“My beauty closet is actually the first thing I made in my house. I like my makeup—I like anything and everything, the more the better. That’s why I have it all. It’s funny when I see other models that I’ve worked with on the street and they say, surprised, ‘Were you working? Why do you have makeup on?’ almost like, ‘Why would a girl ever wear makeup?’ And I don’t understand, because every other girl does, at least something, but models don’t wear anything. I mean, they will not even wear cover-up. I just don’t understand because you learn everything…you learn all the tricks of the trade, why not use it on yourself? I honestly did not know how to put anything on until modeling. I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup, and then my mom started to be okay with it in high school. I used to be a dancer, and for dancing competitions, or even for our shows, you had to learn to do your own—but you could do it badly and it would be fine, because from far away you couldn’t tell. [Laughs] So finally when I did modeling, I got the hang of everything. But if I have to learn anything, it takes me a little while.

I remember in school the thing was to have white eyeliner instead of black—it was super cool to wear white. So when I was finally allowed to wear makeup I would have the white eyeliner on top, black along the waterline, and then really thick, thick lashes. You were cool if you had makeup like that. [Laughs] Now my favorite thing is to have shimmers, and to find lowlights and highlights. I remember when Pat McGrath found the best shiny stick [Madina] and she bought them all and gave them to her assistants. So my version of that is Smashbox eye shadow in Oyster. On photoshoots she uses lots of strategically placed shimmer—over and around the eyes, on the Cupid’s Bow—so we all look really awake…with the darker contouring, everything kind of pops. If I’m going to red carpet events then I will do something like that. I usually have a dark eye, and darker foundation, because if I don’t, sometimes I look dead. [Laughs] So usually you will see a little more tanned me. If it is something really special like the MET ball, then I will get someone to do it. But if it’s just going to a movie premiere, I am fine to do it by myself.

I’m not particular about brands—I don’t favor designer brands over cheaper drugstore brands. I mean, I came across the [Maybelline] Dream Mousse foundation when I saw the ad…and I was just able to pick the color because I’ve learned what kind of color I am; I know that I am 01, 02 or a C1 or a C2. L’Oreal Magic Smooth Soufflé foundation is another good one—it’s a cream, it’s puffy. I play around with color foundations. This huge palette is from Bobbi Brown, and I use all the colors for different things—as cover-up, for contouring. I also really like Rimmel and YSL concealer. When I’m super hot, and I put powder on my face, it all goes kind of cakey. So I use all liquid. I buy things but most of it has been given to me. If you’re going to give it to me then I will try it out. When I went up to the VOGUE office, they let me go into the beauty closet and take a few things. Everything I saw the main makeup artists use, I went and grabbed it. [Laughs] But I hold on to a lot of things too—I still have my first lipstick that my mom gave to me when I was six or something. It hasn’t been used for many years, but I kept it because it’s such a cool memory.

I notice that a lot of mascaras are flakey, but I use this one, Maybelline Great Lash Curved, and it’s really good. My thing is eyeliner, where I make a wing with a cream liner and a brush instead of using liquid eyeliner, which I find kind of bleeds everywhere. This way it’s done, easy. Makeup artists love using liquid eyeliner, and they have a steady hand, but the assistants for some reason want a paste rather than the liquid for a perfect line. It’s quicker and easier. I don’t use any pencil unless it’s under my eye, smudged. My favorite pencil was from MAC, it was kind of greasy and blended easily.

My favorite nail polishes are KO with a matte finish. I’ve also used the Sally Hanson Salon Effects nail polish strips, which I love; they stay on for a good ten days. And I’m in love with doing my own acrylic nails—I learned early on with modeling that you need to cover up your nails, especially for shows, because sometimes they buff them three or four times a day and your nails get ruined. Once I have these nails on it’s like, ‘Here, I have the perfect nail, you don’t need to buff it or file it, leave it alone.’ [Laughs] So I just use generic fake nails with the super glue. You can just file the white tip off. It sounds kind of stupid, but I saw some of the girls with nails on and I thought ‘Why don’t I do that?’ It’s a whole process going to nail salons for acrylics, and sometimes they’re not the perfect length, so this to me is just stick on, stick off.

My skincare routine is pretty basic. I use Lancôme or Chanel makeup remover, but sometimes I’m really bad—I’ll go to sleep with all my makeup on then take it off in the morning. I’m the model with black still on her eyes from the last shoot, and they say, ‘Can you just remove that?!’ and I think, “You’re just going to put it on again, so why do I have to do it?’ [Laughs] I also use Lubriderm moisturizer as makeup remover—my mom used it constantly when I was younger. It cleans everything without burning. And that’s the other thing: my skin hates perfume. I’ve tried a few cleansers but I’m super sensitive so I just use something like Dove soap. Skin care for me isn’t as exciting as makeup.”

—as told to ITG