'I redecorated my apartment and keep my bar fully stocked as a ploy to try to get my friends to come over and hang out at my place before we go out. That way I can get ready at my own speed. I need two hours to chill out and get ready if we’re doing something major—at least. The dream is to have everyone sitting around at mine, getting their buzz, listening to good music…basically entertaining me while I take my sweet time putting on makeup. It didn’t work though—I still have to take an $8 Uber to my friend James’s to meet up with everyone like three nights a week. He’s Enzo’s dad—this hairless cat that I always Instagram.

There’s a whole crew of us from Texas that hang out all the time. If it’s a special occasion—birthday, promotion, reunion—I’ll turn it out. But if we’re going to see a band or bar hop I do a straight-from-the-shower look. Wet hair, no makeup, slathered in moisturizer. I always use Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner. It truly is the best for my hair, and makes it smell really fresh—guys love it. I comb it out with a Tangle Teezer when it’s sopping wet using the Alexa Chung technique—straight part down the middle, then comb everything slightly forward and tuck the sides behind the ears. And then I rub Kérastase Oleo Relax through the ends and let it dry throughout the night. Though lately I’ve been going to my neighborhood salon on Graham Ave. called Hair Studio 73 for a shampoo and blowout. I just walk in with my Davines products and whoever isn’t busy will do me. Sometimes they’ll shampoo your hair like four times—no clue why—and they don’t use any product except for at the very end they put this gel just at the roots to keep everything really smooth and shiny. The blowout takes forever because as the walk-in sometimes they pause to go work on someone else, and the heat can be painful, but I’m serious when I say it’s better than any blowout I’ve ever had—and it lasts for days. They use a straightener to curl just the ends into big ringlets, then I walk home and brush everything out with a boar bristle brush so it’s all smooth and bouncy. I look like a pageant toddler at first, but a budget Adriana Lima when it’s all said and done. I just got back from there to finish getting ready tonight.

It feels like this special ritual when I really have time to get ready. I put on the same playlist I’ve listened to since I was like 20—a weird mix of The Black Lips, King Tuff, The Ronettes, Nicki Minaj 'Super Bass', Destiny’s Child 'Soldier'…Shakira’s 'She Wolf'—that one is embarrassing but really sets the tone for the night. Everyone should try it. The only time I light candles is when I’m cleaning my apartment on a Sunday or when I’m doing my makeup to go out. Carrousel by Byredo is the yummiest candle, and I’m really into Rose of No Man’s Land for perfume. Freja Erichsen and Craig McDean designed it. Chic. I spray it in my belly button because Liv Tyler said to.

If I’m going all-out and doing a makeup look, I start with ExfoliKate. Exfoliating before you put on makeup just makes a perfectly smooth canvas—you might have a little scab that developed over a zit or some flakes building up, and makeup isn’t going to sit nicely on top of that. There was a time I used to think that my face could take more makeup at night—that I needed to wear foundation to do a look. But full foundation looks like you’re wearing foundation—and isn’t that not the point? Plus if I'm going to be out late or not come home, having a face full of makeup will wreck my skin. I like to keep things light on my face in terms of makeup so I can just pass out, not put all that work in at the end of the night to take it off.

So after I exfoliate I do a hydrogel mask if I have time, and then a little cocktail of serums. Serums are my fancy going-out skincare routine—I coat my face and my skin just drinks them up. I use Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Serum for non-oily moisture, SK-II Ultimate Revival Serum and Chanel Sublimage L'Essence, which smooth and tone, and La Prairie Cellular Radiance Concentrate because it has gold particles in it and makes me feel expensive. I pat Makeup Artist's Choice Anti Aging Eye Repair just around the bottoms of my eyes—not on the lids because it’ll make things too greasy. I like this one because it doesn’t pill like a lot of eye creams. Then I massage in Glossier Priming Moisturizer. At this point my skin is nice and rosy and dewy, slightly sticky, for makeup. I do Perfecting Skin Tint and a mix of concealers if I need them. I like creamier formulas that sort of melt into the skin like RMS 'Un' Cover Up. If I’m doing any contour I’ll break out my Kryolan Camouflage Creme Palette, which is truly the best. I highlight tops of my cheeks, inner corners of my eyes, middle of my chin, and cupid’s bow using a tiny sample of RMS Living Luminizer. I’m constantly buying this stuff because every time I realize a friend hasn’t heard about it, I give them the whole jar—I’m like, just take it! And they still won’t come over… [Laughs] On my eyebrows, I use Boy Brow in Brown, even though a lot of people online assume I use Black because my eyebrows are so intense. I have a theory that girls are buying Boy Brow too dark because Black sold out before Brown. But that’s not the end of the world—I used to go out with black mascara on my eyebrows because I thought it was very chic and dramatic.

So besides the basics, when it comes to the fun color makeup, I’m a bit haphazard. I’ll take a little of one color from this palette, and pick up a little bit of another from a lipstick, put some here, flick some there…there’s no science to it, this is when I just sort of do what feels right. It’s my face, I know what I’m doing. Instead of contouring tonight, I used a Nars Multiple in Na Pali Coast blended from right by my ears, whooshed out below the cheeks. Then I blend whatever’s leftover from my fingers around my hairline, which gives everything a softer look.

If I'm doing an eye look, primer is necessary. I have these huge, oily eyelids that get pushed back into my skull when I open my eyes, so I need to use something that helps stuff stick. The Urban Decay Primer Potion is great—Urban Decay truly sets the standard for good eye makeup. Then for shadow, I'm using the orangey-tan shades from the MAC Trend Forecast Spring ’16 Eye Palette. I used Stila's Got Inked Cushion Liner in a metallic dark brown—just little straight horizontal flicks from the corners of the eyes with a small angled brush. Nothing irks me more than a curved cat eye. Tonight I’m doing a lip gloss on my eyelids— YSL Golden Gloss that I’ve had since high school. I’ll take it with me because I’ll probably have to reapply, just like with lip gloss on your lips. I use really gooey mascara just on the outer edges and kind of clump them together— Diorshow in Black.

My favorite, favorite, favorite lip liner is La Prairie’s Luxe Lip Liner in Nude. It’s super creamy and it twists up so you don’t have to sharpen it, but it’s fat enough so you can easily color in the entire lip. And it just like matches my lips perfectly, so I can overdraw them and you can’t really tell. Tonight I’m using Kevyn Aucoin Lip Gloss in Janelline over it. It's hot pink but super sheer. Kevyn Aucoin makes the best lipglosses.

My outfit depends on where I'm going—or if ITG is coming over to take photos. So tonight I went nuts and wore this vintage jumpsuit I’ve been dying to wear. It’s from What Goes Around Comes Around. James works there. If I'm going to a party, I’ll usually wear a vintage sheer Jean-Paul Gaultier mesh top or dress. I collect them, I’m on eBay alert. I wear them over some black underwear and a nice black La Perla Triangle Bra with these black Wolford tights that I’m obsessed with—I get a lot of deals on cool vintage and spend real money on nice underwear and these tights in particular. They have this high-cut lace panty woven at the top—you don’t want to be wearing ugly tights when you’re going out in a sheer dress, you know what I mean? And they make your legs look really long and skinny which makes you look taller. For shoes I always like to wear platforms when I go out. I have some Harley Davidson loafers that are nice and easy to walk in, but being short in a crowded room or at a show sucks.

Right before I leave, I brush my teeth with Aquafresh Extreme Clean Whitening Toothpaste. But it’s not so my breath smells nice, it’s so I feel fresh and minty. Plus the Aquafresh is quite potent—pretty sure it irritates my lips a bit, which makes them swell slightly. The One DIY Trick To At-Home Lip Plumpers Hiding In Plain Sight!'

—as told to ITG

Annie Kreighbaum photographed by Tom Newton at her home in Brooklyn on December 18, 2015.

Next up in going-out jumpsuits (and beauty routines): Fleur du Mal's Jennifer Zuccarini uses Uber for massages before a night out, Anja Rubik eats peanut butter to fill up before champagne, and more of the Top Shelf After Dark.