"[I didn't take] a direct route into styling—I worked a million jobs. I grew up in LA, and all through high school and college I worked in restaurants, which I think made me more social. It's kind of like performing, in a way. When I moved to New York, I ended up working in a pizza restaurant called L'asso Pizza for two and a half years, and it was a lot of fun. It was a cool spot that was rampant with models and actors, but it didn't look like anything special by any means. When we would close, we'd all just sit around drinking and smoking inside the restaurant, which you're not supposed to do but you do, then we'd all go out. Every fashion person was there, and I met a lot of magazine people that I've known since then. I would go out in button ups, blazers, and tights, or maybe shorts underneath—never a bandage dress.

I did a lot of other things while I was working at the pizza restaurant, too. I worked in a knitting store, I did fit modeling for Vena Cava and a couple different brands, and then started doing some styling for friends. [I have] the weirdest resume. I definitely didn't have a huge history of being an editor when Garance hired me to be their fashion editor. They told me, 'Just put the clothes on yourself, see how you feel, and see how it looks.' I really took that and ran with it, because at this point I don't know any other way to style things except for trying it on myself and putting together an outfit. It's fun to put something on and then see it come to life in an image. I recently went back to photos where I was ten, and I was like, 'Honestly my style was so sick then, I'm just gonna keep doing that.' I had a brown polyester suit that was so rad! I still wear a lot of suits, and they're all vintage. I get a lot from The Real Real, but also from a website called Either And. I don't [usually] buy vintage in New York because it's too expensive, but sometimes I'll go to Metropolis in the East Village. I look for old Calvin Klein and really great Armani pants.

After a day of shooting I'll come home and use Bioderma to take any dirt or makeup off and refresh my face. Today, because I am prepping and trying to make my skin nice, I did a couple of masks and scrubs. I used this Murad Intensive Sea Radiance Peel first, which feels honestly like a lotion. It sort of starts out white and dissipates into nothing, and you rinse it off with warm water and a cloth. Then I used the Susanne Kaufmann Detox Oil Scrub, which is amazing because when you wash it off, your skin feels almost oily—not oily gross, just soft and healthy. I also have regularly been doing these lip peel scrubs by Make called Marine Lip Repair—you put the scrub on, and you put on this other part afterward that's like glue. It's like when you get a facial and they just glob on that goo afterwards. Your lips are shiny, and it's kind of maybe like having gloss on, but better. Then, if my skin's super dry after all those things, I'll use Bioderma Sensibio Mask to calm it all down. That one you can kind of leave on, and just wipe off. Then, I use January Labs Revitalizing Day Cream. It smells honestly like nothing, which is favorable to me, and is serum-y, not greasy.

I have bangs, which is almost like wearing makeup, because it's such a distinctive feature. I feel like bangs is really a look. My makeup look is minimal verging on nonexistent. I just started using the Make Moonlight Moisturizing Primer, but honestly I have no idea what primers are for. Then I use NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer, which also has SPF in it so it's good for when it's sunny, and the Glossier Stretch Concealer. I also have this Bare Minerals Powder which I like, and have been using for a while. I'll do a little bit of Nars Bumpy Ride blush and an old MAC bronzer called Eternal Sun, a little bit of a smudgy eyeshadow underneath my eyes with a Q-tip, and Maybelline Great Lash Mascara. Not waterproof—God knows how I would get that off. I'd have to buy another product to take off my mascara? No thanks. I use this little Dior Designer Palette in 708 Amber for my eyebrows and under my eyes. Recently, Make did a collaboration with Maryam Nassir Zadeh, and that eyeshadow palette is my favorite—I like to use Brick. For lips, tinted Lucas Paw Paw is the best for me, or a NARS lip pencil in a natural color. If I'm really honestly going to try to do a lip, I'll do Dragon Girl.

I have so many perfumes. My favorite is Kiehl's Musk, because you've never heard of it. [Laughs] Then this is a men's cologne that I've worn for a lot of years—it's Eau Sauvage, by Christian Dior. The first time I went to Paris, we stayed in a friend's apartment and that was in their bathroom. Ever since then, I've used it. I only realized it must have been the husband's when I went to go buy it myself, and the woman at the perfume counter was like, 'We don't have that here.' I went to the men's counter, and there she was.

I definitely don't spend two hours doing my makeup. I think my internal clock is always running 20 minutes late! In general, I'm just trying to get dressed—I keep trying things on and failing, or not feeling comfortable, or not having enough layers, or just not getting the thing right. That's always when you end up putting on something you already know works. I think my go-to is trousers, a t-shirt, and flats, but in the summer I'll wear a lot of slip dresses. If I'm just going to dinner, I'll bring a small purse. My favorite is a little Prada nylon sack, which I think is actually for your toiletries, or a Simon Miller bag. If I'm going out to dance, I like Lee's On Canal, which is essentially a big apartment that people rent and throw parties at. I might be blowing up their spot, but maybe it will be good because people throw more parties! If I really want a nice drink, I'll have a dirty vodka martini. Even if I'm tipsy, and I've already had a bag of chips, I do a routine when I get home. I take the makeup off again, and use Biologique P50 PIGM 400. If I remember, and nobody will be around who will be smelling my face, I'll use the Placenta Serum, which smells atrocious. If I use it on a regular basis, my skin looks better—brighter, clearer, and just has a better skin tone in general. As long as I'm not eating terribly, that's the truth."

—as told to ITG

Brie Welch photographed by Tom Newton on April 6, 2018.