'I never set out to be an actor. My dad is involved in theatre here in Los Angeles, but I just liked being the center of attention when I was little—I didn’t think of it as acting. My parents were nervous about me getting into the business because of all the potential rejection, but I started auditioning for things and it all just sort of happened. I did some commercials and then I got the part in Girl Meets World in January 2013. I play Riley, the 13-year-old daughter of Corey and Topanga from Boy Meets World—the show is the same as the original in that it’s the world through the lead character’s eyes. But it’s also completely different because it’s a new time now. What I’m most proud about is the show’s honesty…the head writer, Michael, writes really smart scripts that don’t talk down to kids. As a 13-year-old, that's really cool to watch.

SKINCARE

My skin is oily. It’s hereditary—my mom has it, too. It’s getting better in the winter though cause it dries out a little bit. I’ve started getting pimples in the past year…I hate hormones. I use this On The Spot acne treatment for stuff like that. I also use Murad Daily Cleansing Foam. It feels easy and not too mature for my skin. And then I’ll follow up with Murad Clarifying Toner, which is a new step for me because my makeup artist recently told me how important toner is if you have oily skin. This one is lightweight but it gets the job done. Then I have the Neutrogena Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub because I have blackheads, and I hate them. But I don’t do that everyday so that I don’t over-exfoliate.

GROOMING

I’ve never plucked my eyebrows! When I was in sixth grade, all the girls had thin eyebrows and I thought thick eyebrows were really ugly, so I hated them. But then last year, I realized, maybe mine are good after all. I use High Brow from Benefit, which I need to resharpen because it’s a mess, but I put it right on my brow bone, like right above it, and it just makes your eyebrows pop.

HAIR

I can get by with makeup, but I do not know how to do my hair. If somebody else is not doing my hair, it just goes up in a bun and I don’t touch it. It’s awful. It used to grow straight down and dry partly wavy, but I just got layers and I’m still getting used to it.

MAKEUP

Before I use anything on my face, I like the Glossier Priming Moisturizer. It’s a good base because it plumps up my skin and makes it happier. On the show, they’ll use the Glossier Soothing Face Mist on me, too. Even if I’m not filming, the thing I use every day is YSL Touche Éclat #2. It goes under my eyes because I’m blessed with dark circles, and then I highlight my cheekbones and Cupid’s bow. Sometimes I will powder my t-zone because it gets really shiny—I use MAC Blot Pressed Powder in Medium. I don’t know how the heck to contour—I mean, I live for those YouTube videos, but I can’t do it on myself much—but somebody used the Kevyn Aucoin The Sculpting Powder in Medium on me at a photoshoot and it looks super nice. I just put it below my cheekbones and just a little bit on my forehead because that’s all I can figure out to do. Then I’ll use cream blush because I think they’re prettier. Stila Convertible Color in Lillium is nice and dewy. And then Tarte has really good lip colors. I like the Alluring Lipsurgence Matte Lip Tint—it’s a barely-there pink and you can build it.

My mascara is the L’Oréal Voluminous Miss Manga mascara in Black Brown. I’ve literally gone through every single high-end mascara and I always come back to the drugstore one cause it just looks so natural. It’s totally brown though—I don’t know why they named it Black Brown. That’s brown to me. The brush looks totally intimidating and awful, but when you put it on, it just lengthens. But sometimes, I don’t want the look of mascara, so instead I’ll just use the Kevyn Aucoin eyelash curler without any product, which is incredible.

If I am feeling more fancy, I’ll do eyeliner or something, but other than that, my mom kind of watches my makeup so it has to be easy and not too much. But my makeup is completely different for the show. A lot of people say things like ‘Oh my gosh, you look so perfect on TV. Why am I not as pretty as this girl?’ What they don’t realize is how I sit there for an hour, getting pounds of foundation. I’ll look natural on camera, but I’m wearing tons of makeup for the lighting and everything. It’s a TV show, so you have to have that element—but nobody should be getting up and doing their hair and makeup like that before school. That’s the part that people don’t see.”

—as told to ITG

Rowan Blanchard photographed by Emily Weiss in Los Angeles. For more of The Face, click here.