{"id":268094,"date":"2025-10-29T15:20:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T04:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/?p=268094"},"modified":"2025-11-12T12:48:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T01:48:27","slug":"devon-lee-carlson-interview-beauty-annual-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/devon-lee-carlson-interview-beauty-annual-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Devon Lee Carlson’s “resting face is a smile”"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an unusually cosy autumn day in Los Angeles, and Devon Lee Carlson<\/a> is making the most of it, dressed in a pink hoodie adorned with small florals in her home tucked away in the hills. Her dog, Daisy, sits on her lap. Carlson\u2019s face is bare, save for rosy cheeks \u2013 a signature almost as famous as her smile. For years now, the model and entrepreneur has been a fixture in the fashion industry. But as she enters her 30s with the company she started over a decade ago, her two dogs, actor boyfriend, every major fashion house knocking, and a summer that saw her walking shows in Paris, Carlson is as she\u2019s always been: just a girl who\u2019s happy to be here.<\/em><\/p>\n

Devon Lee Carlson learned early that beauty could be performance. Growing up as a dancer, she remembers always being interested in the costuming part, including doing her own hair and make-up for competitions. \u201cFrom kindergarten on, I wouldn\u2019t let my Mum even do my hair. I always loved getting ready,\u201d she says. Thanks to having a \u2018young, cool\u2019 Mum, her parents\u2019 bathroom was never short on make-up, hair products, and fragrances to raid. She\u2019d watch YouTube tutorials, every episode of the pageant reality show Toddlers and Tiaras, and saved her allowance to buy Giorgio Armani\u2019s Luminous Silk Foundation.<\/p>\n

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FRUITY BOOTY bra\u2019s and briefs; NICKLAS SKOVGAARD skirt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2012, Carlson launched Wildflower Cases with her family after her mum began making custom phone cases for her daughters that were coveted amongst their friends. A year later, she began a YouTube channel with day-in-the-life vlogs and GRWMs, one of which has over half a million views. This early digital footprint, combined with an Instagram she started at 17 and close friendships with the likes of then-burgeoning model Bella Hadid, cemented Carlson as part of the new-age online fashion canon. But it\u2019s her personal style, authenticity, and the candid way she connects with her audience \u2013 the way she somehow sells every aspect of her lifestyle with an effortless sincerity influencers today should study at school \u2013 that\u2019s kept her there.<\/p>\n

When a vlog was first sent to me in London by a friend in 2020, Carlson was still a relatively IYKYK fashion girl-model-entrepreneur. Now, she\u2019s designed for Marc Jacobs and Reformation, starred in Balenciaga campaigns, walked for Coperni and Proenza Schouler, and worked with CHANEL, Saint Laurent, and Gucci. Her smile is so famous it was name-checked in Charli XCX\u2019s Speed Drive, for which Carlson stars in the music video. A popular Wildflower case is a zoomed-in image of her grin. \u201cMy resting face is a smile,\u201d Carlson says. \u201cI used to be the only one who would smile. Then I got insecure about it. I was like, \u2018Oh, fuck, am I supposed to be more serious?\u2019 But when I started going to the shows, people would ask, \u2018Can I get a smiling one?\u2019 and I was like, \u2018Oh, okay.\u2019 I don\u2019t think everything I put out is 100 per cent happy butterflies, but I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m just a happy girl. I\u2019m literally a dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

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BEAUTY NOTES \u2013 A glowing base with EMMA LEWISHAM Sunceutical SPF 50 Mineral Glow Serum, cheeks lifted with CAIA COSMETICS Blush in Guava Pinch. Brows were shaped using the M.A.C COSMETICS Pro Brow Definer and held with their Brow Gel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a warmth to Carlson that feels unshakeable, an ease that seems to come from knowing herself, and being comfortable in that. It\u2019s sellable \u2013 which brands have noticed \u2013 and enviable, of course. But most of all, it\u2019s refreshing. Carlson, and the way she exists in her own skin, feels grounded in a way that\u2019s so often lacking in the industry and wider influencer space. Even when she talks about beauty, it\u2019s less about perfection and more about feeling good in the version of herself she\u2019s putting into the world. \u201c\u2018I\u2019ve always been pretty headstrong in terms of what I like and what I don\u2019t,\u201d Carlson says. \u201cI didn\u2019t get Instagram \u2018til I was 17, so I had a pretty strong idea of who I was before I was even heavily on the internet. I think that definitely helped with my perception.\u201d<\/p>\n

In high school, Carlson started breaking out badly. \u201cI just had acne that would not go away, no matter what I did.\u201d After many failed attempts at fixes, she went on Accutane, which changed her skin and confidence. \u201cI still deal with flare-ups,\u201d she says, then lists a routine that shows the beauty obsessive beneath the carefree image. \u201cYou know when you get sick and you can feel it coming? I\u2019m like that, but with my skin. I\u2019ll double cleanse my face and double dose on benzoyl peroxide, morning and at night. If I do this and don\u2019t wear any make-up, it usually goes away. If it\u2019s really bad, you can get a cortisone shot or do laser genesis.\u201d<\/p>\n

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BEAUTY NOTES \u2013 Beauty notes The skin was the focus, prepped and perfected with the EMMA LEWISHAM Illuminating Exfoliant and nourished overnight with the EMMA LEWISHAM Supernatural Sleeping Mask for a radiant, luminous finish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carlson grew up in Thousand Oaks, just outside Los Angeles, where leggings and Uggs were the uniform. Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus were major influences. \u201cWhen the video of Miley smoking a bong got leaked, I cried,\u201d she shares. She adored pop stars like Rihanna and Beyonc\u00e9, actors like Cameron Diaz and Angelina Jolie, the 90s supers. Jane Birkin and Betsey Johnson for always being themselves. \u201cI liked people with strong personalities across the board. Women who weren\u2019t afraid to be women.\u201d Carlson remembers loving Kim Kardashian\u2019s make-up looks when she was a kid. \u201cI was obsessed with her eyebrows. I would take pictures of Kim Kardashian to get mine waxed. I\u2019ve had basically the same influences in my life since I was a child. I\u2019ve always thought strong women are the pinnacle.\u201d<\/p>\n

I tell Carlson I\u2019ve lived in L.A. for three years, and, despite living on the opposite side of the city from the flashy clinics of Beverly Hills, have never been more aware of my physical appearance. \u201cI think Los Angeles influenced me the way that where anyone lives, and what\u2019s trending there, is a part of their ethos,\u201d Carlson says. \u201cBut I\u2019m not really adventurous beyond just trying to look like the healthiest, best version of myself. In L.A., you have a lot of access to make that happen, but \u2013 and maybe it\u2019s because I was a little older when the plastic surgery trends were all happening \u2013 that didn\u2019t really ever interest me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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LYRONE JOURNO top; FRUITY BOOTY briefs; GIABORGHINI shoes; PANCONESI earrings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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NICKLAS SKOVGAARD top; FERNANDA CASTRO shorts; FRUITY BOOTY briefs; GIABORGHINI shoes; PANCONESI earrings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part of what makes Carlson so popular is the inclusive way she behaves online: when filming vlogs, just as her audience is excited to watch Carlson give them a glimpse into otherwise closed doors, she, too, is excited to be there. At a Gucci event recently, her friend, who works for the House, told her, \u2018You\u2019re always the last one standing.\u2019 \u201cMost of the parties, or anything fashion-related to go to, I\u2019m not thinking about when I can leave, or how much longer I have to be there. I\u2019m making the most of every situation.\u201d Still, she\u2019s discerning about when to film and when to simply be in the moment. \u201cA lot of it is being able to read a room. I get imposter syndrome all the time, hence wanting to document it and share it. But I don\u2019t whip out my camera if it\u2019s going to disturb the peace. Let\u2019s let the moment happen. I hate when things are disturbed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlson has been seeing the same facialist, Sharlena Hassani, for a decade after trying to book an appointment with Hassani\u2019s boss and not being able to get in. Now, Hassani is so renowned, she counts some of Carlson\u2019s beauty crushes as clients. \u201cI\u2019m a rash girl, and she always helps me out right away.\u201d Due to her temperamental skin, Carlson is picky about what she uses and notices that whenever she has to get her make-up done a lot, she\u2019ll break out. \u201cI always tell make-up artists not to use foundation because I\u2019m scared they\u2019re going to make me look cakey, and because I talk so much. I always avoid it near my smile lines around my eyes and mouth, especially.\u201d A lot of the references Carlson looks to for beauty and make-up are from the 90s or the early 2000s, photos of models and actors who mostly weren\u2019t ever super dolled up. \u201cThey let their skin look like skin. And if they had a breakout, they didn\u2019t hide it. It was just kind of there. You\u2019d still wear blue eyeshadow, but not completely covered up, and I think that ages better. The make-up looks I regret are always the ones where I\u2019m covered in foundation, I\u2019m like, \u2018God, I look crazy\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

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OUDE WANG top; RENAISSANCE RENAISSANCE skirt; FRUITY BOOTY briefs; GIABORGHINI shoes; MOYA earrings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carlson\u2019s day-to-day beauty routine is similarly simple, consisting of blush, lip liner (she has \u201caround 200\u201d of Make Up For Ever\u2019s Anywhere Caffeine pencils), and, if she\u2019s feeling like she needs something extra, brow gel. \u201cI swear my skin secret is keeping a cream blush in your pocket and putting it on before you leave your car. It just makes you look alive.\u201d Carlson\u2019s friend recently asked who she was seeing for her skin and she said it was just the blush. They tried some then laughed, \u201cThey were like, \u2018Oh, my God, yes, it\u2019s the blush\u2019.\u201d She\u2019ll sometimes use two creams and always sets them with a powder. \u201cYou gotta put some cream in there,\u201d she tells me in a serious, life or death tone.\u201cIt will be life-changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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NICKLAS SKOVGAARD top; FERNANDA CASTRO shorts; FRUITY BOOTY briefs; PANCONESI earrings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Skincare is very \u2018less is more\u2019, too. \u201cI try to keep it simple. I don\u2019t wash my face like crazy, unless I\u2019m breaking out. I use micellar water sometimes just before bed, but I\u2019m pretty relaxed about it.\u201d But despite this no-foundation, low-key skincare regime, Carlson is adamant not to be labelled as low maintenance. \u201cI mean, I was getting spray tans when I was in middle school. I love the pageantry of being a girl,\u201dshe says. \u201cMy friend and I always talk about how my dream if I didn\u2019t have Wildflower would be to have a one-stop shop for prom. It would be full of prom and homecoming dresses that are all really cool, and attached to a hair and make-up salon. You can go there, you can get a spray tan, and your nails done. The whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite avoiding lasers because a mystic once told her not to get them in the middle of an otherwise skincare-unrelated session, Carlson still finds ways to experiment. She does microneedling, has tried Aquagold, and salmon sperm. \u201cI\u2019ll try anything that\u2019s hydrating, rejuvenating, or shrinking.\u201d She did SoftWave this year and is waiting for the results to show. \u201cBasically, what I\u2019m trying to say is, I\u2019m not a low-maintenance girl. I\u2019m definitely high-maintenance to stay low-maintenance. I\u2019m not like, \u2018Yeah, I don\u2019t wear any make-up.\u2019 Like, no, babe. I\u2019m like, \u2018I\u2019ve had three facials this week.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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FERNANDA CASTRO bolero and top; FRUITY BOOTY briefs; GIABORGHINI shoes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These treatments have increased as she\u2019s gotten older, but at 31, Carlson is loving ageing so far. \u201cI\u2019m not really trying to prevent it. I\u2019m just trying to do it gracefully. I look at older women, and I\u2019m excited. I\u2019m like, dude, I\u2019m gonna be so awesome.\u201d She knows sleep and water are essential. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely scary to see yourself be affected by, like, drinking the next day. I\u2019ve been getting a lot of under-eye bags I never used to get, and if I don\u2019t sleep, I can see it on myself, which never used to be a thing. So, I think it\u2019s more just, it\u2019s inspiring me to take better care of myself. But at the same time, when I\u2019m ready for the facelift, like, fuck it, I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The night before a big event, Carlson will use an expensive but effective CO2 mask. She\u2019s also gotten really into body care \u2013 a thick moisturiser on neck and chest, Cyklar Body Oil Balm after the shower \u2013 and one non-negotiable: Patrick Ta\u2019s Major Glow Balm, her most \u2018life-changing product\u2019 for a night out. \u201cThe recent Saint Laurent show, where my shirt is unbuttoned, that shiny glow on my chest,\u201d she says, holding up her Instagram grid. \u201cSame with Gucci in the pink dress. I\u2019m completely covered in it. At the Venice Film Festival? You best believe. Head to toe.\u201d<\/p>\n

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LYRONE JOURNO top; FRUITY BOOTY briefs; GIABORGHINI shoes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carlson\u2019s long brunette hair is almost as integral to her look as her smile is. For this, she thanks her dad. \u201cI owe all of my nice locks to him.\u201d Other than a brief stint of being blonde when she was 21, she\u2019s always been brunette, trying every shade of dark tones that she could. Last year, her hair was markedly darker, almost black, than the shade she is now. She tells me Christine Silverman was colouring her hair \u2013 \u201cshe is best.\u201d But to get it back to its medium brown, almost natural colour, with added lowlights, she went to Jacob Schwartz, a longtime friend, whose client list consists of Margot Robbie, Bella Hadid and Charli XCX. In an industry that rewards constant reinvention, Carlson\u2019s refusal to chase trends feels quietly radical. As she talks, I catch myself deciding to also go lighter. It\u2019s this indescribable trait that makes her so influential. \u201cI do a hair mask here and love a gloss. If my hair feels like dingy, a clear gloss adds so much,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been talking for almost an hour and a half, a long time for any profile, let alone one almost specifically tied to one topic alone. \u201cI could talk about this forever,\u201d Carlson says. \u201cAll my best friends, all we talk about is, like, \u2018I just did this. You guys should go do this\u2019. We definitely want to share the wealth. Even my boyfriend, I\u2019m like, \u2018let\u2019s get a skincare routine going\u2019. Let\u2019s all help each other look and feel our best. Because what\u2019s the point of one person walking around looking great, and everyone else is not?\u201d<\/p>\n

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FRUITY BOOTY bra; SAINT LAURENT skirt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carlson is someone who embodies how we should relate to beauty today: she\u2019s aware of its artifice, but still finds joy in it. Her approach feels collaborative, not competitive. She doesn\u2019t gatekeep, and has no interest in pretending that being a woman is effortless. Instead of chasing youth, she\u2019s focused on maintaining her sense of self.<\/p>\n

The next day, while I\u2019m writing this piece at an East L.A coworking space, my friend pauses as she walks past. \u201cYou look pretty,\u201d she says. My face is bare, other than one product. \u201cThanks, I have blush on,\u201d I reply.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by RUSSH Magazine (@russhmagazine)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n