I attended the Clearasil Pimple Blocker Battle yesterday morning, a dance competition (voting starts today!) to promote the brand's new Ultra Pimple Blocker Pen.

It was hosted by the lovely Michelle Trachtenberg who I had the pleasure to sit down with and talk about all things beauty. You may know her as the deliciously evil Georgina Sparks on Gossip Girl, or, if you're a huge dork like me, as Dawn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, way back when, as the adorable Nona on Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete & Pete.

That's not PhotoShop, her skin is really that fabulous!
Photo: © Jemal Countess/
WireImage.com

The girl has flawless skin -- we're talking perfect, smooth, unblemished and glowing. "I take very good care of my skin." she says, "One of the most important things is to never fall asleep with your makeup on. We've all done it, but it's totally horrible because that stuff settles into your pores and it's impossible to get out." Amen sister.

She uses a strong cleanser at night to wash off the day's dirt and grime, but a more gentle one for the morning because "you're just refreshing your face for the day." She believes that it's so important to moisturize when you're young and sheepishly admits that while she tries to drink lots of water, the golden rule for hydrated skin, sometimes she just doesn't have time.

As a fellow pale, or as Michelle prefers, "porcelain," lady, I can sympathize with what she calls her lack of skin color. "I'm not often out in the sun because I'll totally burn." For those weekends when she does head outside, she's a big fan of Coppertone UltraGuard Continuous Sunblock Spray SPF 70+ because "you're not rubbing lotion in and your hands don't smell, you just spray it on."

Finally, I asked her if she feels there is a lot of pressure with young starlets to be super-tan. "It's 50/50," she says. "I've had some magazines make fun of how pale I am and yell at me like 'get a skin color," but then the other half is like 'oh my gosh, she's like Nicole Kidman, she's so pretty.' I'd rather be porcelain because my skin's healthy, I'm just more white-based as opposed to orange." Needless to say you won't find her promoting her own line of self-tanners anytime soon.

Tune in next week to find out what spring makeup trends Michelle is dying to try and her good hair day secrets!