“I would say the best advice I’ve ever gotten is that what’s right for you is what’s yours,” admits Issa Rae. “It really helped me get through times when I was feeling down about myself. When something is mine and I’m ready, I’m here, baby.” It’s safe to say that this has really been Rey’s season to shine.
The star, shot to fame with the success of the Awkward Black Girls YouTube series and the Emmy-nominated HBO show Insecure, will be making multiple appearances on our screens this summer. She played Jessica Drew (aka Spider-Woman) in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and played the president in Greta Gerwig’s long-awaited Barbie movie. Off-screen, Season 2 of her HBO Max comedy series Rap Sh!t aired in August . With such a tight schedule, you might wonder how Rae stays grounded enough to emerge as a creator and leader. Part of the answer is her beauty routine, which she tells us about today. Here, she details her daily skincare regimen and office makeup.
Rae is a self-proclaimed morning person, or in her words a “5 a.m. girl” who prioritizes exercise to start her day. “And then you can find me here—[doing] my skincare routine.” Ironically, her daytime ritual actually begins the night before. “Without my [Olehenriksen] Dewtopia, there would be no morning routine,” she says. “I haven’t had a breakout in a year and a half since using this product, not even a period breakout.” In the morning, she buffs away the signs of her PHA/AHA treatments with a Cetaphil cleanser, followed by a layer of petroleum jelly on her lips and a soothing oil on her scalp. “I do it in the mirror, but I feel vulnerable doing it in front of you,” she says, massaging in Dr. Barbara Sturm’s Dark Skin Moisturizer. “But it’s Vogue, and when Vogue calls, you answer.” A little eye cream, sunscreen, and Tata Harper facial oil rounded out her skin prep.
“Am I a makeup artist? No, have I ever done this before? No, you asked for it, you asked for it. You clicked on the video. Okay?” With that disclaimer out of the way, she began using Shiseido foundation to flatter her complexion, followed by NARS Concealer and Fenty Beauty Loose Powder. “Bronzer really helps create a radiant look,” she says, dabbing Prime Beauty pigments on her forehead, cheeks, and chin in a figure-three shape (a trick she learned from makeup artists). A bronzer also added radiance to her eyes, layered against a reversed copper hue. After a precise application of liquid eyeliner and mascara, she opted for a vibrant purple blush. MAC’s Maroon Lip Liner and Sigma Beauty Lip Gloss complement her bronzed complexion perfectly. She spritzed Chanel N°5 eau de toilette and was ready to go. “It was signed by President Barbie,” she said. “Thank you so much for being on this journey with me.”
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