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Model Winnie Harlow is quarantining in New York City with her roommate, Asha. She shares her lockdown makeup secrets.
[Just because we are isolating from people] doesn’t mean you have to not talk to them. I’ve been talking to exes, I’ve been talking to friends, I’ve been talking to family more. I’ve been talking to everyone. It’s been a lot. I think that’s the only thing that’s keeping me from going insane. I always like to FaceTime…. but, like, I’ve been on FaceTime with everyone. I love it even more now because there is none of [the usual] human contact. Thank God for FaceTime.
I’m taking acting classes over Zoom. And one of my friends and I got Rosetta Stone to learn Spanish. He was like, “Do it with me?” I was like, “You know what? I’ve always wanted to learn another language.” It’s more fun when you have someone to do it with, and then you can practice. I’ve been reading Tales of Terror, [stories collected] by Alfred Hitchcock, a book that I pulled from school a long time ago.
This is a little backstory: The vitiligo around my eyes has moved a lot in the past few years. So people will always ask me, “How do you do your makeup?” But it always changes because my skin always changes. I used to just put eyeshadow on top of my skin, but as my brown skin is coming back more on my eyes, I naturally have dark circles from both my mom and dad. I couldn’t get away from them — I’m going to have dark circles, no matter what. And because that area is coming back brown, it’s very, very dark. So, I tend to put concealer and foundation on my eyes before it starts. Because I did that, I warmed up the area a little with a bit of brown eyeshadow, just to not make it look like a flat foundation surface.
When I’m doing makeup for home, for something like this, I will put on mascara, just a bit of concealer, a little bit of foundation; did my brows, as always. My brows must be done. I just got a new mascara from Honest Beauty. I love mascaras that have the spiky wand, because I feel like those give you the most length. You could use Benefit They’re Real [mascara], but They’re Real is for if you’re going to a wedding and you know you’re going to be crying, because that sh*t does not come off. I’ve been trying to look for a mascara that has a similar wand, and I was looking online and saw Honest Beauty Extreme Length Mascara had a good brush. I got it, and it’s nice. It makes my lashes look like I have extensions, I think.
The bodysuit I’m wearing is Kim [SKIMS]. I get [sent] the Kardashian gear when it comes out, but when SKIMS came out, I never got anything. I was so upset. It was around January [when] I gave [Kim] this chain to say, “Thank you for the KKW x Winnie Harlow collab.” I think I went to her house for lunch and she was telling me all about SKIMS. I do watch the show, so I’m kind of updated. But my update stopped there. I was like, “I haven’t gotten any!” And she was like, “I didn’t think you wear stuff like that.” And I was like, “Girl! Every woman uses shapewear!” She was like, “OK, cool. I didn’t know you would want it.” I [was] so excited to get that little box. I got, like, two pairs of underwear, a bodysuit, and a bra. Every time I’m at a shoot now and they have SKIMS stuff, I take it.
I have so many products, because not only have I always loved products, but my mom’s a hairdresser. She’s a certified cosmetologist, so I have always been around a lot of hair products, and she has always been obsessed with skin products. I used to buy a lot of products, and I’d test them out, see if I liked them. I wanted to be a YouTuber when I was, like, 17, so I always [sit] in the bathroom by myself and talk to my “audience” in the mirror. Be like, “OK, so now we’re going to go in with this BB cream.” Yeah, I do all that.
But I’m not wearing a lot of makeup while I’m in my house. I do always like to fill in my brows a little bit. I use just a little marker — L’Oréal [Paris] Brow Stylist Sculptor or Stila All Day Waterproof Brow Color pen. Just put a few strokes in empty places. That’s the most makeup I really wear in my house. And some lip balm.
It feels good to do my hair for something. Even for Zoom calls, I’ll do my hair and my brows, and then that’s it. If I’m shooting something? Yeah, I’ll do my makeup. But then, definitely take it off and just be chilling. Like FaceTime calls? No one’s getting makeup. Even when I’m calling my friends. I’m used to seeing my closest girlfriends with their wigs off, no makeup, their headscarves on and stuff. But my guy friends? I usually see them out and about, and they have their fresh lineups, and, like, their hair sorted out and stuff. But I get on FaceTime with guys, and they’re looking all scruffy. They’re like, “Yo, I wasn’t even going to answer.” I’m like, “Who cares? We’re all in the same boat right now. I know what you look like on a regular basis. It’s cool. We’re all in caveman mode. It’s all right.” Let me tell you, the wig is off. I got a T-shirt and panties on all day. I get up and look in the mirror, and am like, “Girl, you ugly! But that’s OK because I know your potential.” It’s all right. We’re going back to that.
Recently I was watching YouTube videos and this one video came up of this really pristine karaoke mic, and I bought, like, three or four of them. Just because eventually this will be out. This will be done. We’ll get back to socialising. And I was like, “That could be a nice addition to my place. A little karaoke vibe?” Just getting prepared for…we’re going through the worst, so that the best will soon come. This too shall pass, as my mom always says.