"I always follow the same regimen before I go out, starting with the Institut Esthederm L’Osmoclean Deep Pore Cleanser. I need to do all my skincare before I get into the makeup, and I am obsessed with this brand—my skin changed when I started using it. You massage your face with the cleanser, rinse, and then follow it up with the Lightening Buffing Mask. I put that on, and later on, I massage it so it crumbles. It's gentle, it exfoliates, but nicely. Sometimes I'll do the Sisley Eye Contour Mask, too, if I feel like I need it.
Before I put makeup on, I'll prepare a tea—my favorite is Mariage Frère Thé Des Impressionnistes. If I don't have to go out, I'd always rather be drinking tea at home with my cat. Sometimes I’ll take so long to get relaxed and then I feel rushed and feel like I don’t have time to do my makeup! [Laughs] But I love to do it myself, instead of having a makeup artist do it. I know what I need to do to look OK. I see some girls who look so cool with no makeup, and I think, 'I wish I could look good with nothing on!' I don't. But it's OK, because I'm obsessed with makeup. I like the idea of not doing anything crazy, but doing little things that make you look like you.
The Laura Mercier Oil Free Foundation Primer is my first step. Then Chanel Vitalumière Aqua Skin Perfecting Sunscreen Makeup. It’s super lightweight. I like my foundation to be a little bit darker than my skin tone, so that if I'm being photographed, the flash doesn't make me look pale. Sometimes I'll put on Make Up For Ever Extreme Camouflage Cream, which is pretty awesome for coverage, or Laura Mercier Eye Basics in Wheat. The Laura Mercier is an eyeshadow primer, but I use it under my eyes like a concealer. It’s kind of orange, so it works on my dark circles, and then I add the Camouflage Cream on top. I want my undereyes to look healthy.
On my brows, I'll use Laura Mercier Brown Copper Eye Pencil—there's a little bit of gold in it, and I like when my eyebrows are glowy. I also use it around the eyes. For eyeshadow, this YSL Pure Chromatics Palette No. 8. I use the white color mostly—it blends really well with your skin and just makes your lids look kind of shiny. Sometimes I'll do eyeliner with this MAC Retro Black Fluidline Pen. Diorshow Mascara is awesome. I've worn it for 15 years. I have very long eyelashes and I don’t really like when they look longer—I prefer they look thicker, and Diorshow does that.
I see all this contouring and I'm like, 'That must be hard to do!' I don’t even know how to do it. I feel like everyone who contours looks the same—I don't want to look the same. [Laughs] I use Chanel Sunkiss Ribbon Blush, just a little bit on the apples of my cheeks with a fan brush. And Laura Mercier Invisible Powder to finish because it's the best of the best. My lipstick depends on what I wear. I have this orange bag tonight, so I’m gonna wear an orange-y lip. My favorite lipsticks in general are MAC Ruby Woo, Dior Rouge Star Fuchsia, and Dior Rouge Red Muse. MAC Giambattista Valli Eugenie is also really good, and all you need is a little.
It took me forever to find a perfume that I like. Sometimes you meet someone and their scent is so strong, you feel like it’s almost their personality. And I never had that, I couldn’t find anything. One day I went to buy mascara or something and the woman was like, 'Can I put some perfume on you?' I told her I had never found a fragrance that I liked—and she showed me Anaïs Anaïs Premier Délice by Cacharel and I fell in love with it. So I'll usually wear that before I go out. Or I'll just wear a little bit of vanilla extract. It's very difficult for me to go out and not wear something. Whenever I forget to wear fragrance, I think about it all night."
—as told to ITG
Roxane Mesquida photographed by Emily Knecht at her home in Los Angeles. Interview by Yasi Salek.
For more of Roxane, check out her The Face interview. For more of the Top Shelf After Dark, read all about Riley Keough's pre-night out beauty routine.
