"Stranger Things" Actress Natalia Dyer Is Wearing Three Different Mascaras to the 2018 Critics' Choice Awards

For the 2018 Critics' Choice Awards, Stranger Things actress, Natalia Dyer, walked onto the red carpet with a makeup look that although incredibly pretty, was fairly standard when it comes to awards show beauty. A colorful flick of eyeliner (purple, to be exact), softly defined eyes, a nude lip, and the kind of radiant, flawless skin that can only come from being 21, having a professional makeup artist at your disposal, and nailing the genetic lottery. But what might come to a surprise to you is that there's a lot more behind this look than meets the eye. According to her makeup artist for the night, Vincent Oquendo, it took three different mascaras build up her lashes. Why three? I'll let Oquendo explain.

"The thing is that every mascara has a different texture. It's like hairspray. You have a light hold hairspray, a medium hold hairspray, and a strong hold hairspray. And a lot of people don't think about layering mascaras with different textures, but when it's done right, it's so pretty." Plus, he says, it's a key trick to use when you're creating subtle, sexy look like this one.

First, Oquendo broke out the Laura Mercier Long Lash Mascara and wiggled that into the roots of the lashes and up through to the tips. "It has a really soft, natural formula so it acts as a great base layer," he explains. Next — because remember, she's on the red carpet — he took Ardell Demi Wispies false lashes, cut them in half, and glued the shorter half of the strip onto the outer corners of her eyes.

Once the lashes were securely in place, Oquendo blended everything together using the Lancôme Grandiôse Extrême Mascara. "I wiggled the wand just along the middle of her lashes and pressed them with my fingers to kind of mush them together without squishing them flat. Then, if there were any areas where I wanted to add more mascara, I wipe the wand on my hand — because the Lancôme wand picks up a lot of mascara — and I lightly painted the formula through the lashes, basically streaking it across the false lash piece and her real lashes."

But even then he wasn't finished. For the bottom lashes, Oquendo broke out the Marc Jacobs Beauty Feather Noir Ultra-Skinny Mascara. "It's my favorite for bottom lashes because it has a super teeny little wand. Plus, the formula is super thin so it acts more like a tint. It doesn't actually bulk lashes up but just makes them look more noticeable."

For the rest of her face (all of which came before he put on his layer cake of mascara), Oquendo broke out some more of his favorite things. He mixed a blend of full-coverage foundation (Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer) and moisturizing serum (Dr. Barbara Sturm Hyaluronic Serum) and buffed that into her skin (the combo ensures long-lasting coverage without looking cakey). To add warmth and dimension to her skin he brushed a mix of the lightest color and the medium color from the Kat Von D Shade + Light Face Contour Palette along her cheekbones and creases of her eyes and topped that off with a bit of Benefit Hoola Light.

To create a flick at the outer corners of her eyes, he used Charlotte Tilbury Rock 'N' Kohl Liquid Eye Pencil in Elizabeth Violet, a purple eyeliner pencil. "I then scribbled the pencil on the back of my hand and used a brush to smudge the pigment along the lash line, so there was just a hint of the color." Finally, for the last hit of warmth, he used a pressed-powder peach blush from EX1 and swept that along the creases as well as on the apples of her cheeks.

See? More than meets the eyes — and more on the eyes than you probably ever imagined.

For more red carpet beauty tips, keep reading:

1. Gal Gadot's 2018 Golden Globes Makeup Featured This Drugstore Lipstick

2. What It's Like to Work Backstage at the Grammy Awards

3. The Most-Used Products on the Red Carpet

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