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Makeup has always been a thing for Melissa Barrera. The Mexican actor, who starred in 2021's In the Heights and 2022's iteration of Scream, has been working the stage since childhood. It was in those early days, at one of her dance recitals specifically, that she remembers the first makeup product she became obsessed with.
"I remember it so clearly. It was that little green Clinique compact with a brush and the blush was the most beautiful shade of pink," she tells Allure over a Zoom call. "It was like a Mexican pink: fuchsia, bright pink. My mom used just a little bit on me because I was a toddler. Then, she'd put on a little lipstick and maybe eye shadow or something. But after she was done, I would sneak back in and put more blush on."
Fast forward some decades, several dance recitals, and some major acting credits later, and Barrera is back to her roots, still loving Clinique, this time as a brand ambassador. She just got done shooting a campaign for the brand's new Even Better Clinical Serum Foundation. "For the longest time you would hear, 'Oh, you wear makeup to cover your imperfections.' But that makes it worse because it's clogging your pores and not letting your skin breathe," Barrera says, explaining how the foundation suits her minimalist makeup routine (more on that later).
Through our chat, we find that Barrera, glamorous as she may be once she steps out, has quite a low-key approach to beauty which we find relatable. From her skin-care routine to her magnificent, lush eyebrows, Barrera shared a few key details on how she keeps herself looking so damn good.
ALLURE: What's one beauty tip or trick you learned performing as a kid that you still stick by today?
Melissa Barrera: Growing up, we always had an aloe leaf on our table. Someone would cut a piece of it and it would be there for anyone that needed it. We would use it for everything: rashes, cuts, burns, scrapes, breakouts — we'd use it as a mask. I feel like I have such a personal relationship with aloe plants. I genuinely think that they're magic.
ALLURE: How do you like to apply your foundation?
MB: For a person that represents a beauty brand, I am not very good at doing my own makeup! I've learned from having people do my makeup over the years, and I can do my face, but I'm not particularly skilled at doing eye shadow. So I tend to do very natural makeup because that's what looks better when I do it by myself. I'll just cover imperfections, do mascara, add a lip tint or something, and a little bit of blush. The basics.
I don't use a lot of foundation. I like to keep it super light. But what I love about this foundation is that it has so many elements that actually work to better your skin while you're wearing makeup. You get to look good, but you're also working the skin-care part of it at the same time. When you take the makeup off, it actually feels like you just removed a hydrating mask.
Our face is our presentation card and having good skin, I think, should be a human right. Everyone deserves to have good skin because it just makes you feel better. I love that this foundation has vitamin C, and hyaluronic acid — the things that we'd typically put in our skin-care routines. It's a little bonus.
ALLURE: Speaking of which, what does your skin-care routine look like?
MB: I've been using Dexeryl soap since I was 16. It's something that I use to wash my face in the morning, at night, and sometimes in the middle of the day if I need it. Then, obviously, I have the Clinique Moisture Surge, which I love because it has aloe vera. It genuinely saved me while I was shooting last year in Whistler. I was in super harsh conditions — outdoors, in the sun, in freezing glacier lakes — and it really took a toll on my skin. That moisturizer really helped me recuperate and keep my skin good for the rest of the shoot. At night, I use a little bit of retinol.
People ask me all the time why I have super long lashes and it's because I also use a lash serum to make them longer. I've been using it for a while, and it really helps. Plus, it's not the kind that darkens your skin around the eyes. I also like to use the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask at night right before bed. That jar has lasted for [redacted] years. I don't know if it's safe to use something for that long, but I don't believe in expiration dates! [laughs] [Ed note: We would advise not using your products after their expiration dates — more on that here.]
ALLURE: Let's talk about your brows because they're great.
MB: I have to pluck my brows almost every day. They grow a lot — super fast. I haven't had anyone touch my brows in maybe eight years, I just do it myself. I have to brush through them because I can look like a crazy person if I don't. If I brush them up, they'll just go full Cookie Monster. Or no, what's the one that comes out of the trash can?
ALLURE: Oscar the Grouch.
MB: Oscar. Full Oscar. Both my mom and my dad have really thick eyebrows, my sisters and I all have these eyebrows. It's a born-with-it kind of thing. I had a unibrow for most of my childhood. It wasn't fun because I would get teased a lot. Luckily, my mom never let me wax my eyebrows, even though I really wanted to. I wanted to make them thin because, in the '90s and early 2000s, that was the thing. She never let me and I'm so grateful because I probably would not have these brows now if I had done that.
So it's trim, trim, trim. I mostly trim on the sides because they grow super long there. I grab some little scissors and pluck them with a tweezer. Sometimes, my brow hair will grow in a full loop. I'm like, what is this? They will also grow all the way down to my lid. I don't know if that happens to you, but I have hair everywhere in my eyes. That's why I have to pluck every day.
Check out some more of our celeb interviews:
- What Inspired Tyler, The Creator to Drop Fragrance and Nail Polish
- Billie Eilish's Self-Titled Fragrance Is Sweet, Musky, and "Mentally Sexy"
- Why Black-ish Star Marsai Martin Loves Wearing Braids
Now, watch this doctor's entire daily routine:
