'My fiancé [Steven Rodriguez] does my makeup. I’ve known him since we were in middle school. We had been friends for a long time, and then one day 10 years ago, somebody mentioned to me that he had moved to LA to do makeup. I ran into him and was like, 'Do my makeup! It'll be really fun for both of us!' And then about five years ago we got together. He makes me up for red carpet and editorial stuff. Sometimes I’ll do it myself and he’ll be like, ‘Do you want me to fix that?’ Since my daughter always sees him doing my makeup, she thinks that all daddies put on mommies' makeup. [Laughs] In an ideal world!
When I do my own makeup, I do as little as possible because I wear a lot of it on set. Meg on Bloodline is somebody that takes care of her hair and makeup—that’s part of her persona. It's not heavy, it's just a lot of different things, so I try not to do that in my own time. I like really natural looks, and that’s sort of Steve's thing. He has a philosophy, which is that most people go out of their way to cover their flaws. They concentrate on what they don’t like about themselves and they forget to concentrate on the things that make them look the most beautiful and unique. He takes what's there and accentuates it.
On my eyes, he always uses a Lorac palette that’s really great—it's called Unzipped. I also like the Charlotte Tilbury Color Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencils—they're so glittery and fat. For mascara, I love the Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes wand.My skin is very light, so I always use bronzer—today I'm using Too Faced. I let Steve do my brows...because we live together, when I touch something, he notices right away. When I want to look put-together but don’t want to put on a ton of makeup, I use concealer, mascara and then some cheek and a nude lip. Lorac Porefection Concealer is good for every day, and I use the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage at work.
I used to have this bad habit of trying something new right before I would go to an event or go to work, because I thought it would be exciting and new and refreshing—if you have sensitive skin at all, that's a complete mistake! Some things just don't work on me—like, I always have to put on Vaseline before I apply lipstick because my lips will peel and react more than anything else on my face.
My skin is very dry, so even though it's expensive, Crème de la Mer is worth it. I resisted for a long time, but it's really good.When I don't want to pay for that, I like Whole Foods' 365 Moisturizing Lotion. I use an Epicuren Herbal Cleanser with the Lancer Polish to exfoliate. On my body, I love Pure Fiji's Coconut Sugar Rub. It’s really slippery, but it doesn’t wreck my clothes. It's good for me with traveling and being in the air conditioning in Florida, which can be rough on my skin. I’m always on the lookout for natural products—with my daughter we try to use stuff that’s organic, but I’m actually allergic to a lot of grasses, so sometimes synthetics actually end up working better for me. I was trying to use a natural deodorant for a while, but then I switched to the Dove 'Go Fresh' one. I tend to go back and forth.”
—as told to ITG
Linda Cardellini photographed by Tom Newton on December 15, 2015.
More actresses and their daily routines: Olivia Wilde talks candidly about how her roles change with her hair color, Gal Gadot shares her favorite Israeli mascara, and Katie Holmes moisturizes more in Los Angeles, less in New York in The Face.
