'It’s really cool to be a freelance stylist in Paris. I love it because I know everyone here from my time working with Carine Roitfeld [at Vogue Paris]. I used to model a little bit, too—I was the worst model. [Laughs] I hated it. But it’s good, even when you’re bad at it, because you get to have an understanding of how the clothes feel. Though my own style is very clean, for my shoots I like to have fun, especially with the makeup and hair. It depends on my mood, which can change really fast, and the story that I choose, but I like making characters.

I love beauty. The first thing I would do at Vogue Paris was read all of the beauty news—I used to love those beauty supplements with all the addresses and things. They were really good. They still do it, but last time it was all about New York, so I’m waiting for another one with Paris addresses.

For skincare, I wash my face with either La Roche Posay’s Foaming Gel or Avene Eau Thermale Gel, and every two days I use them with the Clarisonic; it’s really nice. After I wash my face, I use La Roche Posay Serozinc Zinc Sulfate Solution Cleansing and Soothing, to wash off the calcium from the water. In France, there is so much calcium in the water and it’s catastrophic for your skin and hair. The Serozinc is super good because it’s like a toner with alcohol in it—it cleans out your pores, and it’s refreshing. Twice a week, I’ll do a mask. I love the Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque, because afterwards you feel really, really clean. Then, I might put SkinCeuticals Hydrating B5 Mask on top.

I’m really into SkinCeuticals—my friend who lives in New York introduced me to it. I especially like vitamin-C-based things, like the Phloretin and the Ferulic. It’s anti-aging, pore minimizing, and protects my skin from pollution. Those are actually the only products that have ever made a visible difference for my skin. Afterwards, I moisturize with one of my two favorite everyday creams, which are French pharmacy products— Avene and La Roche Posay. My eye cream is also La Roche Posay, Redermic Yeux.

During the winter, when my skin gets dry, I use Avene Rebalancing Soothing Emulsionon top of my moisturizer. My pharmacist recommended it. I also take this SkinCeuticals Hydrating B5 Gel at night in the winter, and SkinCeuticals Retexturing Activator Resurfacing and Replenishing Serum in summer. They help balance me out.

I prefer to use tinted moisturizer— Clinique City Block Sheer—to even out my skin tone. I don’t like foundation, because it doesn’t look or feel good; foundation doesn’t look real. It’s not an advantage. You don’t see much makeup on French women, and I like that approach to beauty. I just apply YSL Touche Éclat concealer under my eyes. Then, with a big brush, I put on Dr. Hauschka Compact Translucent Face Powderto take away shine—for me it’s all about matte. I apply once in the morning and I touch-up once a day. For a bit of sparkle, I always wear YSL Terre Saharienne Bronzing Powder.

For my eyes, I like the lids to be smoky and pink—I think reddish eyelids look great, especially on brunettes. I smudge out Estée Lauder eyeliner and then wear Clinique Chubby Sticks in #8. I’m desperate because they stopped making that color. I put the same color on my lips and my eyes because my eyes are really deep-set in my face, so it helps to wear something that’s not too dark—dark color makes me look tired. For my lashes, I use Maybelline mascara and curl them with the Shu Uemura curler. It's amazing.

If there’s one thing I’m really crazy about with my hair, it’s Rene Furterer’s Dry Shampoo. It has more of a silkening effect than most dry shampoos. When I actually shampoo my hair, I put in Kiehl’s Magic Elixir Hair Restructuring Concentrate ten minutes before I shower. It moisturizes your scalp and everything. The longer you keep it in, the better it works. I like to try new shampoos, so I’m always changing them. Right now I’m using La Roche Posay Kerium Doux Extreme. And I use Sunflower Color Preserving Deep Recovery Hair Pak from Kiehl’s to maintain my color. I get my color done by Antony at David Mallett, and it’s holding up, so I think it works... I’ve had bangs for twelve years. Once I cut them, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m never gonna go back.’ I’m a little bit shy, so I can kind of hide behind my bangs—it’s like having a little curtain.

For my body, La Roche Posay Lipikar Huile Lavante is a really good shower gel, especially when I have dry skin. I hate perfumed shower gel, and this one is super cleansing and not so hard on my skin, plus I love the packaging. I use Kiehl’s Gently Exfoliating Body Scrubsometimes, too, because the scent is not too strong. Exfoliating is so boring, but I can tolerate it when there’s a nice scent.

In terms of perfume, I love Diptyque L’Ombre dans l’Eau, which means 'shadow on water'—I love the name. I was really into this Tobacco Mucho by Stéphanie de Saint-Aignan, but you can’t get it anymore. My boyfriend, a clothing designer named Damir Doma, wears Comme des Garçons 2. He also designed one for Six Scents: No. 2 by Damir Doma.

I get gel nails done at Vesna. Right now I’m wearing OPI Malaga Wine. Vesna's the best in my neighborhood because in Paris, store hours are so restricted, and Vesna stays open until 10 o’clock at night, which is crazy late for here. With styling, I do so much with my hands, so I prefer a gel manicure but can’t take it off myself. Oh well.

I have the same problem with French gyms—they all close so early and I prefer to workout late. When I was in Berlin, I was always going to the gym at 11 at night. I’ve started doing Bikram yoga here because they have the best schedule—there’s a class every two hours. I want to get really into it. It’s so good for your mental discipline.

Style-wise, I've been getting back into jeans—Levi's classic 501s—which I haven’t been interested in for a long time. It's just that I see so much fashion that I get fed up with it, and I just want to return to classics. Everyone is so contaminated with so much information that you’re just like, ‘Let’s please be simple.’'

—as told to ITG

Anna Schiffel photographed by Emily Weiss in Paris on March 4th, 2013.