Charli XCX's Secret To Party Girl Glam? Sleep In Your Eye Makeup

When chatting with Charli XCX, you'd be remised not to pick her brain about party girl beauty hacks—she’s the inventor of “Brat” and the entire chaotic-fun summer that followed suit, after all. So, when I hop on the phone with her for the launch YSL Beauty's Skin Affair Soft Glow Cushion Foundation (available to shop on May 29th!), I ask her just that. Her answer: go ahead and break your beauty rules. “A lip on the go is the best kind of a lip," she says. "Also [choosing] products that you can use multiple ways. A blush you can use as eyeshadow or lip you can use as blush." She recommends YSL's Lip Blusher, a product with a sheer, matte finish that achieves a blurred lip (or perfectly flushed cheeks)—perfect for all 365 Party Girls.

Later in our conversation, I learned that Charli's beauty routine is all about efficiency, even if that means doing her makeup in the car. Because of this, if she ever found herself in a position where she had to pick which she had to f*ck, marry, and kill between lip liner, blush, and foundation—a very likely scenario, I know—the choice is easy. "I would f*ck the lip liner, marry the blush, and kill the foundation," she says. “[Because] my lip is the easiest thing to do on the go, as is blush. I don't trust myself to do my foundation in the back of a car."

Efficient beauty also means sleeping in her makeup from time to time and embracing a less is more philosophy. "I just like the things that come to me naturally. I've always just loved a black eye. Sometimes I sleep in it and I wake up and I still have the black eye," she says. So, she’s pro sleeping in her makeup? "I actually feel like it looks better the next day,” she confirms. “If you've been out partying and then you come home and you take it off but you leave a little bit on…I feel like it always creates really nice lines and shadows the next day." Filing under: beauty hacks Charli taught me.

As for the latest addition to her routine, YSL's Skin Affair Cushion Foundation fits in seamlessly, like it was truly part of her uniform all along. "It just gives a very soft, glowy look and it's not something that you need to reapply," she says. "You can just put it on, it wears all day, but it doesn't feel heavy, which is my dream in any makeup product, but particularly in a foundation." Standout elements of YSL Beauty's latest launch include a medium coverage, Korean cushion technology for the sake of breathability, and PGA, squalane, and niacinamide in the formula to support hydration—all important factors to consider for any party-girls who may wake up with dehydrated, hungover skin.

All in all, Charli left me with this understanding: you don't need an elaborate, multi-step beauty routine or several hours of glam to look like an It girl.