“I’m turning 30 this year—this was essentially my first job out of college. I started as an assistant in the Barneys fashion office and now I’m the fashion director. We’re always trying to find new, cool things, or developing special projects, working with designers on exclusives and helping to nurture and develop their businesses. When I started out as an assistant, I didn’t even know if I wanted to do fashion buying, or what I wanted to do. I always appreciated really good design, and what it entails, creatively, to be a fashion designer.

I’m Japanese, but I grew up in Jersey until I was 11 or 12. As a kid, my mom’s whole thing was always just to wash your face every day, which has stuck with me. She uses regular soap that she buys at the drugstore. I think Japan is a culture that really appreciates quality, so it’s never about buying something that’s inexpensive just because it’s inexpensive, or something that’s more expensive just because it’s more expensive—there has to be a value to what you’re paying for. My skincare regimen is basically washing my face and putting moisturizer on every day. And for me, everything is dry—my hands, my whole body, my face—so I feel like I always want to have a lot of moisture. That’s one of the things I’m always thinking about. It’s not necessarily a problem, it’s just something that’s always on my mind. I like Crème de la Mer, but I don’t use it all the time because it is quite heavy. We’re actually getting their new Moisturizing Soft Cream [at Barneys], which is a lighter version. A lot of the time, people feel that La Mer is a little bit too heavy—you have to sort of soften it up in your fingers before putting it on your face—but I just tried the new one, and it’s amazing. It’s so light and it goes very smoothly onto your skin. Aside from that, I’d say my splurge is probably the ReVive Moisturizing Renewal Cream. I use it three times a week—as soon as you put it on, it feels like your face is starting to exfoliate; it re-texturizes your skin.

I don’t do that much with makeup. I’m wearing Nars Gaiety blush and a tinted primer by Sunday Riley right now. I don’t always wear them, but if I have to show my face to someone a little more important, or do press or something, then I’ll do it. Gaiety is a very light pink, which I use when I’m a little tan. But moving into fall, I’ll pick up something a little more peach-y—I think the color’s called Lovejoy. Actually, recently I was showing my makeup to someone, and she was like, ‘That is a really old color, you need to update!’ On my eyes, I just wear Kevyn Aucoin The Volume Mascara—it puts tubes on your lashes. I love it! It stays on really well but it’s also easy to take off, just by washing your face. Then, of course, the Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler, which Barneys stopped carrying—that is one thing that, when I go home to Japan, I always stock up on because they often don’t sell it here. I know everybody says so, but it really is the best one.”

—as told to ITG

Tomoko Ogura photographed by Emily Weiss at Barneys New York on August 1st, 2012.