“I love everything about LA. I love how green it is, I love the weather, I love being around liberal, like-minded people. I was born and raised in a super small town in Ohio. I wanted to come to LA right out of high school, but my mom wouldn’t let me, so I moved to Cleveland for a couple years first. I was a dancer from like two until 21. Dance is such a hard world. I would go to casting calls—they call them cattle calls, because there are literally 400-plus girls auditioning for two positions. I did go-go dancing in West Hollywood as a side job. During the day I was the front desk girl at Gold’s Gym Hollywood. My shift was the 6AM, so I had to be up at like five after I had been go-go dancing until two. I was always late, but that was one of the best times of my life. I met my dance agent at Gold’s. Then I started working with a choreographer and creative director on the business side. It was very natural for me—I’m a very organized person and I like to take care of people. I got to travel the world with Erica Girardi, and that’s what really transitioned me out of dancing.
After that I did styling, and that was not for me. It’s so much work—schlepping bags, the returns, emailing people. I am just not that passionate about fashion. However, I did style a commercial for Robin Antin’s brother. One day she called and was like, ‘Hey, Kim [Kardashian] is looking for a new assistant, would you want to interview for it?’ Then you know, the rest is history. I definitely didn’t know what I was doing. I stopped working for Kim almost a year ago, which is crazy. Now I’m just kind of on my own, trying to figure out what exactly I want to do.
When I was 21 to 25-ish I was out in the streets every night. I was going out so much I only knew the day of the week based on what club we were going to that night. Like, 'oh, we’re going to Teddy’s tonight, it must be Monday—that’s how my life functioned. Now I’m ready to just have a Netflix night in and go to sleep early. I’m definitely in a transitional place in my life.
There’s a really, really good dance party called Shabbaaaaa that happens once a month. I try to go to that one to have one night out. They play the best music, and you can just wear your sneakers and dance. I also like 143. They play all of the good early-2000s Ashanti and Ja Rule. My boyfriend and I love a Matsuhisa moment, the sushi place on La Cienega. Obviously Craig’s is a staple. They have a really good vegan chicken parm, and it tastes just like regular chicken. Gracias Madre is good and Crossroads is bomb. You go to Crossroads for brunch, I am telling you, they have a breakfast sandwich that tastes just as good as the McDonald’s one, but there’s no egg, there’s nothing—it’s all vegan.
For the record, this is all my own hair. I look the best with long hair, although I think I need to cut it at this point because I slam it in my car door all the time. I trust Jen Atkin—she’s one of the best, but she gets scissor happy. She’s like, ‘Should we cut your hair?’ I’m like, ‘Every time I see you? We’re out at a restaurant!’ I alternate between the Ouai shampoo and conditioner, and whatever else. Right now I’m really loving Biolage—my mom and I used to use it when I was growing up, and I just love the way it smells. I could wash my hair every day and be fine. It’s just the texture of my Asian hair, I guess—my dad is Japanese. Cass Kaeding colors my hair because I have a little patch of grays. I always joke with her like, ‘I’m ready to go blonde!’ I sleep with my hair in an old school scrunchie. Sometimes I put it over the back of my bed or the back of my pillow.
When it comes to skincare, I use these Yes to Tomatoes face wipes. I like that they’re not oily. I get oil bumps really easily, and those are just clean and pretty natural. For face wash I use my dermatologist’s—Christie Kidd. She changed my skin, changed my life. I only use her cleanser and I cannot live without it. It’s just so clean, and it’s really thin. If I’m going to put makeup on, I put on Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream first. I do tone with the Christie Kidd toner, but it depends on how my skin is feeling. I’ve kind of got it down to a science—I know if it’s too dry, or if I shouldn’t do the moisturizer. If I don’t wear makeup then I really like the Dr. Sebagh Luminous Glow Cream. It’s a little pearly, so it just kind of gives you a glow. The Drunk Elephant night serum I do once a week—it’s so cute, isn’t it? My favorite sheet masks are from this brand, MaskerAide. It’s just a super easy thing and they hydrate. I also like the Patchology masks—I like to put them in the fridge because they’re really gel-y. And I’m excited to try the Shiseido ones—apparently these under eye ones are really good, the Benefiance Wrinkle Resist ones. TBD. There’s something, too, about the mental part of putting it on. And I do like these Peace Out Acne Healing Dots. The Dead Sea Mud I’ve got on deck, just in case I want to do a full-body mask. And I like this nighttime cream from Dr. Sebagh. I just do neck and chest—always neck and chest. The MDNA Rose Mist is a really good spritz. And then this thing which is so crazy that I got on Amazon. I don’t really even understand the directions—there are spelling errors and they don’t make sense. It’s like a zapper. If you have a pimple somewhere, you just kind of zap it and it literally gets rid of it in a day. It’s a Portable High Frequency device. I think my friend’s mom told me about it.
Another thing I do is use the NuFace once a week, but [if I have a big event] I go to Dr. Diamond. He’ll do a PRP. Right before I went to the Vanity Fair party I did the PRP and the Forma with him. The Forma is like a workout for your face, and it just tightens. PRP is the thing where they draw and separate your blood, so they get just the plasma. I’ve done it like three or four times and I feel like it really works. You can also inject it. So like right here under my eyes, it’s a little tired and sunken in, and I don’t want to do filler there. Putting a little PRP in there stimulates your own collagen growth, so you actually see it plumping without having to use fillers. It’s just your own body going back into your own body.
I do my own makeup for events—it’s expensive! I can do it in ten minutes. I don’t do all of the baking and whatever. Today I did the Charlotte Tilbury liquid concealer, her new one, Magic Away. Really impressive. It has the little sponge, and I just do a little bit right here under my eyes because I have rosacea there. So a little there, a little to brighten the middle of my forehead, and on the sides of my chin because I have scars from when I used to break out. If I’m going to wear more makeup, I’ll do the Luminous Silk Foundation by Armani. And then I’ll do the Fluid Sheer, which is just a glow, and I’ll mix them together. Then I use a little touch of the Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate—I swear by this. I have Intensity 1, and I use some of the brown contour with an angled Laura Mercier brush. I just kind of buff it up at my cheeks a little bit. Maybe a little on my forehead, and on the jaw. I don’t like to make it too harsh. And then I’ll do a light dust of the Magic Powder, or Laura Mercier powder, or Koh Gen Do. I’m not really particular about it, and I just do it on my cheeks because I like the rest of my face to be glowy. Then I’ll do the Benefit Hoola, which is the best—no shimmer, just so good. I’ll do that a little on my cheeks, along my jawline, and I’ll put some on my eyelids because I don’t wear eyeshadow. If I’m feeling really extra and I want some highlight, I’ll do this Becca one in Champagne Pop. Becca’s highlighters are so good, but I don’t always use them because they’re intense. Then I’ll do my brows with Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Brown. I do my brows myself, or Kelley Baker does them. This girl Audrey Glass microbladed my brows and it’s changed my life—she’s so good. My brows weren’t symmetrical before, one was really small and the arches were different, and this just fills it in so I don’t have to do my brows every day. And then I’ll use Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara. It’s more of a fluffy mascara, but I do like the Ardell Top and Bottom one, too. The bottom one has a really thin brush, and I like to use that for my top lashes when I’m going for a more subtle look.
For lipstick, I’m just a nude girl. Simple, neutral. There’s this new lip liner that Kim came out with in Peach 1 that I like. It’s a really natural, nice lip. I finish it off with my Glossier Balm Dotcom—Birthday is everything to me. It smells so good. I have all of them—Birthday, Mint, Coconut. I love Glossier Lip Gloss too, if I really want to pump up the volume. It’s the best gloss, it really is. It’s just so clean and thick. And then I’ll do the MAC Fix Spray all over my face, just a big spritz. That’s pretty much it. The Sally Hansen Airbrush is also a really good hack, though. I step in the shower and spray my face. It’s like a quick little bronze, and you’re ready to go. It gives a little coverage, too.
In terms of scents—Bum Bum cream, oh my God. It smells so amazing. For perfume I do L’eau D’hiver from Frédéric Malle. I’ll mix it with Carnal Flower and use that in my hair as a mist. They smell really cool together. If I feel like having a night where I do all the things, I’ll do the La Mer lotion, but she’s an expensive girl so we use her sparingly. It’s so exhausting to do 15 minutes of beauty every night. If I’m really going for it I’ll do that, and I love Bio Oil. I’ll do this and wear long pajamas.”
—as told to ITG
Stephanie Shepherd shot by Tom Newton in Los Angeles on August 21, 2018.
