"I went to dental school in Bergen, which is the rainiest city in all of Europe, and we're very proud of that. I started in 2007 and ended in 2012. But I was also interested in fashion, so I worked for Harper's Bazaar in Serbia and I started a blog. I never imagined you could earn money in fashion, which is kind of why I went into dentistry. But now I do both. It took a while to learn how to juggle the whole shebang. The first thing I learned was not to think more than a half hour out at a time. If you start thinking about everything you’re supposed to do, you’ll never get it done. One thing at a time.

However, as a dentist, you can’t really wear lipstick! You have the mask and it just doesn’t work. It’s a horrible mess, and if you move the mask, you get lipstick on your nose. But at night, when I go out, I swear by a lip, because you don't need a mirror. You can just dab it in. And it’s always a dark. My favorite is Ellis Faas in Dark Blood. You can layer it with a darker shade as well, the more you layer it the more red it looks. Sometimes I use the Chanel Les 4 Ombres Eyeshadow in Candeur et Experience. I have naturally brown eyes but they have this green undertone. I like to enhance it, so for that I like to use plum or red. I’m one of those strange people who actually uses red eye shadow. It’s really great. I have this super nice color here. It gives a kind of heroin chic look, but we aren’t going to go there. [Laughs] Like you just woke up and you’ve rubbed your eyes. I think that’s super sexy.

I actually use the Glossier Balm Dotcom as a highlighter on my cheeks—it's a good natural highlight, which is great. Then, I use the RMS Lip2Cheek in Demure. It gives you these kind of frostbitten cheeks. The warmer tones are a bit too much on me. I swear by my Eyeko Brow Gel, too. It’s a super nice brush and separates really nicely.

My skin all comes down to being dewy. I use Ellis Faas Foundation, and what I love to do is mix it with Aesop's Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant Serum. I’m really all about creams for beautiful texture, too, like the Elixir Cosmeceuticals Smoothing Cream. I use their Elixir Pads, which stink so badly and are a daily treatment. For cleanser, I use this MCeutic Pro-Renewal Cleanser. I like that kind of science-y skincare.

My hair is naturally curly. I wash with the Rahua Shampoo and Conditioner—I love that brand. They also have this amazing Omega 9 Hair Mask. It just locks moisture into your hair in such an amazing way. Obviously when you have curly hair you need moisture, but it’s so hard because it can get too greasy, or too heavy. Rahua actually works. I use the Ouai Finishing Crème to style it, but I also like to use Rahua conditioner as a styling cream. I'm not paid to endorse the brand [laughs] but for curly hair, it's the best. I'll usually just let it air dry after showering, collecting the split ends with a hair straightener for the whole wave thing. And I'll put it up in a super soft bun, because I love my neck. The neck is always very important.

I love Le Labo Thé Noir, but I broke it right before coming here. My whole bathroom smells like it now which isn’t bad. It’s very intense, because Le Labo never does an easy scent. I love masculine and clean scents. I think that one combines what I love—the mix of the absinthe and the soft rice. I always like to use a fragrance that's interesting. That makes you wonder who the wearer is. I think that’s what a good scent is supposed to do."

—as told to ITG

Irinia Lakicevic photographed by Tom Newton in New York on February 11, 2017.