"I'd never considered myself a visually creative person. That was more my sister's thing—she was this amazing painter, and I could barely draw a stick figure. [Laughs] Writing was how I experimented with creativity. I started writing about fashion when I was 25, and I got to meet all of these incredible designers and fall in love with their clothes. I knew some photographers, and I'd slowly started pulling pieces and styling some shoots. After that, I booked some catalog jobs, and that's where I learned the technical side. The rest followed after that. Now there's a lot of fashion going on in Toronto [where I live]. It's getting there, and it's a lot of fun in the meantime.

HAIR
To be honest, my schedule is so busy, I don't get a lot of chill-out bath time. My favorite thing to do, instead, is a relaxing shower. We have a steamer in the shower, so I'll really indulge in that. Then I wash my hair with Kevin Murphy's blond shampoo, which my stylist friend recommended to me because my hair does get quite brassy. It's natural smelling, and it's lightweight. I have very heavy hair, so I love that about it—it doesn't seem to add any weight.

I'm in the process of growing it out, but right now, I like this blunt cut. My whole life I've had really long hair—then I experimented with pixie cuts and bobs and the like, so I've been enjoying letting it grow. The guy who cuts my hair, Brian Phillips at World, has this sugar spray called Up Natural Holding Spray that I use instead of regular hairspray. It's pretty amazing. If my hair looks unruly, that's fine. When it was shorter... Well, let's say I just owned a lot of hats. [Laughs]

MAKEUP
Lise Watier Tinted Veil is my new obsession. I use it during the day, and I normally don't wear foundation, but I love it so much. I use Sephora's Bright Future Color Corrector in Green for redness, just some little dots. I don't really get dark circles, but I do get these weird spots on the top of my cheekbones, so I'll also use the Sephora Gel Serum Concealer in Custard. I alternate between the color correctors, but I never quite look too made up. Sometimes I wear a little Estée Edit Beam Team Hydrate and Glow on my cheekbones. Blush doesn't work on my cheekbones—it always feels too doll-like. Instead, I'll just do a little highlight.

Sephora's Cream Lip Stain in Pretty Beige stays on. You have a few glasses of wine, and it's still where it's supposed to be, and it looks great. When you're hauling bags around and you're on set, sometimes you look in the mirror and need a little something. This just makes my day better. Otherwise I'm wearing World Believe Hair and Skin Balm, or this Buxom Full-On Lip Polish in Dolly. It's very light, almost like a natural lip.

My mascara is Buxom's Blackest Black, which goes on really nice and smooth. But this Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Espresso I'm obsessed with. I could never swap it with anything else. Even if I'm just staying at home, I'll put on an eyebrow gel, because I don't love the shape of my eyebrows. Mine are a lot smaller... Well, actually, it's not that much of a difference, but I start them closer together. Someone once told me that when your eyebrows start closer together, you look younger, so I feel younger when I do that. Now it's just me.

SKINCARE
Most of my skincare happens at night. I'm not really a morning person—usually it's a mad rush to even get coffee—but nighttime is a bit more chill. Before bed, I get rid of all of my makeup with Sephora's Coconut Water Wipes. It feels really fresh and my skin doesn't react to it. The older I get, the more sensitive my skin feels. I've started noticing a lot of redness lately, and I've recently been using this brand AlumierMD, which has a line that helps with rosacea and redness. I use their sunscreen every day and I like that.

As far as moisture, I used to just smear a bunch of coconut oil all over my face, but a lot of my friends were shocked when I would tell them that. I think it’s a bit too heavy to do that all the time. I just picked up Vichy's Moisturizer and I think I like that one the best out of everything I’ve tried. Something on the thicker side works for my skin, as long as it absorbs quickly.

I'm out of them right now, but there are two serums that I love and they're both all natural. One is from Toronto, called Garden, and the other one is Harlow, from Vancouver. I love them equally. I remember the first time using Harlow, my face was like a baby’s butt. And that was when my skin was at its worst—rough and bumpy. A few days after using it, it was like a different face. So I really need to put that order in.

FRAGRANCE
I love men's cologne more than women's. I get this Aventus Cologne by Creed for my boyfriend and it's so good. He has people come up to him to ask him what he's wearing all the time. I would never spray it on me, though. Instead, I love rubbing up on him a little bit when he's wearing it. I just like the essence of it, you know?"

—as told to ITG

Joelle Lit photographed by Tom Newton at her home in Toronto on June 6, 2017.