Laura Harrier Shares Her Easy Evening Makeup Look and the Skin-Care Routine That Cured Her Acne

Model-actor Laura Harrier opens up about her struggles with acne, her favorite skin-care products, and the glowy date-night look that never steers her wrong.

Laura Harrier Shares Her Easy Evening Makeup Look and the Skin-Care Routine That Cured Her Acne

Model-actor Laura Harrier has graced screens for films like BlacKkKlansman and captured attention on the Oscars red carpet as well as the cover of magazines. Modeling since the age of 17, the model has spent more than her fair share of time in the makeup chair. But it wasn’t until her late twenties, when she struggled with cystic acne, that she developed a serious skin-care routine. “I think it was hormonal,” she explains. “I was traveling a ton and I was probably stressed. It was really alarming and upsetting…[and] that really forced me to get even more into skincare and do a lot of research and try to figure out how to balance what’s happening on my face.”

What she’s found to work, first and foremost, is her KORA Organics Sleeping Mask. In the morning, she washes it off with water and a fresh muslin cloth. “I keep a whole stack of them in my bathroom because I feel like washcloths and towels scratch my face a little bit,” she explains. Up next is her cleanser, which she rubs into her skin in an upward motion. “I was told that helps to drain your face and I’m into lymphatic drainage. I feel like it depuffs everything.”

For toning, Biologique Recherche’s infamous P50—diluted with water on a cotton pad, and applied to the neck and face—does the trick. Clarin’s eye cream is followed by a set of serums: Biologique Recherche’s Placenta Serum and IS Clinical’s Pro Peel, which the star has been using for years. When it comes to daily SPF, Harrier turns to a formula from Control Corrective. “As a woman of color, it’s so hard to find sunscreen that doesn’t make me look grey or ashy or leave a weird film on my face…This brand doesn’t do that at all.” A few mists of orange blossom water, found at a Parisian pharmacy, finish off the skin-care portion of her routine.

Beginning her makeup, Harrier dots Rare Beauty’s foundation across her face. “I remember when I was younger and I was modeling, it was insane how many people couldn’t match my skin tone,” she recalls. “I remember crying on set.” These days, Harrier has been happy to see how the beauty industry has become more shade inclusive with brands like Rare and Fenty. Glossier’s Boy Brow, her essential everyday product, is applied in an upward motion, followed by contour, highlighter, and blush—all applied à la main—for a subtle glow. A sandy-hued eyeshadow from Fenty warms up the lid, right before her “smudgy” Huda Beauty liner look. Glossier’s Lash Slick mascara tops it all off. Harrier then traces her pout with a brown Urban Decay liner, smeared in with her fingers for a lipstick look. For extra shine, she adds Fenty’s lip gloss. “I was really anti-lipgloss for a long time. But then I discovered this and I love it,” she shares, right before blowing a kiss and bidding us farewell. “That’s all I got!”

Filmed at Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills

Below, shop Laura Harrier’s go-to beauty products.