Long before Carole Radziwill was crowned a real housewife of New York—a title she held for six seasons—she was regularly on the phone with VIOLET GREY’s force and founder, Cassandra Grey. “Carole and I talk three or four times a day, so any new news is pretty rare because we know everything about everything,” says Grey, who has called Radziwill a close friend for nearly two decades. “When she first called to tell me she was going to be on the show, I started laughing because I thought it was a joke. I said, ‘That’s so funny! Hilarious.’ Then, I thought, Oh, she’s doing it because she’s going to be like an undercover mole in this sort of subculture of America. It’s going be really meaningful work.”

Radziwill is quick to dispute the fact that she operated as a secret agent during her seven-year stint on The Real Housewives of New York City: “If this is the craziest thing I ever do, I’m okay with that because I did a lot of serious stuff in my first career and I’m a single girl with bills.” And as Grey says, “Nobody can argue with that.” One of the many reasons Radziwill accepted the offer to join the hugely popular reality TV show was to support her beauty addiction. “I needed the paycheck to keep this all together,” she laughs, gesturing to her face. “It’s a house of cards!”

On a lazy Sunday in Los Angeles, the two pals cozied up in Grey’s bed and got real about beauty, bedtime staples, and Botox. VIOLET GREY listens in.