'I came to Cannes just to absorb the event. I’m an actress and a TV presenter on M-NET, or DSTV, which is an African company. It’s basically a bit like E! Entertainment—it’s a lifestyle magazine show called 53 Extra. We interview celebrities, cover events, and profile people, and just have our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in Africa. It’s based in Lagos, Nigeria. I’m actually half Nigerian. [After university in London] I moved back to Nigeria for a short period to spend some time with my mom, and ended up auditioning, and getting the job. So I ended up staying. It’s been a hundred episodes, two years. But now I’m going back into film, which I love, and I’m shooting my first film in August.

My beauty routine: I’ve tried every beauty product ever. I’m not really one of those people who sticks specifically to a brand, but I’ve used everything from Dermalogica, to Liz Earle, to Eve Lom—I find that changing it up helps my skin. But I have favorite moisturizers: I love Kiehl’s, the classic facial moisturizer, and I use that as a night cream as opposed to a day cream because I’ve got oily skin. I use a lot of Becca makeup—they originally started in Australia, but they’ve now gained traction in London. They’re beautiful, beautiful makeup products, and that’s the only makeup I wear on my face.

This lipstick is YSL Rouge Volupté. I have a few of these colors, ‘cause they’re just so great. They’re beautiful-looking, as well; they’re a great little accessory. Lipsticks are my favorite thing in makeup. So, I wear a lot of MAC, ‘cause obviously MAC has hundreds of colors. There’s a color, So Chaud, which is an orange red, that I’m really into right now because it’s more modern than a classic red. I mean, I think everyone has a Ruby Woo somewhere in their makeup bag. I also like the Russian Red and the classic MAC Red, but the So Chaud has a lot of orange in there.

I’m wearing the YSL liquid pen thing, which is pretty amazing—such an easy application—‘cause I’m a liquid-liner person. That’s my go-to look if I’m bored: just a bit of liquid liner and some shadow.

I change my hair a lot—I just went blond. I wear colored hair extensions at the moment because of the work that I do, and also it’s a good way of taking care of my own hair. I don’t wear the damaging extensions; I kind of weave my hair up, which is a good secret to have. I use Moroccan Oil, and all the hair masks that Moroccan Oil does. They’re really great because Lagos is really dry so my hair needs a lot of moisture. I use KeraCare, too. It’s for black hair—'cause I’m mixed-race, and I have a lot more Afro texture, so I need greasier products to keep it alive. I love dry shampoo, the one in the yellow bottle. I always get it from Sephora.

My style is very eclectic; it changes a lot. I do dress very cinematically in some ways, depending on how I feel, and I kind of felt very Cannes this year. Maybe I was inspired by all the Marilyn photos, those ‘50s, by-the-Riviera looks of old movies. I have a stylist, and we always put our heads together. She didn’t really need to style me for this, but she insisted that she send me some stuff.”

Edewor is wearing a dress by London designer Virgos Lounge (“they’ve just started being stocked at Topshop,” she says). Photographed by Emily Weiss in Cannes, France on May 25th 2012.