Kaia Gerber’s Guide to Face Sculpting and Minimal, Sun-Kissed Makeup

Plus, the skin-care hack she picked up from supermodel mom, Cindy Crawford.

Kaia Gerber’s Guide to Face Sculpting and Minimal, Sun-Kissed Makeup

Supermodel Kaia Gerber has taken the fashion world by storm, and it was her extensive travels for work that ultimately inspired the now-19-year-old’s approach to beauty. “I found I would get really lonely in hotel rooms,” recalls the Vogue cover star, who began to lean on certain practices to feel comfortable in cities far and wide. “That’s why I developed a skin-care routine, because it was something familiar that I would do every night when I got home… That’s what prompted me to start taking better care of my skin.” Though the pandemic has led Gerber to renounce crack-of-dawn call times and a non-stop schedule that had her crisscrossing the globe, she’s continued to keep up her above-the-neck regimen—in fact, perhaps now more so than ever. “I’m really appreciate of the year that I’ve had off because I’ve been able to evolve with my skin-care routine and figure out a more updated version,” she explains.

For Gerber, it all begins with a Youth to the People Superfood Cleanser followed by a gentle exfoliating toner, skin-saving niacinimide, an eye oil, and two sculpting tools, which she stores in the fridge. “I think everyone should roll their face,” Gerber says, before noting with a laugh that even her father Rande Gerber is a fan: “I had so many different rollers and they all started going missing, and I found out that it was my dad who was stealing them!” With a chiseled visage, Gerber picks up her most crucial complexion hero: sunscreen, which she makes sure to apply to her face and chest every morning, rain or shine—a pro tip instilled in her from a young age by her mom (and style icon), supermodel Cindy Crawford. Ultimately, adds Gerber, “I feel like skin care is one form of meditation for me, like I know I have that 20 minutes in the morning and night that I’m just doing something for myself.”

Removing her short lengths from her go-to Celine scrunchie, she then dives into her makeup arsenal. “When I was in high school, I used to [pile it on]… It was a fun time to experiment with makeup,” she says, recalling a particular affinity for bright blue shadows and Greenday’s Billie Joe Armstrong-inspired liner. But, “Now, because my job involves experimenting with makeup, I tend to tone it down,” says Gerber—who, in her career, has had Swarovski crystals glued to her face and had her brows dyed nearly every shade under the sun. YSL’s Touche Eclat tinted moisturizer and a hint of concealer provide a lightweight, even finish, while a cherry-colored lipstick, dabbed onto her pout, comes in handy in more ways than one: “We’re not getting sunburned, because we don’t want wrinkles, so we’re going to fake it,” she says, as she dots the creamy rouge across the apples of her cheeks, down the bridge of her nose, and onto the outer corners of her eyelids for a just-back-from-the-beach glow—no UV rays required.

Below, shop Kaia Gerber’s go-to beauty products.