I talked to Mindy Kaling about the horrors of shaving, and it was the best 10 minutes of my life

This is the summer of Mindy Kaling. She just donated $40,000 to charities in honor of her 40th birthday, which is a truly queen-level move. Her movie Late Night, which she wrote, produced, and starred in, is crushing it at the box office. Her miniseries adaptation of Four Weddings and a Funeral hits Hulu at the end of July. She just signed a mega deal with Netflix to produce a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy, and she’s also working on a new collection of essays—all while being a mom to her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Kit.

Mindy is a Hollywood superstar, but I assure you, she’s still just like us. Case in point: She sucks at shaving, just like we do. But thanks to her partnership with joy, a new irreverent shaving brand whose entire mood will make you feel seen, those days are finally (maybe) behind her.

I spoke to Mindy over the phone the day after her birthday about how she—and her iconic characters—have handled some truly epic shaving mishaps through the years. If you ever feel like you suck at shaving, this will make you feel 100% better.

HelloGiggles: Happy belated birthday! Did your daughter get you anything?

Mindy Kaling: Thank you. She made me eggs in the morning. Well, I mean, my nanny did. She was like, “It’s from Kit!” And I was like, “Okay!” It was very sweet.

HG: You just partnered with joy. What made you want to work with them?

MK: I’m pretty careful about who I want to partner with, especially when I’m going to put it on my social media. When I tried it, I was like, “This is the nicest razor I’ve ever used.” I used to just not do shaving right. I would use bar soap to shave because I was too lazy, and I thought all that other stuff was a waste of time or money. And then when I used the joy shaving gel, not only did it smell great and make shaving so much easier, but it’s like, a moisturizer for your legs. I love the product so much, I told them I want a lifetime supply.

HG: What’s the most inconvenient time you’ve ever cut yourself shaving?

MK: [Laughs.] I feel like there’s no convenient time to cut yourself shaving. But when I cut myself shaving, it’s always because I’m in a rush to get somewhere. And when you’re in a rush, it’s the worst possible time to cut yourself, because then you’re like, “Oh god, now I have to deal with this.” Once you cut yourself, it’s very hard to do it again, because it’s so terrible that you’re like, “Never again.” Now I take my time.

HG: Do you have a spot that you always miss no matter what? Mine is the underside of my knee.

MK: To me, it’s my shin, because that’s where I cut myself all the time. So I feel like I’m always maneuvering around the sharp edge of my shin. I miss hairs there.

HG: There’s an episode of The Mindy Project where Mindy makes a comment about how she tried to—I can’t believe I’m about to say these words to you—shave the Tory Burch logo into her public hair. What design would she be trying in 2019?

MK: [Laughs.] Yes. And it didn’t work. Oh my goodness. [Laughs.] God, Mindy Lahiri. Great question. I think…honestly, she was so aspirational that it would probably be like, the Gucci symbol. It’s 100% Gucci, right? Yeah. Gucci.

HG: Have any of your other characters ever had a shaving mishap?

MK: Kelly Kapoor has for sure had a shaving mishap.

HG: What brings you the most joy possible?

MK: These days it’s pretty simple. It’s just spending time with my daughter, who is a year and a half. She’s so fun and so playful and just busy. That’s what brings me the most joy these days.