Beauty Detail
The Unexpected Way Addison Rae Uses Lip Liner
The social media star and entrepreneur shares her beauty routine.
In Bustle’s Beauty Detail, we dive into the beauty bags of our favorite talents for intel on the rituals that keep them glowing and the MVPs (most valuable products) they can’t live without. Here, Addison Rae tells Bustle about her self-care essentials, her strategic approach to fragrance, and the early 2000s trend she’s bringing back in style.
Addison Rae’s first perfume obsession was Britney Spears’ Fantasy. She would go to the mall and buy the mini bottles, so she could always have the scent on hand to spritz herself with. But she also used different fragrances for different occasions.
“If I was going on a date, I would wear a different fragrance than if I was going home or seeing my family,” Rae tells me over Zoom. “I’ve always thought it’s really cool to associate different moments with smells.” That approach to scent is what inspired her to launch her own fragrance line, Addison Rae Fragrance — a collection of three unique formulas, each catered towards a certain mood (Happy AF, Hyped AF, and Chill AF, to be exact).
This isn’t the social media star’s first foray into the beauty world — Item Beauty, Rae’s skin care and makeup brand, launched in 2020. Though the entrepreneur entered stardom through her viral TikTok dancing videos, a quick scroll through her social media accounts (which total hundreds of millions of followers across her Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter) will prove she has a seemingly-innate beauty savvy. Whether she’s rocking ’90s-era butterfly hair clips or pigtails, Rae is perpetually at the forefront of what’s trending.
One source of inspo for the brand founder? Tumblr. “I had Tumblr growing up and now it’s so funny to see Tumblr-esque vibes coming back into style,” says Rae, laughing. She happens to be wearing one of these trends as we Zoom: bright purple eyeshadow. “Colorful eyeshadow was very trendy in the early pop 2000s days, which have been coming back a lot,” she says.
Beyond the joyful and experimental beauty looks she likes to wear, Rae says she turns to self-care for reasons beyond her appearance. “Self-care is actually tending to your heart, your soul, and your mind,” she tells me. “It’s about relaxing and truly giving yourself a break.” For her, that means spending an hour on skin care, sure, but also on breathing, meditation, and listening to music (“My boyfriend will play guitar, and that’s something I really love that helps me relax,” she says).
The skin care component of Rae’s self-care regimen is no joke. “I love to gua sha. I sit in front of a facial steamer for like 15 minutes,” she says, rattling off some of her beauty rituals. “I also have a body roller that has three balls on the end that you roll onto your skin. I’ve looked at a lot of videos online to figure out the perfect way to do it — I’m not a professional, but I’ve learned a lot from YouTube.”
Here, Rae tells Bustle about the beauty products she’s currently obsessed with — including a hair tool that’ll bring you right back to the year 2000.
Her Self-Care Essential
“This is a product I live and die for. You put water in it — I’ll use bottled water, just so it’s even more purified — then it heats up and steams your face. Sometimes I’ll put on a mask and put the steamer on it, which is so nice. It feels like a steam room, but a portable one. My skin loves the humidity — I’m from the south — so this gives me that steamy feeling of a humid day and makes me feel incredible.”
Her Favorite Hair Tool
“I love this ghd crimper. Crimping is a 2000s thing that I think is so cute and fun. It gives your hair so much texture, but not in a way that’s a curl. When you see someone with crimped hair, it’s like, ‘What is that?’ It just looks so unique and different.”
Her Go-To Body Lotion
“Epicuren has this really incredible coconut-y lotion — it smells and feels incredible.”
Her MVP Shower Product
“I love a body scrub. Frank Body has one that’s kind of like dirt — that’s the vibe of it. It was super trendy when I was growing up, and my mom didn’t let me buy it. Then finally I got my own, so I use it in the shower to exfoliate.”
Her Must-Have Mascara
“I’m obsessed with my Item Beauty Lash Snack. It’s my go-to every day — I have it on right now.”
Her Nighttime Fragrance
“Usually when I’m going somewhere at night, I’ll use the Chill AF fragrance. Or when I want to relax or if I’m on a date, I’ll wear this just to keep me calm and cool.”
Her Go-To Lip Product
“For lips, I love a good M.A.C. lip liner — they have incredible colors. Boldly Bare is one I really like. Sometimes I’ll go for a ’90s look with a maroon or dark plum liner with a nude inside. That’s more dressy though — something I’d wear when I go out. Usually I’ll just apply lip liner all over. I like using this brownish-nude to dab onto my face. I’ll put it on the bridge of my nose to match my lips and give me that sun-kissed look.”
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