The ‘Mirror Mirror’ actress shares with us her beauty rituals and skincare secrets. (Plus the best beauty tip her mother ever gave her).

Want Lily Collins Flawless Skin

Morning skincare routine: When I wake up, I splash cold water on my face for a burst of freshness. After a workout at the gym and a shower I wash my face with a gentle exfoliating cleanser and I apply the Lancome Hydra Zen moisturising cream, because my skin is rather dry.

Nighttime skincare regime: In the evening, I remove my make-up with face wipes and I rinse my face with the same exfoliating gel that I use in the morning. Then, I put on a generous dose of cream!

Makeup must haves: I keep it very simple: a little concealer on red areas, a very light translucent compact powder, mascara, a little blush on my cheeks, which I apply with the brush, a touch of highlighter under my brows and some eyebrow gel. My lips are naturally very red, so I generally dab on some nude lipstick with my fingertips, just to soften their natural colour. During the day, I almost never need touch-ups. I’m always putting lip balm on and I apply some powder if my skin is shiny.

Beauty faves: I have a lot of fragrances, because I change them frequently. I’m also somewhat of an expert when it comes to hand creams. I have tons of them. Once I find a moisturising cream and cleansing gel that suit me, I won’t use anything else.

How she does her brows: I’ve never waxed them, but when I was younger, I was a little embarrassed by them and I tried to groom them myself with tweezers once or twice. I remember, one evening, I had just spent two hours in the bathroom shaping them with tweezers. Then, when I became a teenager, I learned to like them. For years, I went to a beautician in Los Angeles, who slightly reshaped them, but now I know how to take care of them on my own. However, I would be incapable of drawing them in with a pencil. I just groom them with a little gel.

Best beauty tip she ever received: My mother always told me that it’s the odd little things that make you different and allow you to stand out. I think it’s all based on this. Keeping this in mind really helps you to be more at ease. And during the shooting of Mirror Mirror, my make-up artist never stopped telling me to stay out of the sun. I followed what she said.

What’s in her bag: I love big handbags, but the problem is that you put so many things inside! In short, I always have my phone, earphones, wallet, lip balm, a tube of hand cream, a hand sanitiser, a bottle of stevia (a natural sweetener) for my tea, mints, a notepad and a pencil (habits from being a journalist), my compact powder and a small concealer stick.

Keeping skin good when flying: I drink a lot of water. And I put on a lot of hand cream and lip balm. However, I don’t remove my make-up and I skip my face moisturiser.

Go-to red carpet look: I always keep my skin natural. Self-tanners are not for me. Sometimes we apply some white on my inner eyelid rim to make my eyes stand out. I always put lots of mascara on. Then, we either focus on my lips or my eyes.

Like this? Here’s another actress – Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o – on her beauty rituals