I meet Ashley Graham in the middle of NYC's ferocious heat wave. It's 8 a.m., the temperature has already reached the high 80s, and it's only expected to climb. Despite wanting to melt into a puddle of sweat the moment I step out of my apartment, I do appreciate how Graham, in a sense, has brought the heat. She is one of the warmest people I've ever met, with a magnetic energy I can feel as soon as I walk into the Ulta store on NYC's 34th Street, where the model and entrepreneur is hosting a meet-and-greet to celebrate her newest collaboration with St.Tropez.
And her skin—my God, her skin—is glowing like a literal sun goddess's. When she walks in wearing a white crochet Simkhai dress, I stand as if I'm watching a bride make an ethereal entrance. (She later changed into a mini from an under-the-radar label brides love, so I'm actually not far off.) After discussing her love for faux freckles and McDonald's coffee (“It’s my favorite in the whole world,” she shares), I have to ask what beauty products she would personally send me home with. We're sitting here in Ulta, after all, so I'd be remiss not to go shopping with the supermodel. Her eyes light up, and I can tell her recs are going to be good. Spoiler: She doesn't disappoint.
Ashley Graham's Ulta Beauty Must-Haves
Her first recommendation is (duh) her own Golden Getaway Self Tan Kit she created with St.Tropez. "I am an SPF girl, and I don't really lay out," she notes. She swears by these self-tanning staples—the brand's Express Bronzing Mousse, Velvet Applicator Mitt, and Purity Face Mist—for a faux glow that looks like you just came back from vacation. Graham's own bronzy complexion is definitely an endorsement for the lot. I'll take two, please.
"Honestly, I am such a blush [and] bronzer girl right now," she adds. (Same, Graham.) "I don't even need mascara. If I just have a lip and a cheek on, I feel so put together." When it comes to the lip, she calls this nude liner her "absolute favorite." She pairs it with a clear gloss for an everyday look.
As for blush, she's quick to recommend Revlon's Powder Blush in the shade Naughty Nude. "I get it wet, and then I put it on, so it gives it even more glow," she shares. A damp beauty blender should do just the trick.
Graham is so floored when I tell her I haven't tried Bumble and Bumble's Post Workout Mist that I honestly think about purchasing one right then and there. "I try to work out every day (and when I say every day, I mean three days a week), and I hate washing my hair because I have extensions," she explains.
During a particularly sweaty gym session, she'll wear her hair in either a low ponytail with a center part or in two braids, let it air-dry after her workout, then spray the Post-Workout Mist "literally everywhere." She adds, "It's the most amazing texture afterward. I don't style it, and I don't wash it. I can go for four days [without washing], and I'm not gross—I promise."
Graham's kit already comes with a glowy face mist, but she also leans on the Classic Mousse for a self-tanner contour hack. "I do it with a makeup brush—one of the big fluffy ones—and I put it on the apples of my cheeks," she shares. "I contour my nose just a tiny bit, and then I do a harsh line around my jaw." A dab of blush, a nude lip, and she's all set.
"I'm such a zit-patch girl," says Graham. I agree and personally swear by this $13 pack, so I make sure to toss one in my cart whenever I see them.
"I'm going to South Korea in October," Graham tells me, so she's diving into all things K-beauty at the moment. "TonyMoly masks—I love those," she says.
Finally, Graham has to throw in a skincare tool. "Any gua sha tool—you cannot go wrong," she declares. "I gua sha three days a week, and I think it has made such a difference in my skin. I don't have any Botox or filler, [and] I'm about to be 37." Gua shas come in many shapes and materials, but a stainless steel option like this one will never steer you wrong. The surface is naturally cooling, which gives it that extra de-puffing power.
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