Beauty Secrets From "Who What Wear"

Published Oct 27, 2011

If you haven't heard of Who What Wear, one of our favorite go-to websites for the latest information on fashion, trends, and which celebrity was wearing what, then it's time to get clicking! Founders Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power joined forces five years ago to create the site and haven't looked back. Hillary got her feet wet in the fashion industry with beginnings as an associate editor at Elle magazine, as well as writing for publications such as Teen Vogue and Nylon, before creating Who What Wear with friend Katherine Power. We love to learn about a stylish editor's makeup routine, and Hillary has one favorite item in particular—mascara! Every day she applies up to six coats of the stuff, all to get that perfect lash. Here's what the rest of her makeup routine entails.

Q & A: Hillary Kerr from Who What Wear

Q: Tell us about your skin care routine.

The most important part of my skin care routine is my amazing, life-changing facialist, Frankie Page in Los Angeles. This woman has completely transformed my skin—she makes it glow, even when I've been burning the candle at both ends. She's truly the most talented woman ever. Other than that, I wash my face with Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and use my Clarisonic brush every night. I also use Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion on my face morning and night. As for special care, I started using Replenix All-Trans-Retinol Eye Repair Cream around my eyes at night and La Prairie's Skin Caviar Luxe Cream on my forehead and face when my skin is really dry—it's amazing. When I travel—or just need some added moisturizer or glow—I'll do a mask with Biologique Recherche's Masque VIP O2; it's just insanely effective! I'm also obsessed with their Serum Elastine Pure, which I use around my eyes in the morning, as it seems to really help with puffiness and just makes the skin smooth and taut. I use a tinted moisturizer every morning too, specifically Ayur-Medic Natural Science's Sun Care SPF 30 Tinted— it really makes your skin look flawless. They also make an Orange Blossom Exfoliating Cleansing Milk that I adore and use mostly in the summer or whenever I'm feeling particularly grimy.

Q: What product can you not live without?

In terms of skin care, I would say the Clarisonic is my absolute favorite—it really removes makeup and sunscreen effectively. That said, I'm pretty dependent on my Biologique Recherche's Masque VIP O2 too. It's like self-esteem in a tube!

Q: How about nails—what are your favorite colors?

I always adore Chanel's metallic colors—the odder, the better! I'm currently obsessed with Peridot, but I also love Kaleidoscope, which is sort of like a silvery khaki color. Otherwise I always love a gray—it goes with nothing, so it goes with everything—especially the new-for-fall Galion by Nars. If I'm not wearing a neutral metallic or a gray, I tend to go bright. I'm swooning over Tom Ford's new polishes, specifically Coral Flame and Indian Pink!

Q: What are your favorite makeup tricks and tips?

I swear by the Beauty Blender sponge. It just makes your makeup melt into your skin. I also highly recommend Laura Mercier's Finishing Brush, which I use for applying Stila Convertible Color in Petunia. I also think a stippling brush is a necessity for natural-looking blush.

Q: And perfume?

I'm incredibly, irrationally loyal to fragrances. In fact, I've worn only four in my whole life! I started with The Body Shop's Fuzzy Peach eau de toilette [since discontinued] back in grade school, and then switched to Tribu by Benetton in the mid ‘90s. When I moved to New York after college, I started wearing Dolce & Gabbana's Light Blue, which I still love and wear. That said, I finally moved on to a new primary fragrance about a month ago: Le Labo's Sandal 33.

Q: Which new products are you excited to try?

I'm obsessed with all things Tom Ford, so his complete beauty collection is very much on my radar right now.

Q: What's the best makeup tip you've ever been told?

One of my favorite makeup artists, Kayleen McAdams, gave me a great tip about eyebrows, which I follow to this day. She said to fill in only the second half of your brows—after the arch, basically—because a completely filled-in brow is aging. Obviously, if you have holes in the first part of your brow, you can fix it, but just don't go crazy.

Q: Do you have a product that's your secret weapon?

Clinique's Bottom Lash Mascara! I am a total mascara junkie—I even wear it to the gym and the beach—and this one is perfect because it never smudges, yet it comes off easily! I wear it on my top lashes in those aforementioned situations and on my bottom lashes every day. It's a game-changing product for me!

Q: Speaking of mascara, you have amazing lashes! Can you talk us through your process?

Of course! I really, really, really believe in the power of mascara and happily devote approximately 10 minutes to my lashes every morning. I start by dusting them with a little translucent powder. I think this gives my lashes more texture, and the mascara something to grip to—totally not scientific, this is just my own crazy idea. I have a number of different routines, but I usually start with Chanel's Inimitable Intense Mascara for the base coat. I then use Lancôme's Hypnose Doll Lashes primarily on the outer edges—the brush is great for that. I will then use Clinique's Bottom Lash Mascara on my inner, upper lashes as well as on my bottom lashes. Sometimes I'll also use it all over my upper lashes, after the Chanel and Lancôme mascaras, to sort of lock everything in place. Alternatively, I will start with Revlon's Grow Luscious Mascara in Blackest Black and then use Maybelline's Volum' Express The Falsies Flared Mascara in Very Black—it's really an exceptional product.

Q: What's the best thing about working at Who What Wear?

I love everything about it! It's been five years since we launched the site, and I have to say I truly enjoy coming to work every day. I'm all about the content—conceiving, reporting, and writing stories never fails to delight me—so being able to share my discoveries and interests with our incredible audience is truly inspiring.

Q: Which makeup look from the spring/summer 2012 shows will you be using?

I never really wear much eye shadow, but I have to say that I adored the incredible midnight blue smoky eye situation at Rodarte. Makeup artist James Kaliardos just killed it.