Austin Butler Shares When He Feels Like His Best Self as He Fronts YSL Beauty’s New Fragrance Campaign (Exclusive)

When Austin Butler was young, he looked forward to the day he’d be able to wear fragrance.

“I remember the obsession,” he recalls. “My dad wore cologne, my mom had her perfume, and there was a feeling of like, ‘when I grow up, I can wear those smells,’” he tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Today, the 33-year-old actor not only wears fragrance, he’s the global ambassador of YSL Beauty. In the role, he’s fronted campaigns for the brand’s MYSLF Eau de Parfum, the brand’s first woody-floral scent that launched in 2023, as well as the campaign for MYSLF Le Parfum, described in a release as a “more intense, and sensual version” of the MYSLF EdP, in 2024.

And he and YSL Beauty are teaming up again for the debut of MYSLF Absolu, another woody-floral cologne differentiated by its cool hit of ginger.

The new scent — which opens with bergamot, ginger and cardamom, has orange blossom at its heart and is grounded with warm woods and patchouli — evokes a full-circle moment for Butler. 

“To be able to pick out the smell of cardamon, the smell of bergamot, the orange blossoms. As I’m saying this, I’m being reminded of my parents’ fragrances – my dad’s was peppery and woody and my mom had sweet floral kind of things that she would wear – and how they come together.”

This new addition to the MYSLF franchise also connects Butler more deeply to the Yves Saint Laurent, who founded his eponymous fashion house in 1961 and launched his first fragrance just three years later. 

“We were just talking about Marrakesh where he had this house, and there were all these orange trees around and there was the smell of orange blossoms. The house that I was brought home when I was born and then I lived until I was probably 12, had an orange tree in the backyard. So, the smell of orange blossoms and oranges were a huge thing for me as a kid.”

As Butler warms up to Absolu, he’s discovered it’s “good for the nighttime, when you’re going to go out. But at the same time, it could be beautiful in the morning as well.” He likens it to eating pancakes in the morning or evening, both “wonderful” experiences, in his opinion. 

His tip: wear it, and see how it evolves on your skin. He spritzes it on his wrist and neck, a ritual that feels symbolic of adding an “accessory.”

“It really is like an accessory, isn’t it? In the same way as when you’re getting dressed and you’re like, ‘Who am I going to be today? What part of myself am I going to turn the volume up on?’”

Just as fragrances have helped Butler “understand” a character’s personality and world, he also uses it as a tool to feel like himself again. 

“Having things that you can take with you around the world, like scent, so that no matter what hotel room you’re in, no matter what country you’re in, it can be this through line that creates the feeling of home and groundedness,” he explains.

“I think with the amount of traveling around — when making movies it’s kind of like you’re in the traveling circus, I just finished something in Chicago and now I’m here [in New York City] —  I’ve learned that it helps my mind and my soul to have these through lines, because otherwise over time, you can feel untethered from what is home.”

In addition to cologne, Butler packs incense in his bag. “It’s delicious,” he says of the scent. “When I got home from the set for this entire film that I just did, I would light it every night and I took it with me here and I’ve been lighting it. So it’s kind of been this through line from this last job into me being here in New York,” he shares.

Butler sums up his grooming regimen in one word: simple. 

He admits, “Lately I’ve been proud of myself that I’ve been actually washing my face. I didn’t for a long time. I sort of prided myself on just splashing water on my face. But, I’ve had people that I’ve worked with who have encouraged me to [use] a little face wash, and so I’ll do that and a little bit of moisturizer on the face. That is an act of self-care that I like.”

His wellness routine is far more intentional. “I try to spend a little bit of time in silence every day, without a phone, particularly first thing in the day before I am inundated by anything from the outside world to really just check in. Where am I today? I find that feels good for the soul.”

Another important practice: having an appreciative mindset. 

“Gratitude, I’ve talked a bit about it. My mom used to keep a gratitude journal and I’ve been doing that consistently. I write those down in the morning, and then I find throughout the rest of the day, my brain is almost looking at things and going, ‘That’s a beautiful thing. That’s something that I’m grateful for,’ and you realize that they’re always there, but it’s just the lens through which we’re viewing the world.”

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Working with YSL Beauty and appearing in its MYSLF campaigns, which are rooted in bold self-expression, feels “serendipitous,” Butler says.

“I was really honored,” he recalls of initially getting the call to work with the brand. “It came at a particular time where I was seeing all these quotes of Yves Saint Laurent’s talking about individuality and staying true to yourself. So it just happened to be serendipity: I kept seeing things about the man who created this heritage, and then to get that call and then to be a part of it.” 

After two years of representing MYSLF, Butler says he feels like his best self “when I feel that I’m in integrity. When I say I’m going to do something and I do it. When I’m the same person in private that I am in public. I feel that it can sometimes be harder to be kind to yourself than it is to others. So when you’re able to treat everybody — including yourself — with kindness.”

Shop MYSLF Absolu now.