Model Lameka Fox has already told us everything about her skincare routine on our Skincare Talk, but then we wanted to know everything about her makeup routine, step by step. When we met in New York, we were immediately blown away by her techniques and by the not-to-be-missed one she uses to do her eyebrows. From her first beauty memory to her jet lag beauty cure before a big campaing or the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, Lameka spilled out all her beauty secrets to us. There’s only one thing left to do now: taking notes.

What’s your earliest beauty memory? 

My earliest beauty memory would be from one of my neighbors, her name is Susan, she was a flight attendant, and she was my first encounter with anything beauty related. My grandma, who I grew up with, was very simple, she didn’t wear any makeup, and I was just a farm girl, going with the flow. So I was never around a lot of beauty products until my neighbor introduced me, and I remember just playing with her makeup: she had like a big powder puff that I always put on my face, and I went around with white powder all over my face, but I thought it was so cool. That was what got me into a girlier phase, I wanted to be a ballerina when I was younger, and I wanted to wear makeup and to wear red lipstick.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up and the last one when you go to bed? 

The first thing is to put my essential oils, and before to go to bed, I massage my face. It helps with the circulation. I also find that it helps me because in the morning, especially in the winter, I get puffy and my eyes get swollen, so I feel that if I massage my face and I use a lot of oils, it really hydrates and makes my skin glow the next day. I think that a lot of products don’t fully absorb into your skin: a lot of people rush to put them on, and they sit on top instead of actually getting into the skin and being beneficial. Then I feel like massaging really helps.

I used to have the jade roller, but I lost it in a hotel because I put it in the minifridge, and now I use the gua sha rose quartz: I have the H shape one because you can get in between your cheekbones; I just want to look as lifted and fresh as possible [laugh]. I travel a lot, and it really changes your face!

“My grandma, who I grew up with, was very simple, she didn’t wear any makeup, and I was just a farm girl, going with the flow.”

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“I use the gua sha rose quartz: I have the H shape one because you can get in between your cheekbones; I just want to look as lifted and fresh as possible.”

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Being a model and being always on set with makeup artist and hairstylist, is there any beauty secret you learned that you can spill out to us?

I feel that, when I’m on set, I’m always learning something which is really fun and interesting because I feel like I’m the canvas, and I’m letting an artist to create art, and every makeup artist is different. I think that one of the biggest or best tips that I’ve learned is just the importance of eyebrows and learning the shape of your eyebrows, how they can change the structure of your face so much. They start at the begging of your eyes, and you want your arch to be in the middle where your pupil is, etc. It’s so interesting.

For me, I like to fill a little bit closer in, to make my nose look a little bit more narrow, because I don’t have much of a bridge in the middle, so when the light catches it, it can sometimes look a little bit blown out, and you don’t get as much dimension, but if I start closer in, it makes my nose slimmer.

What is your favorite facial? 

My dermatologist, Dr. Colbert practices here in New York, and he has a facial called the trial facial. I like to get that once a month, sometimes my schedule doesn’t let me, but I do it as often as I can. It’s microdermabrasion, laser, and small peel. And then, next I will do the blue light therapy and he steams my face. It’s a really nice deep cleanse but also a treatment, and I always feel like so much better after I get it done. I used to do it all the time before my Victoria’s Secret show every year or before a really big job or campaign.

“I think that one of the biggest or best tips that I’ve learned is just the importance of eyebrows and learning the shape of your eyebrows.”

“Dr. Colbert has a facial called the trial facial…I used to do it all the time before my Victoria’s Secret show every year or before a really big job or campaign.”

What’s the book on your nightstand? 

One book that’s always on my nightstand is “Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself” by Mark Epstein. He is a psychiatrist, but he’s also a Buddhist: I’m really into spirituality and also into learning about psychology and how the mind works and the book was medical but also spiritual.

What makes you laugh the most? 

My dog. My dog is so entertaining, and I think that this is one of the joys of being a pet owner. He’s so clumsy, he is small, and he tries to jump on my couch, and my couch is small, but he still can’t. And he gets embarrassed, he looks at me, and just walks off.

Bath or shower? 

Can I pick both? I shower mostly, but when I can enjoy a really good bath, and I have time to put oils, essence salt, I’m on cloud 9.

“I shower mostly, but when I can enjoy a really good bath, and I have time to put oils, essence salt, I’m on cloud 9.” 

Favorite hairstyling product or tool? 

I’m trying to use less of my flatiron, so I would say that lately, I have been gravitating to a lot of oils just because I have dry and frizzy hair, and I always want to make sure it’s hydrated.

Your favorite body lotion?

I’m just using coconut oil on my body, it smells good, it makes you soft, and you can buy a big jar for 5 box, and it’s glass so I’m not using plastic and I can mix it with my essential oils, which I love.

Your favorite fragrance? 

So, for me it’s a huge thing, I never tell anybody, not even to my friends, but I will say that it’s by Fueguia. I found this one perfume, I loved it, and I wore it with me all day, and then the next day I went to buy it. And then I asked what the top notes were and they were hay and tobacco and I thought it was so funny, like an alignment in the universe sent me to the scent because I grew up on a farm, so I was always around hay and my grandpa and my dad also smoke cigarettes: it’s musky, but it’s sweet. It has been my scent for three years now.

What was your first beauty product obsession? 

I would say it was probably lipstick. It was the first product it was accessible to me, that my mom would let me wear. I probably still have more lip products now than anything else.

The item at the top of your beauty wish list? 

I’m so happy with the products I use now. And this is a thing that I have a problem with the beauty industry (but I also understand because it has to thrive), is that I’m always reading articles, ads on my phone etc. I feel like everything is like a fad, it’s always: “this is the face mask you need,” “this product is what you need,” but you don’t really need those things! If you keep buying and buying, it’s just mass consumerism.

So if anything, I would like more skincare tools. I would really love to try the Dennis Gross LED Mask because I use the LED every time I go to my dermatologist and it would be nice to have that when I travel. Or any Pat McGrath eyeshadow palette because I love Pat.

“I probably still have more lip products now than anything else.”

As a model, you travel a lot. What are your favorite travel destinations? 

My favorite travel destination has probably been Morocco. I have been to Marrakech, Tangier, Casablanca and Chefchaouen so I’ve seen a good amount, I just had great experiences there, and I think that was the first place that offered some kind of culture shock. You think about Paris and London, they are cities, even if they are very different from New York of course, but for me going to Morocco and seeing the souks, the markets, the food, the architecture was all so much different from any other place that I have been to. It will always have a special place in my heart, it’s so beautiful.

And one place you wish to travel to? 

I really want to go to Japan and more parts of Africa.

What’s your jet lag beauty cure?

My jet lag beauty cure is getting an IV. They come to my house, and they give you all those vitamins B12 that is really good for the energy. The first time I did it, I just got back from Barcelona, I was traveling a lot, and I had to go to a job in Croatia, and I had food poisoning, I was so sick, I doubled over my bed, and I told my agent: “There is no way I’m getting on a flight right now, I’m so sorry” but he said: “Lameka, you confirmed the job, it’s paying you extra money, you have to go. I’m going to send you and IV to your house.” He sent me an IV, it felt great, I slept the whole flight and then the week later I was still recovering, I wasn’t completely cured. The next week I had to go to Shanghai for the Victoria’s Secret show, it’s a 19 hours flight and I never flew that long before and I got the IV before I left to see if it helps. I think I had the perfect trip: I didn’t feel jet-lagged, I felt fine, I worked out and ever since then I’m tide and trough IV.

“My jet lag beauty cure is getting an IV. They come to my house, and they give you all those vitamins B12 that is really good for the energy.”

What’s the bravest thing you have ever done? 

I think it was moving to New York when I was 17. At the time, I told my grandparents, my mom, everyone, when I was way younger, that “when I turn eighteen, I’m going to move to New York.” I didn’t understand how big of a step it was until obviously I got a little bit older, spent more time in New York. Still, definitely it was a challenge, and that made me grow up very quickly, it put me a lot in real-world situations that tested my maturity and my knowledge.

What’s your motto? 

I have a lot of quotes I write on my phone, that I screenshot, that I write in my journal. But my grandpa had the saying, “how sweet it is:” it was like his reminder that even when things are bad in life, you’re still breathing and living another day, so “how sweet is that.” He passed recently, so he’s always in my mind, and he was the happiest, most loving, most optimistic person even if we had nothing, and to think about how in love with life he was, it’s always a reminder. So that’s my motto.

What would you love to see more and more in the modeling and the beauty worlds in the future? 

I would love to see diversity be normalized instead of being a trend. It’s heartbreaking at a certain point, it gets really soul-crushing to think that you include all these beautiful people, and you are doing it so that you can say that you are diverse, but that’s not what’s normal for you. I saw an article recently from a magazine, and they did credit the model, but they credited another black model, and they made the caption of the editorial “Black is Back”, that’s so terrible for you to say that. Everyone, we all exist, and we all pay our part to be in the industry.

“Everyone, we all exist, and we all pay our part to be in the industry.”

Do you have an epic on the job? 

I can’t tell you what the epic fails were, but I have taken them, even if it took time. I believe that the important moment of success is failing and trying again.

What advice would you give to yourself entering the modeling world? 

I would say “take your time and think about what you want for your future more.” I’m very in the moment, and I love that about myself, but I should think on the bigger picture sometimes, and I’m trying to do that.

The Film Wall

35mm & Fuji Instax

Photos and Video by Johnny Carrano.

Follow Lameka Fox here.