Watch Yara Shahidi’s Guide to Playful, Summer-Ready Eye Makeup

“There’s nothing that’s precluding you from thoroughly enjoying makeup and really loving a James Baldwin speech!” insists Yara Shahidi. Today, the 19-year-old actress and activist is showing Vogue her daily beauty routine—and how she amps it up to capture the carefree mood of summer. “Skin care is what I do on a more daily basis, whereas makeup is really more spontaneous and dependent on how I feel that day and what colors I want to see on my face,” she explains.

The Grown-ish star kicks things off by prepping her canvas with SK-II’s Facial Treatment Mask, leaving it on for 15 minutes before adding a thick layer of moisturizer. “I rub it into my hands because they age faster than I do!” she says. Moving on to makeup, Shahidi prefers sheer, natural coverage and always shade-matches her skin to her Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Weightless Foundationaccording to the season. “My shade changes throughout the year because my melanin changes,” she explains. Another reason she applies foundation with a lighter hand? She’s not shy about her acne breakouts. “Just being a teenager and all that, sometimes my forehead likes to rebel and it’s really been about how do I embrace that,” she explains while blending on an imperceptible veil with a damp Beautyblender sponge.

Starting in on her eyes, she curls her lashes and carefully adds a few coats of mascara. “It’s all about doing this little wiggle,” she says. “It definitely does stop clumps from happening!” After brushing up her brows with Brown’s Brow Shaper & Hair Touch-Up, she whips out a tube of coral liquid lipstick and dabs it on her cheeks and lids to sun-kissed effect. “If I’m generally going out and I want to put makeup on, this is usually where I land,” she explains. “But then when you see me on Instagram, I usually have the addition of a colorful pencil.” Wielding a hot pink–tangerine shade, she draws razor-sharp lines across the upper lash lines. And it doesn’t end there. Shahidi then moves to the inner eyes and brow bones, sketching sculptural, high-impact lines. “I am losing control of this, but never fear, Q-tip is here!” she beams while finessing her graphic gaze. “I end up with looks like this because I just like to have fun!”