The Makeup Products That Get Zoë Kravitz Through A New York Heat Wave

Zoë Kravitz is excited to go to the movies again. To sit in the plush seats and air conditioning, to watch a blockbuster or two (she’s seen A Quiet Place Part II and Zola so far this summer, and loved them both), and to eat her favourite movie snack: Goobers mixed with popcorn.

I want to tell her I’m not a fan of salty-sweet combos, that I’m strictly a Vanilla Coke and junior mint concessions-stand shopper. Instead I find myself agreeing with this and pretty much everything else she says during our interview. That’s the Zoë Kravitz effect. This is the woman who convinced Channing Tatum, the star of her directorial debut, Pussy Island, to give up 2021’s go-to normcore trend, the croc. A woman who can wear a ribbed white tank and make it look like couture. Who can pull off a red lip while still wearing her nightie.

Red lips are kinda the point of our call when I reach the YSL Beauté brand ambassador in her hometown New York, which has reopened after the third wave. “I'm so happy to be in New York. I was gone for a lot of the pandemic working,” she says. (Kravitz will play Catwoman in the upcoming The Batman, which I’ve been told not to ask about.) “I haven't been home in a long time. And the energy in the city is so special right now. People are so excited to be outside. New York is such a resilient, incredible place.”

Like most of us, spending so much time at home (“All I did for a year was watch TV”) or on set, has made Kravitz appreciate the process of going out and getting ready again. “I didn't realize how much of a ritual it is — putting on makeup and listening to music,” she says. “Now that the world's a little bit open again, it's been really, really fun to do that. I love music, I make a lot of playlists — from Bowie to Solange to Patti Smith.”

Come fall, she says she’ll start playing again with deeper lip shades, reds sure, but also bronzes and burgundy. But for now, in this heat, her go-to summer look begins with braids or cornrows — “It’s nice to wake up and literally do nothing” — followed by her “can’t live without” product, Touche Éclat. “It’s been super hot here, so I’ve been going light with the foundation because it’s just so sticky and melts off your face,” she says. “I'll use this to even out my skin and cover any blemishes and around my eyes and nose. It's just a godsend because it's light and it gets the job done in terms of brightness and coverage.” At the moment, she’s also skipping her signature smoky eye. “I do a light cat eye —  a little bit of eyeliner, a very, very thin line to the very, very end of my eye and it kind of extends and open up the eye a little bit.”

Kravitz’ fashion has also evolved since we entered the sweatpants era. “I've always been a person that really needs to feel comfortable in order to feel confident. Obviously, sometimes if I'm doing a carpet, you wear high heels — it's important for photos. But, especially in a city like New York when we're walking around, I have to be comfortable or I'd rather not do it.”

This time, I don’t have to pretend. I completely agree.