Why Jameela Jamil Did Her Own Makeup for the Emmys Red Carpet

With only a few years in the spotlight, Jameela Jamil has made it her mission to make the most of her new platform as an actress and self-proclaimed “feminist-in-training.” On Instagram, the Brit-born bombshell doesn’t hesitate to call out body shaming, internet bullying, and her own personal health issues—even, just this afternoon, posting images of the IV necessary to “get me on the red carpet today” after she suffered symptoms of gastritis yesterday. And tonight, as she arrived at the Emmy Awards, she spoke with E!’s Zanna Roberts Rassi about how gender equality on the set of The Good Place inspired her beauty look for the evening.

Against a robin’s egg blue silk gown selected by her new stylist Law Roach (who she describes as the “genius” behind Zendaya’s fashion transformation, a style icon of hers for half a decade) and old-Hollywood waves, Jamil’s neon matte lips glowed with moth-to-a-flame magnetic powers. As she and Rassi chatted about the tear-jerking final day filming The Good Place, which is nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, Jamil praised executive producer Michael Shur for facilitating her big break. “God, this man found me from nowhere, he plucked me from obscurity. I’d never acted before, he gave me the chance of a lifetime and everything I’m able to do with my activism—everything I’m able to do in the world—is because this man just took a chance on me.” It was thanks to her close relationship with the cast and crew that Jamil was able to approach the subject of equal hair and makeup time for men and women on set with her unflappable sense of humor. After realizing halfway through the show’s first season that the women on set were arriving in the beauty chairs before 5 in the morning while the men on set were strolling in significantly later, she addressed the producers directly. “I was like, ‘how ugly do you think I am? There’s no prosthetics on me! I just need half an hour in hair and makeup—I’ll do my own makeup,’” she remembered. With a pro handling her chestnut lengths while she applied her own cosmetics, “I got the same amount of time hair and makeup as the boys.”

The same goes for her red carpet moments: That fluoro-bright mouth that lent a Grace Kelly-esque draped dress modern edge? It was applied with Jamil’s own hands, a fact she revealed when Rassi asked if she carried her DIY makeup technique to the red carpet. “I did do my own today! I always do my own!” Jamil enthused. It’s the same real-life glimpse behind the curtain that’s become her trademark. And her logic, whether tied to 5 am call times or extended awards show beauty prep, is rock solid. “I can’t be funny when I’m tired.”

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Originally Appeared on Vogue