The phrase “it must be good genes” couldn’t describe someone more than it does Lebanese-American model slash fashion blogger Nadia Aboulhosn. And this fact became even more apparent after she enthusiastically confessed that until just two years ago she used to cleanse her face (yup, her entire face) with Pantene shampoo. And when we spilled the contents of her makeup kit during our recent shoot, revealing only the OG essentials—no expensive formulas or strict skincare regimen—we knew she wasn’t messing around.
While Aboulhosn applied her super-natural everyday look, we picked up some key—but noteworthy—tricks, like how she fills in her brows (which are near-perfect, in our opinion) with straight-up drugstore eye shadow, and always carries a toothbrush to keep them in place. Then we got to chatting—it turns out the blogger (who’s been featured in Vogue Italia and Complex, NBD) is really as low-key as her routine would imply. Below, everything from her self-described motherly travel essentials, to how she keeps her hair healthy, and working with Lena Dunham—thanks to Instagram (!). Guys, if she looks like this with little more than a swipe of Maybelline mascara, consider us drugstore converts.
The Look
“I always do a really minimal look, because too much makeup makes me feel not like myself. So I always want to make sure I look like me. I really just darken my eyebrows—I use black eye shadow to do that. Then I use a heavy Marc Jacobs brush to apply Nars foundation, it’s my favorite. Then Benefit’s Hula Bronzer for a bit of contour and Bare Minerals for a highlighter right under. I don’t like when my face is super matte, I like it when it’s kind of dewy, so I use Nyx Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray on top. For eyelashes, I always put mascara on top and bottom. Always. I can’t not do the bottom lashes. I use Maybelline Falsies, it’s the only one I use.
“The only daytime lipstick I use is the Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Love Craft. Whenever I do a red lip I like 127 East, it looks like a lip gloss in the tube but it dries matte. The girl who started it was a follower of mine and she sent me some things and they were amazing.”
A.M. Skincare Routine
“I use Clean & Clear Morning Burst Facial Cleanser and then I brush my eyebrows, obviously. For my face I use L'Oréal Paris Revitalift Daily Moisturizer and then underneath my eyes, because I have really bad dark circles from no sleep, or being part Arab, I use L'Oréal Age Perfect Eye Renewal Eye Cream. I think it helps with bags, circles, and just keeping the area moisturized. I use that for two weeks and then I’ll switch because I don’t want my face to get too used to one formula in particular. So I also use Oil of Olay CC Eye Brightening Cream. I also do little things like Bioré pore strips and I try to do a mask every two weeks for my face.”
Eyebrows Over Everything
“Every morning I use a toothbrush as an eyebrow brush, it’s absolutely better than the spooly. I always carry a mini brush in my bag. Then I use a black eye shadow to fill in my brows, it looks more natural. I don’t like gel because it makes it look like I have too much makeup on. So when I use eye shadow it just darkens a little bit, it doesn’t look crisp, super fleek, I don’t want that. Because I have too many eyebrows already, so if I were to draw my eyebrows on top it would look insane.
“I only clean my brows up, I don’t shape them anymore. And I trim the top hairs. I don’t let anyone touch my eyebrows, I had a horrible experience when I was thirteen, a lady used hot wax and kept ripping and I got scabs underneath. Ever since that, I won’t let anyone touch my eyebrows. When I was a teenager I would shape them up, but now it’s too much. I can sit in the mirror for three hours barely plucking any hairs. I go real silent and nobody talks to me while I do my eyebrows.”
Hair Care
“I wash my hair every single day. I know it’s super bad, but if I don’t wash my hair I feel disgusting. I use Pantene Pro-V Sheer Volume Shampoo. Now that I have my hair blond, I always use a detangler with moisturizer in it, I like Shea Moisture, it’s raw shea butter. I’ll do a hair mask once a month. I apply coconut oil, wrap my hair up and leave it there for the majority of the day if I’m staying home. To brush my hair I use the hot pink Tangle Teezer, it’s my favorite, I love it. If I want a bit of a wave I use the Moroccan Sea Salt Spray, it doesn’t get crunchy at all. What I’ll do is, when my hair is still wet, I’ll blow-dry it a little bit until it’s damp, then brush through it with a little bit of hairspray and spray sea salt over it so it doesn’t get crunchy.”
Beauty Confessions
“You’re not even going to believe me, but when I was fifteen I used to wash my face with shampoo. Literally when I would wash my hair with Pantene, I would wash my face, too. I only stopped doing it two years ago. My best friend makes fun of me, she’s like, ‘Are you going to go and interview with them and tell them you used shampoo for the majority of your life?!’ So much of my skin not breaking out is genetics, it’s not anything in particular. But since I grew up in Florida I also used SPF every single day on my mouth, eyes, and forehead. So I’ve been using age-defying creams for a while, so I’m sure that helped a lot.”
Red Lip or Cat Eye?
“Cat eye. I use the liquid kind and a specific eyeliner brush for removing the extra wing if you mess up. I have to do bronzer. My main things are brushing my eyebrows at least, mascara, and bronzer. So a cat eye, Chapstick with Kat Von D Love Craft, and bronzer is my daily look.”
Her Super Practical Must-Haves
“My travel essentials are baby wipes, ChapStick, and an eyebrow brush. And if I was stuck on a desert island it would be those things too, because then I could use the eyebrow brush as a toothbrush. I’m such a mom in a way though, when I fly I always bring a medicine packet and hand sanitizer, it’s what I do. About a year ago I started using this restoring hand cream by CowShed that’s really good.”
The Small World of Instagram
“I love Instagram. I’m not on it as much anymore just because I want to focus on work rather than that. But Lena Dunham follows me, I love her. She actually found me on Instagram and then she was editing Stylist magazine in the U.K. and I ended up shooting a six-page spread for her edit so that was awesome, yay to Instagram. Some other funny people follow me, too. Like the rapper Trinidad James, he posted about me. He made me his ‘My Love for the Season,’ it’s really funny, I used to sing his song, I used to watch Girls, and now these people know of me, you know? Ashton Kutcher put me on his Facebook page, it’s just weird.”