Watch Joan Smalls’s Guide to Sculpting—Not Contouring!—Your Skin
“See this muscle?” says Joan Smalls, pointing towards one of her impossibly toned biceps. “[It’s] not because I work out, it’s because I blend.” And the Puerto Rican supermodel has the smoky feline flicks and radiant skin to prove it. On a sizzling August day in New York City’s Soho neighborhood, Smalls is bringing the heat, speaking her native Spanish, and spilling every last makeup secret.
For Smalls, it all begins with the brows. “Little do people know, I do my makeup a lot,” explains the longtime face of Estée Lauder, filling in her arches—including a small scar on her left brow—meticulously with a brow pencil slightly lighter than her real shade to make them look full, but not too done. “I’ve been doing it since I was, like, 13.” Using a damp Beautyblender to bounce foundation onto her complexion, she then dabs concealer on unwanted spots (“Models get pimples too!” she says) and under the eyes, before deftly blending it all to second-skin effect. “I have really high cheekbones, so I don’t need that much contour,” she explains, although she is quick to point out that she refers to her technique as sculpting—a nuance that results in next-level bone structure so natural, so subtly executed, it’s impossible to tell it’s makeup.
Next, she tops off her skin with glimmering cream pigment along the brow bone, down the bridge of the nose, and on the cupid’s bow for extra sun-kissed wattage. (But for anyone who’s asking on the record, that’s Joan “she was born with it” Smalls to you.) Finally, to counteract the signs of allergy season and play up her almond-shaped gaze, she punctuates her eyes with kittenish flicks of Estée Lauder’s fined-tipped Little Black Liner, then generously coats the upper and lower lashes with mascara. “If you’re gonna have a drink, wait until after [you apply] the eyeliner and mascara!” she instructs before diffusing the slashes of liner with a brown pencil, which has been color matched to the pigment she used to contour for a harmonious touch.
With her glowing skin, “little baby cat-eyes,” and a cascade of dark, caramel-streaked waves, downtown New York is no match for Smalls—and she knows it. “Adios! Nos vemos! Hasta la proxima!” she calls out, signing-off—and strutting out—of frame as only she can.
Filmed by Lucas Flores Piran
Filmed at The Broome Hotel
Read More Beauty Stories:
Jennifer Lopez Reveals Birthday Abs in a Bikini—Read More
How to Grow Out and Take Care of Pubic Hair, According to Experts—Read More
Ryan McGinley’s New Photography Show, “Mirror, Mirror,” Is an Empowering Riff on Selfie Culture—Read More
Kylie Jenner Will Unseat Mark Zuckerberg as the Youngest Self-Made Billionaire in History—Read More
Demi Lovato’s Road to Sobriety in the Public Eye Was Inspiring and Exhausting—Read More
