Leighton Meester Swears By This Chanel Highlighter For A Natural Glow

At last weekend’s SAG Awards, Adam Brody may have been the one nominated for his role in Nobody Wants This, but his supportive wife Leighton Meester was the shining star of the red carpet. The Good Cop/Bad Cop actor looked positively radiant with her Old Hollywood-inspired waves, lace Elie Saab dress, and minimalist makeup. Of course she had a little help with glam that evening, but Meester looks just as gorgeous and glowy in her low-key, everyday hair and makeup — and now she’s sharing how she does it. In a video for Vogue, the Gossip Girl star spilled her beauty secrets, from the “questionable” facial tool she uses daily to her “groundbreaking” lip liner technique, and it includes the most natural looking highlighter for all-over luminosity.

Like most women, Meester begins her beauty regimen by cleansing her face. Her preferred method involves applying Ursa Major’s gentle Fantastic Face Wash to the NågraCoola Clie 1 Facial Cleansing Brush. While the actor admits the vibrating silicone brush tends to raise a few eyebrows when sitting in her vanity, she loves the tool’s effectiveness in making her skin feel thoroughly cleansed. After applying an eyelid cleanser for her dry eyes, snail mucin essence, a hydrating serum, and sunscreen (she goes for the cult favorite EltaMD), the makeup routine begins.

Meester is quick to say that on most days she just stops after skin care, but she shares a few simple ways she turns up the glam when needed — or wanted, rather. This involves defining her eyes and brows, applying not one but two different types of blush (she starts with Charlotte Tilbury’s Lip & Cheek Glow in Pinched and follows with Dior’s Backstage Rosy Glow Blush in Pink), and doing a bit of light contouring under the jawline, below her cheekbones, and around her lips.

That said, there’s one true pièce de résistance that brings her whole look to life, and that’s Chanel’s Baume Essentiel. This $48 multi-stick is how Meester gets her lit-from-within glow that’s not at all glittery, as some highlighters can be. “This thing is real left field,” she jokes while swiping it on. “You won’t believe I’m using this.” The actor applies the balmy formula to her brow bone, cheek bones, Cupid’s bow, and collar bone for a “dewy and wet” look that’s so natural — perfect for her off-duty days as well as the times she wants to amp up her glam.

The Chanel stick helps, but Meester’s best-kept beauty secret is actually the fact that she practices a lot of positive self-talk. “It’s more helpful for me to just say nice words to myself about myself,” she tells Vogue. “I just sort of start absorbing that and believing it.” Affirmations and a little bit of feel-good makeup? A foolproof combo, to be honest.