Madison Beer Doesn’t Let Her Skin Define Her

If anyone embodies a modern fairy princess, it’s Madison Beer. A simple scroll through her Instagram pulls up no less than 10 photos of the 22-year-old musician in corseted, ruffled minidresses, and her visuals for her latest single “Reckless” borrow heavily from fairy tale imagery. While it’s not all cotton candy under the surface—Beer’s debut full-length album Life Support is centered on her mental health struggles and a toxic breakup—there’s no one out there nailing the dreamy vibes the way she is.

This makes her the perfect face for the new Victoria’s Secret fragrance, Tease Crème Cloud. The campaign, shot by Mario Sorrenti, features Beer right at home floating among the clouds. “It was honestly so much fun,” Beer says of shooting the campaign. “It was a very whimsical, daydreamy vibe the whole time. Being a Pisces, I was in my element, and it was so much fun.”

Not only was it a perfect fit, but it was a full-circle moment for Beer. “I’ve definitely been shopping at Victoria’s Secret my whole life,” she says. “So I’m really excited to be working with them on this fragrance collection. It was really cool that with a brand so massive, I really felt like I could still be myself and that the team was really open to all of my ideas. And they were really making sure that the campaign felt authentic to me.”

It’s safe to say they succeeded. In honor of the new fragrance, we caught up with Beer for a round of Glamour’s Big Beauty Questions. Read on for her must-have products, the TikTok she’s obsessed with, and what she wishes everyone understood about acne.

Glamour: How does wearing Tease Crème Cloud make you feel?

Madison Beer: It’s a very whimsical fragrance. I think that’s the perfect word to describe it. It feels reminiscent of a daydream or clouds floating through the sky, which is exactly what the shoot is. It’s kind of soft, sweet, but still sexy because it has amber. It has vanilla meringue and santal flower, so it has a mixture of feeling whimsical and daydreamy, but also it definitely makes me feel sexy at the same time.

Victoria’s Secret Tease Crème Cloud Eau de Parfum

$78.00, Victoria's Secret

What’s one beauty trend you’re obsessed with right now?

I have an obsession with blush. Now I’m like the biggest blush fan ever, but I only just started getting into it. It’s funny—I used to never wear blush; that and lipliner were the steps that I would never do. But now I can’t live without either of those things. And I love the over-usage of blush now, I feel like everyone’s drowning in blush, and I love it so much. My favorite is the Charlotte Tilbury light wand; I'’ll do that first, and then put the Fenty blush on top of that.

Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Highlighter Wand in Pinkgasm

$38.00, Charlotte Tilbury

Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush

$20.00, Fenty

What’s one beauty rule you swear by?

Never sleep with your makeup on.

And one you think is B.S.?

That you need to have a 30-step skin-care routine to have clear skin. I’ve struggled with acne for the majority of my life, and I literally only use two to three products and it gets me through. But I definitely remember when I was in the height of my worst skin, I was googling stuff, and it was like, “You have to do this and this and this.” That might work for some people, but for me personally, I like to keep it simple.

If you could use only three beauty products for the rest of your life, what are they and why?

Face wash, because I just need to always feel clean. I’m very weird with that, so I would never be able to live without a face wash. I’m a cofounder of a skin-care line now, Know Beauty, which is awesome. I really like our Clarifying Cleanser; it’s really, really great. It makes me feel very clean but not stripped. I also love the Calming Day Moisturizer—it’s my favorite product from Know. And then I would say honestly the perfume. I think Tease Crème Cloud is a delicious scent, and I love smelling yummy.

Know Beauty Clarifying Cleanser

$24.00, Know Beauty

Know Beauty Calming Day Moisturizer

$26.00, Know Beauty

You've been pretty open about your struggle with acne. Is there anything you tell yourself when you’re having a “bad skin” day and feeling down?

Learning that it doesn’t define you is huge—that was a huge thing that I had to accept. It doesn’t make you any less beautiful. We’re human beings, and we can’t be so hard on ourselves for something human and natural. And honestly, it’s something that most people can’t control. Mine was hormonal, so I cannot control that. I feel like that’s just another flaw with society that hopefully is changing—women particularly are expected to be perfect all the time, but we have pimples, dark circles, wrinkles, cellulite, whatever. It’s deemed like a negative thing, but I actually think that it makes you human. And these are beautiful things.

Not to go too much into my brand, Know Beauty, but that was a huge reason why I wanted to be a part of it. I want people to understand this isn’t about forever—like, I still break out once in a while. I feel like so many things are marketed as if you’re never going to break out ever again and it’s going to make you look perfect. But it’s like, No, you still might break out, but this is going to help keep it under control; you need to have a routine that you feel comfortable with. It comes from within you to feel sexy and feel confident, and I don’t think that things like a pimple on your face should like reduce that.

What’s your getting-ready music?

It’s ’50s music. I don’t know why, but it makes me feel very elegant and like I’m more put-together than I probably am. So I love my ’50s playlist.

What’s your favorite way to take a moment for yourself?

I’m a big bather for sure. I love that; it’s nice alone time away from my phone, away from my boyfriend, away from my friends. It’s just time for myself. I think it’s really important to recharge and be alone, even if it’s just 15 minutes. Especially for me, I get overwhelmed really easily. So I’ve just created this safe space of boundaries, where if I turn to my boyfriend or turned to one of my friends and I’m like, “Hey, I actually need an hour alone.” They’re all like, “Okay, yeah, makes sense. You’re so overly stimulated all day; it only makes sense for you to need time to yourself.” It’s also about having those people around you who really understand and who really care about the well-being of you.

What is the last Instagram or TikTok rabbit hole you went down?

Oh, my God, I just went down the craziest rabbit hole of this guy who’s like a car detailer. He uses the new three-minute feature on TikTok for every single one of his videos, and I think I watched at least 30 of them. I was just glued to my phone watching him clean like the nastiest, dirtiest cars into the cleanest, most pristine-looking things. It’s a satisfying thing, but it’s a whole new level of like, “Oh, my God, it’s so—they’re so filthy, and he makes them so clean.” It’s so satisfying.

You have $20 and you’re let loose in the drugstore. What are you buying?

You know what, I actually feel like this would be a fun challenge. I always get really frustrated when I’m in my car and I forget to pack my makeup when I’m going out. I always drive, so I wish I had just like a bag of super-cheap makeup in my car that I could just throw on if I needed. So I’d probably get a little powder compact, I’m going to get a little blush compact, I’m going to get mascara, and I’m going to get deodorant—that’s super important. So I think those would put me at around 20 bucks.

Who are the women inspiring you the most right now?

I think I’ll always answer my mom. Her ability to persevere and be a warrior over the last couple of years has been so inspiring. And she’s just so incredible. I would have to always give her credit when it’s due, and so the answer is going to be my mom forever.

What’s the best beauty advice and best life advice she’s ever given you?

Beauty advice? Don’t sleep with your makeup on ever. And life advice is “Never question your intuition and always trust your gut.”

Bella Cacciatore is the beauty writer at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @bellacacciatore_.

Originally Appeared on Glamour