When it comes to choosing her beauty routine, Jennifer Garner is all about keeping it simple. While most celebrities love expressing their individuality through makeup, the Peppermint actress revealed that toning it down allows her to express herself in the most genuine way possible.

“I’m the happiest and most comfortable when I just look like myself,” the 46-year-old recently dished to PeopleFor Jen, covering her lashes with a few swipes of mascara and adding a tiny bit of blush to her toned cheeks is enough to get her out of the house. “I’ll use [the latter] on my lids,” she said, adding, “That’s all I need. The less makeup I have to wear, and the more of my own skin that I can see, the happier I am.”

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While the 13 Going On 30 star usually opts for as close to a makeup-free face as possible, her 13-year-old daughter, Violet, can’t wait to start playing with makeup. Considering she’s still young, Jen’s insisted that her oldest kiddo with ex-husband Ben Affleck knows her limits but still “likes to explore and play with makeup.”

“She’s really smart about, ‘Okay, now I’m leaving the house, now I need to check with my mom because chances are she’s gonna make me take this lip off.’ Which, I do,” dished Jen — who is also the mom to daughter Seraphina, 10, and son Samuel, 7, with Ben. “So that’s kind of where we are with it,” she added. “It’s a process. Growing up is a process.”

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As a mom, the Alias star admitted that she definitely needs to be able to set boundaries — although it can be “tricky” considering her daughter is entering her tumultuous years of teenhood. “It’s just hard to be an adolescent,” she said.

In Violet’s defense, the lines have definitely been blurred over the years. “I think it’s probably extra complicated when you literally were nursed in the makeup chair as an infant, and have grown up sitting in your mom’s lap while she got her makeup done your whole life,” Jen explained. “My kids know two versions of me: They know the version that I see in the mirror right now that looks crazy, and it’s what they see 90 percent of the time.”

Either way, Jen is one amazing mama!