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Ever the multitasker, Michelle Yeoh tightens her glutes while she tones her skin. After patting on Helena Rubinstein’s glow-boosting essence, she runs Medicube’s Age R Derma Shot over her jawline for a contouring massage—then, the rest of her day can begin. Herewith, discover the Oscar Winner and The Brothers Sun star’s secrets for skin care squats and a radiant, 10-minute makeup look.
“Normally when I’m doing all this, I’m doing my squats,” she shares as she massages her face, “Remember, you can do your kicks, you can do your stretches, while you are also waking up.” As she revives herself farther with a cooling eye massage, the Malaysia native explains the muse behind her brisk skin care approach.
“My earliest memory of taking care of my skin is seeing my mom do this every day—morning and night,” she says. “She does all these incredible things where she’s, like, doing martial arts on her face.” The results, it would seem, speak for themselves. “She’s 83 and she looks stunning,” Yeoh avows.
Smoothing a Helena Rubinstein day cream over her face and neck, the 61-year-old says: “This is like the warmup massage for the face and the neck, and all the lymph nodes that surround them.” After tapping her fingers over the entire area—inviting her lymphatic system to wake up, too—Yeoh raises a glass to another beauty secret. “With your skin, the most important thing is drinking water,” she says. “That really helps. When you have good skin, that sets up a beautiful canvas for you to be able to paint on your makeup.”
Speaking of which, Yeoh likes hers on the light side. Patting on Shiseido’s sheer foundation, she says: “One thing I’ve learned is, when you have makeup that’s too thick, it tends to highlight the creases.” Clé de Peau concealer comes next, gently masking the reminders of Yeoh’s “younger, wild” days. “I used to stay out in the sun for too long, without using the right products,” she says.
However—unlike many a wild youth—Yeoh never fell victim to over-plucking. “One thing my mom always taught me was, don’t let anybody pluck your eyebrows,” she says, brushing out her naturally full pair before filling them in with Anastasia’s Brow Definer.
Another of her beauty hallmarks is “a little bit of color on the cheeks,” which she achieves by dabbing cream blush onto her preferred spots. “I like it a little farther up so it highlights the cheekbones a little bit more,” she says, using her fingers to blend the blush in. A dusting of contour, done with Guerlain’s bronzing powder, further highlights her sculpted face.
Though Yeoh’s eyes light up when she mentions the theatrical makeup she wears on the set of Wicked, her routine differs from that of her witchy character, Madame Morrible. “I am lazy, normally,” she says. “I like to have my makeup done in 10 minutes or under.”
At nearly six minutes into her routine, it’s time for the finishing touches, then—and Yeoh quickly gets to them. She uses inky black and olive-green liner to highlight her eyes, then follows up with “a little mascara” and a modest amount of lipstick. “That’s it,” she says simply—though she does have one last piece of advice.
“Always be who you are; be true to yourself,” she says. “You can’t hide. Eventually, who you are will always come shining through. The most important thing for me is to be able to find and fine-tune, a nicer me—a kinder me.” To stay clear-eyed about her priorities, she squeezes in Lumify eye drops before blowing Vogue a goodbye kiss.
Director: Gabrielle Reich
DP: Josh Herzog
Editor: Michael Suyeda
Production Assistant: Brock Spitaels
Associate Producer: Lea Donenberg
Production Manager: Natasha Soto- Albors
Production Coordinator: Ava Kashar
Associate Director, Video Talent: Meredith Judkins
Associate Talent Manager: Phoebe Feinberg
Post Production Supervisor: Edward Taylor
Post Production Coordinator: Jovan James
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell
Filmed at: Mandarin Oriental Residences, Beverly Hills