Anais Mali (Ford) wearing Illusion D'Ombré gel eye shadow in Épatant, Illusoire, and Émerveille, Rouge Coco lipstick in Plumetis, and Peridot nail lacquer, by Chanel. Photos by ITG. MAKEUP BY ANAIS.

Yes, that's right. Anais did her own makeup. Here's why:

Because Anais loves beauty. Maybe it's because she's French, maybe it's because she's beautiful. She couldn't put her finger on it, but when I met her a while back and we got to talking about ITG and would she like to be in a The Makeup feature, she said, “Sure...but, can I do it myself?” Furthermore, Ms. Mali had a brand request: Chanel. Right. Let's put it on the books.

When she arrived for our session, it could have been my best friend Rochelle coming over: Oooh what's this, ahhh what's that?? Cotton swabs flew and caps tumbled as she dolled up in the powder room “better light?”) New products can be intimidating, but she blended and layered with the self-assurance of a girl who has been mastering her own makeup since high school. “It's weird, but I like it, I love it...it's amazing?” she called out, voicing her verdict on the pots of pillowy mousse shadow. Émerville, a pale pink, went over the entire lid, with deep purple Illusoire multi-tasking as a liner and in the crease. Platinum Épatant highlighted the inner corners of the eyes. A coat of Inimitable mascara and a swipe of sheer rose lipstick completed the look, then we moved to nails and chatted about her routine.

'I don't always wear makeup, but I love putting it on when I'm going out at night?” she said. “I'm pretty quick—thirty, forty minutes. But every day, first I put some toner on my face like the Chamomile one from Clarins, then I apply La Mer cream. If I want to do a little simple make up, I use Stila Perfect and Correct foundation, then as blush, Stila's Convertible Color in Lilium which is a light pink. For my eyebrows I just bought an Anastasia pencil, and I like Yves Saint Laurent Volume Effet Faux Cils in dark purple. At the end of the day I use Sensai's Silky Purifying cleanser to take off the makeup, and I finish with Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado, and La Mer?”

Nails dry, we went to my mini studio. Snap snap snap and she was out the door—and ready for the night.