Rachel Brosnahan on Minimalist Makeup and the Beauty Lesson She Learned From Playing Midge Maisel

Watch “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star take us through her beauty routine, from her go-to drugstore cleanser to her ultimate skin-care indulgence.

Rachel Brosnahan on Minimalist Makeup and the Beauty Lesson She Learned From Playing Midge Maisel

“When I’m working a lot, it can be really, really hard to find the time to take care of myself, to just relax,” Rachel Brosnahan tells Vogue on a recent afternoon. Today, however, the 30-year-old two-time Golden Globe–winning actress known for her role as Midge in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, has managed to carve out the space for herself to indulge in her above-the-neck routine. As she puts it, after washing her face with a gentle Cetaphil cleanser (her longtime go-to) and applying one of SK-II’s cult complexion sheets: “Even taking 15 minutes to do something like a face mask can make you feel rejuvenated and brand-new.”

Though Brosnahan has become well-accustomed to sitting in the makeup chair for up to two hours on a set, on a day-to-day basis she prefers a more natural look that can be achieved with just a handful of products. “My makeup routine takes quite a bit less time than it takes to transform into Midge Maisel,” she confesses. “Midge feels her best when she’s fully dressed to the nines with a full face of makeup on, and I think I feel my best when I look a little more like myself.” To that end, in Brosnahan’s hands, heavy foundation is replaced with a sheer tinted moisturizer and two concealers, which she blends in with her fingers. “I’m a big in the back of a taxi or on the subway makeup person,” she says of her brush-free approach.

There’s also an eyebrow pencil-and-brush duo from Chanel; a multipurpose apricot-color balm rubbed onto her lips, apples of her cheeks, and her eyelids; and a generous coating of Sisley’s volumizing mascara. “Especially if I’m not using a liner, I’ll really pump up the mascara,” notes Brosnahan, who finishes it all off with a sweep of her “very well-loved” Chantecaille skin-perfecting powder. All in all, it’s a less-is-more approach that makes it easy for the star to take a page from Mrs. Maisel’s own beauty book. “One thing that I definitely learned from playing Midge would be not to go to bed with your makeup on,” Brosnahan says. “Big, big hard no!”

Below, shop Rachel Brosnahan’s Beauty Secrets.