Zoe Kravitz shares the perfume that makes her feel sexy and the lazy beauty hack she swears by

As far as beauty inspo goes, Zoe Kravitz is definitely a woman we can look up to. She emits authenticity as easily as she leans into her individuality. In fact, her personal style has its own fan following (Zoe's name has been viewed over a billion times on TikTok, while “Zoe Kravitz braids” have scooped up 6.6 million hits alone).

When it comes to presenting herself, it's clear Zoe follows her mood over chasing trends, “I just try and figure it out as I go,” she told me as we caught up over Zoom at the tail-end of last year. Which is why we've seen her shift effortlessly from waist-skimming locs and perfectly sketched red lips, to dainty pixie cuts, sparkly eyeshadow, grungey kohl-rimmed eyes, Audrey Hepburn fringes, coquettish kitten liner and back without missing a beat. 

Zoe's comfort in expressing herself is likely why YSL Beauty chose her as their longstanding Global Ambassador. But, outside of beauty, Zoe's career is going from strength to strength. She's just wrapping up her directorial debut, Pussy Island, a film she co-wrote about a cocktail waitress, a tech entrepreneur and gendered corruption (out later this year). And we're waiting on word of her next role after her quietly powerful spin on the enigmatic Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman), alongside Robert Pattinson last year.

While she enjoyed a little downtime at home in New York, we tapped her up to talk about her best beauty tips, her philosophy around mindfulness, and we even came away with a few book recommendations that we'll be adding to the reading list. Here's what she had to say…

"When it comes to my makeup, small updates make a big difference…

I did some looks on the Batman tour that I really liked. We did a classic cat eye that was very sharp-shaped with a fresh face which I thought was really fun. Nina Park, the makeup artist I work with is very talented. She's incredible and she creates like no makeup makeup looks, which I just always think are so impressive. I'm pretty straightforward with my makeup, but I think instead of changing big things, it's more about changing the tones, the colours and the textures, which make a big difference.

For inspiration, I love Audrey Hepburn…

I love old Hollywood – in terms of shapes and colours. I love Audrey Hepburn. I’ve always thought she looks so beautiful and classic. It's fun to make things feel a little bit more modern and also to be playful. Sometimes you do want a sparkle or a bold lip or something. I just try and figure it out as I go.

Beauty is all about confidence…

I think beauty is a lot about confidence. Personally, if I see someone walking down the street unapologetically being themselves, I think that's beautiful and striking. You can't beat confidence, you know? 

I'm a big believer in the importance of scents…

I think scents are huge! They're so important. They can enhance your mood and energy, and they can evoke memories and make you think of someone or a certain time or place. They're so powerful. I love [YSL's] Black Opium. It's a really beautiful and complex scent. It makes me feel bold, it makes me feel sexy. There's a sweet kind of vanilla scent, but then there's also the more earthy, kind of coffee, deeper scent. I think those are kind of the two sides of my personality. Sometimes you wanna lean more into one than the other, you know? But, it's all about balance. That balance of high-low, bright and dark, or masculine and feminine. Then, I have my smells that make me feel like I'm home. I love incense, like nag champa, and essential oils. 

My lazy beauty tip is literally brushing out my brows…

I love brushing out my brows for some reason. When I brush them out and add a little colour to them, I feel like myself. That's maybe not what everybody would say, but there's something about that that just makes me feel fresh. I also think a little bit of concealer on the lid of the eye and below the eye can really brighten up your face. And – this is not anything new but – lipstick and blush is always something that I love. It's a great trick, if you don't travel with a big compact in your purse, to have some lipstick to use for both.

Skin prep is so good before makeup to wake your skin up…

I love doing masks. I love a hydrating mask. Biologique [Recherche] has some really great ones that I love that make my skin feel really alive and and fresh. I love to steam and I usually will ice my face too. I feel like it helps with inflammation and kind of just wakes everything up. All that stuff is such good prep before you do your makeup.

Social media's addictive, there's a lot we can lose to it…

Where you're at with your mind has a lot to do with what you consume: what you look at, what you read. Social media obviously plays a very big part in that. In terms of my mental health, getting off my phone and getting off of social media for breaks is very important. I don't think it should be a part of your daily life. It's become something that we want to do not only every day, but almost every free moment. And I think there's something that's being lost when people are afraid to be quiet or look out the window or just sit and have a thought, or be bored even. There's a lot of beauty in those moments. So I've been trying to keep those moments for myself. I've come home and all of a sudden realised I've spent three hours scrolling through my phone and I can't get that time back. So, I've kind of learned the hard way of realising, ‘oh wow, this isn't making me feel good and I'm doing it way too much,' and it's addictive, like many things. 

I love to read about artists in my down time…

I love autobiographical books about artists. I love Patty Smith's book, I've read a few books about Nina Simone and I read Bruce Springsteen's book, which I thought was really great. I’m a big fan of J.D. Salinger.  And I just re-read the Year of Magical Thinking, which I hadn't read in a couple years. It's such a wonderful book from Joan Didion. She’s such an incredible voice. 

It's important to me to stay connected to my heritage…

The more I've learned about my family – who they are as individuals, where they've come from and what shaped them – that's shaped me. Then creatively, I love diving into music and films and literature from incredible Jewish and black directors, and artists in general. You gotta find the things that connect to your spirit. 

You have to take more care of your body the older you get…

Your metabolism and everything starts to change. But I do think it helps, the more consistent I am with just movement in general. I live in New York, so I definitely take that for granted because I walk a lot. But I've been trying to stick with some kind of routine. I do pilates – that's what I did during Batman. I really loved the way it made my body feel and the way it made it look; like a dancers body. It's fun, it kind of stretches you, and I found that I was able to do things easier because I was so connected to my core."

For more from GLAMOUR's Beauty Editor, Elle Turner, follow her on Instagram @elleturneruk