'I've always been very specific about products. But I really did go through a phase where you couldn't pay me to pick up makeup. Now I'm in a phase where I like makeup, but I approach it in a different way—I actually think it might be a more mainstream way than it used to be. While I still very much enjoy experimenting and playing, I also find it very reassuring and comforting to know that there are a handful of makeup products that I will use every day in a routine. It’s almost like going into your closet in the morning and having literally no idea what you’re going to wear versus getting up and knowing, at least partially, what your uniform is. Even if it’s that I have the same pair of black underwear, 13 of them, and I know that’s the underwear I’m going to wear every single day under dark clothes. It’s one less thing I have to figure out. And it feels comfortable because I know how I’m going to look.
But I still absolutely love trying new things. It's been one of my passions in life since forever. My grandmother was obsessed with Clinique and I would live for her gifts-with-purchase. So now, what’s interesting is I’ve tried probably thousands of products, I’ve been through many phases with my skin, and from that, I was able to create something. The process of making the Glossier products feels like art. It’s such a creative rollercoaster developing a product, because it’s never good enough, you know? It’s like, could this be better? Am I making the right decision with leaving this in, taking this out? When we're testing something new, I feel like a method actor—I don't want to fuck around with different variables, so it becomes the only thing I use for a while. And then what's also amazing is that after a year, I'm still using the products and they still work. I get up and I can do it with my eyes closed.
SKINCARE
My skin's pretty basic—it's not particularly oily, it's not particularly dry, and I'm not acne prone. When I was in my 20s, I was getting hormonal acne under my chin, which wasn't a good look. But other than that, I'm just sensitive. When I get out of the shower, I'm pretty red. That's why, especially with the Glossier products, I figure why not just use stuff made for sensitive skin? We've been testing cleansers—we actually have the final formula of it now, thanks to a lot of input from our readers and our chemist—so I use that to wash my face. I pat it dry and apply the Priming Moisturizer—sometimes I add in a serum. Shu Uemura Deep Sea Hydrability Intense Moisturizing Concentrate feels like it's giving me extra moisture when I put it on damp skin. Or sometimes I use Beauty Drops #3 from Future Cosmetics Boutique, which is an Israeli cosmetics brand. That one's a little more like a dry face oil. And I've also been using an undereye cream just for extra moisture—I'm not looking to get rid of dark circles or de-puff or anything like that. Neutrogena's Hydro Boost Gel-Cream Eye is one that I've been carrying around. When it's super cold out, I like Crème MSR-H from Biologique Recherche. I really like the smell—it's a bit like Palmer's Cocoa Butter—and I heard the Olsen twins use it.
MAKEUP
When we developed Glossier, we wanted it to be skincare designed to make you look good right away and almost that functions as makeup. And now what’s really cool is I’m playing with makeup in order to figure out what Glossier’s perspective on makeup is. Usually, I layer on Perfecting Skin Tint under my eyes or around my nose—anywhere I want a bit more coverage. I put some on my finger and put it on like war paint—I squeeze, I swipe on one cheek, I squeeze some more and I'll swipe on the other cheek, a little more and I swipe down my nose. Then I'll blend out. We've also got our first color product coming out soon and I don't want to say too much yet but it's really special—so I always have that in my bag. Then I have Nars Het Loo Satin Lip Pencil that we did a great campaign on for Into The Gloss a year and a half ago with Laurel Pantin—it's a great ‘90s color. Like, brick-ish, brownish red that's opaque enough to give you that Kylie Jenner coverage, if you want that. It really does give you that look that's like, ‘What lip color are you wearing? Wow.’ It’s a statement, so I only put on a little bit, and I mix it with lip balm.
Last year, I went to Seoul with Alicia Yoon from Peach and Lily and found a lot of things that I really love. Moonshot was one of my favorite stores there—cool space, great products. I have their Loose Aqua Finish Powder and I don't know what's in it, but when you put it on, it feels wet even though it's a dry powder. I've always liked the idea of translucent powder, particularly on my t-zone in places I don't want to shine. This one feels like it's really sticking to your skin, which I find very satisfying. Then Benefit Hoola Bronzer is one I've always used because it doesn't have any shimmer. It's really good for a little contour to break up the face. So I'll do that under my cheekbones, across my jawline, and along my hairline super fast. There are things I can do without a mirror and Benefit Hoola is one of those things. Same with the Smashbox LA Lights Blendable Lip and Cheek Color—I love LA so maybe that's why I grabbed it initially. The shade is Silver Lake Sunset and it reminds me of Nars Douceur in color, which is one of my favorite shades of powder blush. I've been enjoying cream formulas and this one gives you a bit of highlight and a bit of color. I'm really not a big blush person though—I find it gives you a girly look. But this one doesn't look so much like blush.
The little black dress of my makeup bag is the Tom Ford Eye Defining Liquid Liner Pen. I rarely use it, but it's one of those things you have just in case you get invited somewhere. But it's not an easy product to use—there's a thick end and a thin end and it's really drippy. Usually I just do a line on my top lids, but right now I'm really inspired by Jennifer Connolly and the girls in the Fall Vuitton ads who have this dark, thick line under their eyes.
BODY
My fiancé and I just moved into an apartment that was built in the 1930s, which is great because it means the bathroom is really big and has a separate tub. Just about every night, I take a 20 minute bath to unwind. I'll use like half a bag of epsom salt and add a few drops of ylang ylang oil just because it smells really nice. My tub has a nice nook for a candle, and my favorite one right now is Burning Rose by Byredo. It's actually the same one we burned all summer in the Glossier Summer Fridays Showroom. Their packaging is just insane—I also have the Bal D'Afrique Bath Oil. It could not be more beautiful so I always keep it out. It moisturizes and also subtly foams.
And then, the other thing I’ve been super into are scrubs. I find it very hard to find, and I’m still on a quest for like, the best body exfoliant that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, because you use so much of it, so it’s gone in three servings. I recently discovered the store Erewhon in L.A. and they have a lot of great, all-natural scrubs I've been trying. In general, I like shopping in health food stores or places like that because they tend to have these very artisanal brands that always smell like food. Right now I'm really liking this Brightening Macadamia Hydrating Scrub from Prada Labs. It smells sort of like nut butter and it exfoliates but it doesn't leave a film on me—plus it clings the right amount so it doesn't all just fall on the floor the minute you try to scrub.
So I'll scrub, and then I'll use Bonpoint Creme Corps, which is my favorite lotion ever. The reason is because it sinks into my skin pretty fast and doesn't feel slick. But the real reason I love it is because of the smell—it really does smell like the best baby smell ever. That said, if you're looking for the ultimate disappearing act for body cream, this thing called Rovectin Anti-irritant Barrier Repair Body Lotion. Again, it’s a thick lotion, but it really seeps in.
The other thing I love is my deodorant. I’ve been through Secret, Clinical Strength, you know, all of these things… I don’t have a big problem, I basically just have one simple need which is I don’t want to smell. I don’t even mind sweating that much because at this point I’ve given up on silk blouses and like things that are too delicate to live in. So my main concern is just warding off smell. The best one is called Truly’s All Natural Long Lasting Cream Deodorant. It’s all organic, and it really is all natural. The only ingredients in this jar are organic coconut oil, organic powered sugar, baking soda, and beeswax. The thing that’s gross about this is you have to use your fingers—and who wants to like, touch their armpits _ever in my opinion? It’s not an area you want to massage. [Laughs] So that’s the only kind of gross part is that every morning it’s like, I need to scoop pea sized amount into my fingers and massage it in.
HAIR
I hit rock bottom with my hair in December of last year. I realized I just had a really really horrible haircut, by everyone’s standards. It wasn’t even, like, ‘fashion girl cool.’ Like in any way. It was sort of like a multilayered mullet, and either I would’ve had to just cut it super short or just let it grow. And I decided to let it grow and in the meantime experiment withextensions, and that was a really fun process. I met Priscilla Valles, who does the Kardashians and Chrissy Teigen, and she's really a master of her trade.
So I did that, and now I took the extensions out and got a quick haircut from Jen Atkin just to level it all out and I’m just waiting for it to grow. And actually, I’m really happy. I haven’t seen my natural hair color in a long time, but I’m actually pretty happy with it. So I don’t think I’m going to color it for a while. I think I’m kind of over that phase, and I think I’m going to just settle into my 'best' hair look and stay there, if that makes sense.
My all-time favorite shampoo, I believe, because I keep coming back to it, is Christophe Robin's Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt. I read this month in Vogue that it's the best-selling shampoo in at Sephora in France. Yes, it's expensive, but it lasts a really long time. It's meant for sensitive and oily scalps—both of which I have. And it's moisturizing—I don't even use conditioner after it.
In 30 years I've never really learned how to style my hair—I actually don't know what to do with styling products beyond something like Elnett Hairspray. Though one thing I've been using recently is this Show Premiere Dry Shampoo. The packaging is very glam when I found it, I used it just like I would any dry shampoo, without a mirror. But I looked at my hair maybe four hours later—I looked great! It didn't just get rid of my greasiness, but made my hair more tousled. So that's my one styling product that I really like.
FRAGRANCE
Historically, I latch on to one fragrance for a particular period of time and then that fragrance winds up sort of coming to define that time in my life, so I’ll keep the empty bottles. I was just moving and I was smelling the jars, and it was the most nostalgic thing. I’ll smell it and be like, ‘Oh my God that reminds me so much of that one summer when…’ Right now, my favorite one that I’ve worn for probably the last year is Le Labo's Gaiac 10, their signature scent for their Tokyo store. I can’t even describe what it smells like. The only thing I can say about it is that it seems really intimate. When you catch a whiff of it, it smells like you're in that person's space.
My second favorite one right now is the Chanel Eau de Cologne—and I think that’s literally just the name of it. I always wondered, is it a particular number of the Eau de Cologne? I don’t think so. I think it’s just called Chanel Cologne and that’s the name. It’s citrus-y, and it’s boyish.Very crisp and sort of masculine and kind of bright which I haven’t normally liked. I usually lean towards sandalwood.
HOME
I have gotten really into sheets lately. I was like, ‘I need a proper sheet set. I want all matching: fitted, flat, duvet, euro sham, give me all of it.' And I discovered (thanks to Eva, our Social Media Editor) Matteo Los Angeles. And they make everything in the US, it’s a great linens company, and so I bought all their sheets and now their towels. You know you’re becoming an adult when you go on vacation for a week to Los Angeles and your only thing you buy is towels. It's funny the things you get excited by when you turn 30.”
—as told to ITG
