'I think growing up in France—I grew up with the best brands. My first makeup product was a Dior eyeshadow, a bright blue Dior eyeshadow that my mother had. She had all these luxurious products; she always had YSL, Dior, Chanel. So—it sounds terrible—I never really bought a whole lot of cheap-y brands. The first time I started wearing makeup when I was in my teens. My mother took me to the Dior counter, and I got a makeover and a few products. I’ve always loved the very prestige brands, which is why I think I’ve always worked for very prestige brands, as well. At Nars, I head up global communications. We handle many different things: advertising, as well as all of the digital and social media, and the very straightforward PR, both in North America and in our 18 markets, and then makeup-artist relations. We have a dedicated person on our team that works on both external and internal makeup artists, and then obviously anything that has to do with [our founder] François, we handle. I have a great relationship with him. He’s so inspiring to work with, and I understand so many of his references. It’s such an asset to be French and work for a French founder and creative director like François because he’ll say, ‘You know, like Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour,’ and right away I’ll understand what his reference is. And I think he’s just so creative. He always pushes the limits, he always wants the best, which is sometimes hard to achieve, but he’s always right.

In my bathroom, I have huge bins of Nars products. Personally, for me, I love—and I’m not just saying this because it’s relatively new—our tinted moisturizer. I’m not a foundation/tinted-moisturizer kind of girl—I just wore concealer before I started working at Nars—but this tinted moisturizer is very sheer and it still gives your complexion a dewy look, yet it gives you coverage, and it’s really easy to apply. I love a bold lip, like the Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl, and the Pure Matte Lipstick in Carthage, which is like a bright, bright pink. You just do a lip, and you’re good to go. But I live and die for Shiseido Benefiance Full Correction Lip Treatment. It’s a lip treatment, yes, but it’s also a lip moisturizer. I put it on before I apply any lip color.

I'm obsessed with our eye shadows: the Duo in Rated R, which is a bright blue and a bright green. I’m careful how I put it on. You can use them wet or dry, so sometimes I dip my Push brush into the eye shadow and just line my eye with it—using it as eyeliner basically. Or sometimes I’ll just layer the blue shade on my eyelid, and then I’ll smudge it in and blend it with another color. I also like Kalahari; it’s this brown-y, taupe-y beautiful color that’s sort of an everyday eye shadow. And then I wear a long-wear eyeliner—Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Rue de Rivoli.

In terms of blush, I stick to Douceur: it’s matte, and it just gives you the right amount of pigment for your cheek. And, of course, Orgasm blush. I know that everybody loves that, so it’s a little cliché. I use The Multiple in Copacabana to highlight. I have the Yachiyo Kabuki Brush, which I’m obsessed with. It’s very flexible and allows you to blend. For powders, I'll start with the Albatross Highlighting Blush on the top of my cheeks and also my brow bone—it’s an illuminator, basically. Then, I put Douceur on top of it, and then, on the apple of my cheek, I’ll do Gaiety, just to get a little more color. So: highlighter, contour, and then just a sort of pop of color. I was never a blush girl before I started at Nars—ever. But François always talked about how important blush was to a makeup routine—always, always, always.

Every time we have a new collection, I try to bring two or three home and then somehow one of the new products will always end up in my makeup bag that has all my classics: Lancôme Définicils mascara, Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer—your makeup will not move. Even if you’re just wearing concealer, you should be putting this stuff on, so you’re concealer will stay on much longer. Sometimes I put it on my eyelid before I do eyeshadow. It’s super lightweight; it’s like water. And then I have the Diorshow Brow Styler. I’m a big brow girl—never used to be—and I literally just pop in on, and it puts my brows in place. I’m crazy about my brows. I go to the specialist Maribeth Madron—she works out of Sally Hershberger’s uptown salon—and she told me to use Laura Mercier Eye Brow Pencil in Brunette. Most of the pencils on the market aren’t dark enough for brunettes, and this is almost like a black-brown. I don’t get my hair colored; it’s like a jet black-brown, very dark. I don’t do anything to it. There’s this whole trend about having the tips lighter, but I can’t do it.

I am a big skincare person, and my routine takes forever—like 15 minutes. I use Bioderma Créaline, which everybody does, but actually Nars came out with a Makeup Removing Water, so I’ve started using that, as well. And then I usually follow that up with the La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermo-Cleanser—it’s like a face-cleanser milk. You just put it on, and then you tissue it off. Twice a week, I'll use my leopard Clarisonic with the Toleriane. Then, La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water, and then, in terms of moisturizer, Toleriane Riche Facial Cream. Since I’m obsessed with my brows, I also apply Revitabrow to make them a little fuller. I think the story behind Revitabrow is that this man created it for his wife, who had cancer and lost all of her brows. It’s like $100, and I use it every morning and night. And Clé de Peau Beauté Intensive Eye Contour Cream, which is super smooth, and not sticky. I’ve been wearing eye cream since I was 22 years-old. Recently, I’ve become a little obsessive about my neck—I’m worried about bands and discoloration. For this, I love Dior L’Or de Vie La Crème Riche and Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Neck and Decollete Cream. They use this incredible molecular extract or something in their products; it’s awesome.

I can't live without Fresh: their body lotions, shower gels, shampoos, and conditioners. I use the Soy Shampoo, Meadowfoam Cream Conditioner, and the Mangosteen Soap, which is unbelievable. I have really dry skin, and their Sugar Body Oil is great, too. I’m looking for a good scrub. When I was in Korea for Nars, we decided to have a little local experience and went to a local spa, and they didn’t speak a word of English. I went in, and got the best body scrub of my entire life. I mean, she literally took off layers of my skin. It was painful, but I’ve never felt softer, ever. So I’ve wanted to go to a Korean spa since I’ve been back, but I just haven’t had time.

I love facials, too, and getting deep tissue massages, just because there’s a lot of stress. Caudalie has an amazing massage therapist who is Russian; he’s super intense. Once, I booked a massage—I think it was a fifty-minute massage—and he gets in there and he huffs and puffs and he’s like, ‘It’s never enough time.’ And I was like, ‘Great, do you want to give me some extra time for free?’ I go there when I can.”

—as told to ITG

Julia Sloan, wearing a dress by Thakoon, photographed by Emily Weiss in Brooklyn, New York.