“Pink is a really powerful hue!” proclaims Tamu McPherson, sporting a swirl of bright fuchsia blush that’s in perfect harmony with the Balenciaga shearling slides she’s wearing at home in Milan. An enduring fashion force, the Jamaica-born street style photographer and founder of All the Pretty Birds is no stranger to telling a color story. Regularly garnering millions of views on her influential blog, McPherson continues to dazzle her 400,000 Instagram followers with her aspirational style, mixing playful statement pieces with immaculate tailoring, bold bursts of color, and the occasional poppy red lip. 

“Moving to Milan, being here in the city, and the explosion of the Internet and digital content, is really what got me on the path that I needed to be on,” explains McPherson—who left the Caribbean at age of 6 for Nyack, New York, eventually moving to Manhattan to study law at Fordham University where she met her Italian husband. The couple soon decamped to Italy, where she started fresh with a career in fashion, chronicling street style as a photographer and journalist, before becoming a breakout sartorial star herself.

Of course, to know McPherson is to be familiar with her mesmerizingly extensive shoe collection. These days, she's putting it to exceptionally good use as part of her Shoe Up for Justice project. “I wanted to participate in politics in the best way I knew how,” says McPherson, who was motivated by the historic U.S. 2018 midterms—which resulted in the election of 90+ women to Congress—and the urgent calls stateside to defend fair and democratic voting rights for all. She decided to sell the best-loved pairs from her archive and donate the proceeds to voting rights organizations in the U.S. “To gain control of your voice and to have a say in your community, it starts with your vote." 

Here, McPherson sits down with Gucci to share how she gets her polished radiant glow—and picks up a few new tricks. Among the highlights: She learns how to up her complexion game with two shades of Vital Skin foundation instead of one, discovers a surprising new shade of blush, then goes for a grand finale with the ultimate lipstick quick change.  Watch the full video now!

TAMU WEARS:

For more episodes of The Face, check out the full library, starring Poppy Delevingne, Violette, Maria Cornejo, Chriselle Lim, and more!  Want more tips on how to choose your favorite Baby Cheeks shade?  This cheater's guide makes it a cinch.