much earlier Matthew McConaughey she was winning Oscars and using her iconic catchphrase “okay, okay, okay,” she was losing a brutal war against acne.
The The heart of Hollywood56-year-old revealed that her culprit wasn’t junk food or bad habits, but a facial product that her mother, Mary Kathleen “Kay” McConaugheyit was sold at the time called Mink Oil, which was hailed as a miracle for skin impurities.
“At the same time, I was going through adolescence — you know, growing pubic hair, sagging balls, low voice and a few pimples,” McConaughey shared in a new Livin’ lyrics newsletter released via YouTube on Friday, February 6.
“A fan of self-esteem and looking my best, I listened and started applying Mink Oil to my face every night before bed. The result? . . . Bigger.”
Matthew McConaughey in 2000.
(Photo by Chris Weeks/Link)Despite expressing his concerns to his mother, McConaughey followed her advice and continued to use the product, applying it for another 12 days. And like clockwork, the acne spread, so Mary, now 94, came to a head, Elaineto check on her “bloated, zit-infested face.”
Elaine claimed everything was fine, and told her, “It’s getting all the impurities out!” He said something like, “Just keep applying the mink oil every night and eventually it will draw out all the impurities, and then you’ll have clear, glowing skin for the rest of your life.”
The actor felt more confident that he would finally have flawless skin, so he wasn’t about to give up on the product just yet, especially after Elaine’s comments.
However, “after three weeks, my whole cheeks were swollen, red pustules. Huge white dots. Geysers of blistering pus. It looked like a different person”, he admitted.
Gwyneth Paltrow accidentally mistook Marty Supreme co-star Timothée Chalamet’s makeup for bad skin and offered some unsolicited advice. “In Marty Supreme, Timothée has spots, and his eyes sparkled with contacts and glasses,” Paltrow, 53, said during the Tuesday, Dec. 2, episode of The Run-Through With Vogue. “And it’s all makeup.” Paltrow (…)
That’s when he finally sought a medical opinion, visiting his dermatologist. When his doctor saw the large cysts on his face, he asked McConaughey what he had been using.
After McConaughey’s product reveal, his dermatologist responded: “This is for people who are at least over 40, definitely not for a teenager going through the teenage years when your skin secretes the most oil. This product has completely blocked your pores.”
“You have severe nodular acne,” the doctor added. “You’re 10 days away from having scars on your cheeks for the rest of your life.”
As a result, McConaughey was put on Accutane, causing him to deal with very dry skin, flaky and cracked lips, tight joints, as well as hair loss and headaches.
When he informed his father, James Donald McConaugheyof what happened, James suggested they take legal action against Oil of Mink for their suffering. James pulled out a tape recorder and asked her his trustwhether it affected his relationship “with the girls” and more.
Two years later, I had no big thanks to Accutane and it was time to enter a plea with the defense attorney representing Oil of Mink. The prosecutor appeared to sympathize with McConaughey before pulling the star’s high school yearbook from 1988.
He pointed to a photo of McConaughey, which read “Most handsome.”
“We’re done. The case was dropped. My father was inconsolable. He went on about it for weeks,” McConaughey said. (James died in 1992 at the age of 62.)
As for what his father was complaining about, McConaughey fondly recalled him saying, “Damn, boy! Here I am, I’ve got a chance to win $35,000 to $50,000 in a lawsuit that could win! And you have to go out and win “Most Handsome”! You nailed the whole suit, son!