“I used to love to experiment with beauty products,” says Belarusian model and new mom Ira Sumbaeva. “Now, I find joy in what works for me.” Life, lately, has made the edit for her. Raising her cherubic six-month-old son in New York City, with regular trips to visit her partner’s family in Japan, Sumbaeva’s routine revolves around a handful of high-quality essentials: a gentle cleanser, hydrating moisturizer, sunscreen, and a few strategic touches of color before heading out the door. “I want everything to look and feel like I’m not wearing makeup,” she says.
Between monthly trims of her signature blunt bob, Sumbaeva keeps her complexion poreless and porcelain using products influenced by personal travel. Japanese skincare, with its emphasis on protection and restraint, is layered with an inherited belief that good skincare is always worth the investment.
The goal at the moment is anything that can make her look as though she’s slept through the night. “My son wakes up every hour-and-a-half to three hours if I’m lucky,” she says. “Though right now,” she adds, “my real beauty secret is that my mom has been in town.”
Here, the Brooklynite shares the streamlined edit of unfailing heroes that restore, hydrate, lift and brighten, and make the difference between exhaustion and luminosity.
“My mother always emphasizes investing in good skincare. ‘If you feel like it works for you, just do it.’ She has been saying this since I was very young. La Mer’s cream is very luxurious and the texture is beautiful. It leaves my skin soft and plump.”
“I need concealer. I’m a new mom and I don’t sleep, so I apply a bit of Westman Atelier concealer under my eyes with my fingers. It has a creamy texture and it’s easy to blend. I don’t overuse it, so I have a very natural look.”
“I have tried many eyelash curlers, but this is the best one. It does its job. It opens my eyes. They’re half-closed always now. It brightens your gaze, and it wakes up your face.”
“I like my blush to look somewhere between a flushed cheek and the cheek color of boys playing soccer—a little energized. Baby Cheeks in Fizz has a creamy texture that I apply below my cheekbone and on the apples with my fingers. It reminds me of a blushing baby. I also put this on my lips and then I’m ready to go.”
“Japanese sheet masks are always the best—you can’t go wrong with any of them in the pharmacy. The ingredients they use, like rice, sake, and fermented foods, are gentler than the ones in the US. This Vitamin C mask is a high-concentration essence. It’s useful, cheap, and works in five minutes. It leaves my skin glowy, almost like I slept twelve hours, which I never do.”
“It can be hard to do your brows. You need to find the right shade, otherwise you look funny. Westman Atelier’s Clay shade works for me so well that I will stick to it forever. I use it to enhance my brow shape, putting it on little spots where I’m missing hair and at the outer edges of my eyebrows. A tiny bit makes a big difference.”
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