for many months. And I found that fascinating.”

And you still do it now?

“Yeah, each role has their own smells.”

Where does fragrance fit into your everyday routine? Is it the first thing you do? Do you change things up based on what you’re wearing or where you’re going?

“I’m not rigid with it. It’s usually after I take a shower in the morning, and then I put on fragrance. Usually as the day goes on, there’s that demarcation between the daytime and the nighttime, where your workday is over and now it’s play time? That’s where I usually refresh.”

What is your current grooming routine? I know you’ve been really busy with promos for the new movie. 

“My current routine is very, very simple. It’s different when you’re going to an event or something you have people around you who help make you not look as jet-lagged as you actually are. They help a lot. In my day to day, I take a shower in the morning and splash water on my face. I don’t do too much.”

Are there any products that you have been using forever, that are always part of your routine no matter what?

“My makeup artist that I work with in New York [Amy Komorowski] has this oil called Circa 1970. It’s really great on the face, especially when you get off a plane and your skin feels dry. I do love that.”

Are there any practices or rituals or things that you rely on to calm down after you’ve been traveling or make a hotel or trailer feel like home?

“I love candles. There’s this amazing woman in London named Azzi who makes candles and she just gave me one the other day, called Black Moss. That’s wonderful. I took that with me on my press tour, and then you kind of have this continuity.”

You’ve been acting since you were really young. Are there any beauty tips that you picked up in the makeup trailer or from those pros that you use today?

“I probably should. I haven’t really.”

How do you relax after a day on set or in your personal time? Are there any things that you do to just help you chill?

“I try to bring a guitar with me when I travel. Since I was 12, that’s always been something that I could spend hours doing and sort of enter into a mindset where time, hours are flatline. I find that that’s meditative. When I started playing guitar, Jimi Hendrix was the one that I admired more than any and so I played a lot of Hendrix, then got very into blues. I had a period where I was really into flamenco guitar. 

“It can be as simple as just going for a walk in a new city or getting away—as much as I can get away—from a screen. Getting outside and going for a walk when I have our dog with me. In LA, we were doing the press junket [for The Bikeriders] and we had some motorcycles there and I left on a motorcycle. I rode home, and that was one of the greatest feelings. It’s so free.”