Gemma Chan’s Guide to a Simple, Smudge-Proof Red Lip

The English actress breaks down her beauty secrets, from depuffing skin care to a red lip that’s perfect for a casual night out.

Gemma Chan’s Guide to a Simple, Smudge-Proof Red Lip

“Beauty for me is about self-care, and having some time for yourself during the day,” says Gemma Chan—even if that time is only a couple of moments, as is the case for her own less-is-more complexion routine. “My mom was very keen on skin care and beauty, and she got me started in my teens cleansing, toning, [and] moisturizing,” she recalls. “That was her number one rule: always make sure you look after your skin.” Now, at 38, the English actress and Crazy Rich Asians star continues to heed her mother’s advice—some days more successfully than others, she adds with a laugh—by way of a hyaluronic acid serum, a caffeine-infused eye cream, and Augustinus Bader’s cult moisturizer (not to mention a few depuffing tools, including a vibrating eye massager from Foreo).

A handful of pore-perfecting products come next: She dots Bobbi Brown’s long-lasting foundation and peachy color corrector just where she needs it, brushes YSL’s Touche Eclat over any blemishes and shadows, and sweeps a Tom Ford bronzing powder down her temples and across the tops of her cheekbones. Keeping her eyes simple with a wash of shadow and a subtle coat of mascara, Chan then moves onto her beauty signature: a muted, cherry-hued mouth. “It’s a really easy way to wear a red lip,” she says of her three-step method. First, she reaches for Charlotte Tilbury’s “invisible” Pillow Talk pencil before lightly dabbing L’Oréal Paris’s Color Riche onto the center of her lips. One secret weapon provides the finishing touch: “The trick is we use a fluffy eyeshadow brush, and we just gently buff out the color,” she explains, blurring the rich pigment. Plus, she adds, “I’m not going to be worried about it smudging”—as if the scene-stealing, soft-focus effect weren’t reason enough to give up hard-lined pouts once and for all.

Below, shop Gemma Chan’s Beauty Secrets.