"I started my YouTube channel when I was 10 years old—I'm 17 now, so I've been playing with makeup for as long as I can remember. First, I would just look up videos to learn things like how to sew, and then I found the entire beauty community and became obsessed with it. After watching a ton of videos, I just decided I was going to try it out and I kept with it. My favorite thing is a natural but glam look, but I don't wear makeup every day... I can't go halfway, because I know what I'm capable of, so it's either all out or nothing at all. [Laughs] On days when I’m just relaxing, I really like to not wear any makeup at all. But then again, on lazy days, it can be fun to get all glammed up for no reason.

In the morning, after I prep my skin with a First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pad, I've been using this Tarte Brighter Days Highlighter Moisturizer that's like a two-in-one and it's everything I could've asked for. I prime with that, and then for flawless-looking skin, I use a little Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer. It can be a bit heavy but it doesn't budge and covers everything. I'm also using the Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealers. It comes in a bunch of different colors with a great wand that helps contour all over your face. Foundation and skin products are where I splurge because I really do think it makes a difference and your skin will look great all day. The most extravagant thing I have is this YSL Touche Éclat Blur Primer with gold flakes in it. I don't know that you need it, but it is very nice!

If I'm going anywhere that I feel pressured to be touched-up and looking great, the only thing I bring is this Becca Multi-Tasking Perfecting Powder. It’s just a mini powder foundation and I use a tiny little brush to touch up any spot on the go. I can even pack it underneath my eyes if I need extra coverage. Becca makes great products—if I could only use one product, it would probably be the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Liquid Highlighter because it automatically makes you glow wherever you need.

My first YouTube video was actually a brown smoky eye how-to, but I actually don't think I'm the best at eye makeup. If you're looking for close-ups with sharp lines and rules and stuff, maybe I'm not the girl for that. But I can do an overall simple, realistic look. For a long time, I was sticking to browns and purple tones, but I've started to play around with oranges and blues and peaches lately. The Too Faced Sweet Peach palette is nice, and I just did a collaboration with Colourpop that featured a bunch of blues and pinks and purples. Using color all over my eye makes me feel runway-inspired—I'm very open to that kind of thing.

For mascara, I like the Better Then Sex by Too Faced—that's my longtime favorite. I've also used Benefit They're Real, but I usually recommend Maybelline for mascaras and eyeliner. You can end up spending a lot of money on those products at Sephora, but realistically they do the same thing as the drugstore product. That's why I'm always coming back to Maybelline."

—as told to ITG

Amanda Steele photographed by Tom Newton in New York on January 10, 2017.