Wunmi Mosaku's Event-Ready Skin Care and Everyday Audition Makeup
Vogue
In this Vogue "Beauty Secrets" session, actor Wunmi Mosaku walks through two routines. The first is a skin care routine she says is not daily. It is a more involved one for periods when she is wearing a lot of makeup and attending many events. The second is a quick everyday makeup look, which turns out to be what she wears to auditions. Along the way she talks about her upbringing, her path into acting, recent roles, motherhood, an interest in herbalism, and a clothing line she is launching.
From Cocoa Butter and a Fishing-Net Sponge to a Real Routine
Mosaku opens with a cleanser from Shea Radiance and immediately breaks the pump. She laughs it off: people assume she is cool and collected, but she calls herself "chaos."
Next is a black seed toner from S'ABLE, which she says she loves for its smell. This leads her to describe how she grew up. Her mother, she says, is "so au naturel." The family's skin care was cocoa butter, Vaseline, soap and water, and African black soap, with no real routine. She used to scrub her face with a sapo sponge, which she compares to a fishing net. By her own account she was not gentle with her face until around the pandemic.
The third step is Shiseido's activating essence. Unlike the routine as a whole, this is a product she says she uses every single day.
Becoming an Actor Without Seeing Herself on Stage
While applying products, Mosaku explains how she got into acting. When she decided to become an actor, she expected a career on the stage. She did not see many people who looked or felt like her. She also did not see stories about people like her: people who moved from other countries at a young age, and the nuances of being Black and British. She says she became an actor without really knowing what was ahead. She only knew she loved stories and loved theater, which she calls her "number one love." Her big dream was to be a theatrical actress doing Shakespeare. She admits she has not done a play "in way too long." She describes the choice as a gamble and a risk, approached with a "let's see what happens" attitude.
Next she applies a stem cell face serum from Uzo, a couple of pumps, which she says sits nicely under makeup. She says she simply loves her job: being on set and the stories being told. She is open to anything that moves or changes people. The work she does is very different from much of what she watches, which gives her a broad appreciation of the industry. She mentions loving comedy and musicals.
Treating Dark Spots, and the Toll of New Motherhood
The next product is another Shea Radiance item, a face oil with baobab oil and vitamin C. She uses it to fade dark spots. Because she has rarely left the house since having her baby, she has been wearing glasses, and the nose pads have left marks. She is using the oil to brighten those areas.
She points out what the products share. They source their ingredients from West Africa, and they are all Black-owned and woman-owned. She finishes the skin care steps with Uzo's stem cell moisturizer, which she says makes makeup "really zing" on top.
On whether her skin has changed, Mosaku is unsure. She does say her under-eye bags have grown bigger and darker, and that exhaustion shows on her face more since becoming a mom.
A Homemade Body Butter and a Herbalism Course
She then shows a homemade body butter. It is not for sale; she makes a batch every couple of months. The ingredients are shea butter straight from Ghana, coconut oil, cocoa butter, and sweet almond oil. She adds whatever essential oil she likes at the time, such as lavender or orange, then whips it into a butter. She uses it on her body every day.
Mosaku says she is personally drawn to things that are more natural and holistic. That interest connects to her role as Annie in Sinners, a herbalist. She has since been taking a herbalism course and learning which herbs are good for the skin, digestion, the immune system, and more. Now, when she sees ingredients like babassu oil, shea butter, or calendula on a label, she recognizes what they are good for.
The Audition Look
For makeup, she starts with a Lancôme concealer, which she thinks is called a skin glow serum concealer. She says she doesn't wear much makeup and reveals that this is her audition look. She applies concealer under the eyes, on the chin, and in a few other spots.
This prompts a memory of Sinners. On that film, she says, her makeup was basically a tinted oil on the skin. She found that welcome because it was so hot and everyone was sweating heavily. Dealing with concealer and foundation in that heat, she says, would have been "game over."
She adds a dot of product as her "version of contouring." She admits she doesn't know if it does anything, but it makes her feel like it is doing something.
Contrasting Characters and Their Makeup
She recalls a film made last year with Idris Elba, where the makeup call was very long. That character was in full glam, which felt to her like red carpet glam every single day.
Next comes a Pat McGrath product, which she again notes is Black-owned and woman-owned. She first calls it a blusher, then corrects herself to bronzer, and applies a little.
She contrasts that glam role with her character in The Social Reckoning. That character is buttoned-up and very professional, so the makeup was simple: a nice eyeshadow and a nice eyeliner. Mosaku describes the character as someone not trying to make a splash who still needs everyone to take her seriously. She calls her a kind of ringleader everyone looks to, or "the conductor."
She then applies liquid eyeliner, pleased that it "wasn't too bad." She adds a bit more concealer over one of the glasses-pad marks.
A Nursing-Friendly Clothing Line
Mosaku mentions she is launching a maternity and nursing line, which the transcript renders as "Iyadé by Wunmi." Every piece is nursing-friendly, so the clothes can be worn well past postpartum. She wears them herself because they are good at hiding messy toddler food spills while still looking cute. She points to a fabric made with adire, which she explains means "to tie and dye" in Yoruba. She has been designing the fabrics herself, which she describes as what she does in her spare time.
Finishing Touches
She applies Lancôme Flutter Extension mascara and then considers S'ABLE lip balms. She thinks about the Scotch Bonnet shade but chooses Jollof, approving of its "cute little tint." With that, she presents the finished audition look and closes with, "Let's hope I get the role."
Hi Vogue, I'm Wunmi Mosaku, and today I'm going to walk you through my skin care routine. I'm not going to say it's a daily one. It's going to be more involved, like when I'm wearing a lot of makeup, going to a lot of events. This is what I do to take care of my skin. And then I'm going to do a quick daily makeup.
My first step is a cleanser. This is by Shea Radiance. Oh, no. Broken the pump. Everyone thinks that I'm cool and collected. I am chaos.
So next is this toner, black seed toner by S'ABLE. I love the smell of this. Smells amazing.
I feel like my mom is really kind of—she's so au naturel, and our skin routine was really just cocoa butter and Vaseline, soap and water and African black soap. Yeah, I didn't really have a routine. I used to use my sapo sponge, which is like a fishing net. I used to use that on my face too. I was not gentle with my face until about the pandemic.
Shiseido activating essence. I use this every single day. It's very, very delicious.
When I decided to be an actor, I really thought it was going to be a career on the stage. I didn't see too many people who looked like me, who felt like me, who had a—I didn't even see stories about people like me. People who came from different countries at young ages, and Black and British, the nuances of our lives.
And so I think I became an actor not really knowing what was in store, just knowing that I loved stories and I loved theater. Theater is my number one love. So my big dream was I was going to be a theatrical actress and do Shakespeare and da da da da. And I haven't done a play in way too long. It felt like a gamble. It felt like a risk. I didn't know what was in store, but I was just kind of like, let's see. Let's see what happens.
This is a stem cells face serum by Uzo, and this goes on really nicely under my makeup. Couple of pumps.
I just love my job. I love being on set. I love the stories that we tell. I'm kind of up for anything that feels like it moves people, changes people. And the things that I do are very different from a lot of the things that I watch as well. So I feel like I really have a broad appreciation of the whole industry. I love to watch a lot of comedy, and I love musicals.
And then I've got this face oil by Shea Radiance again. It's baobab oil, and it's vitamin C. And I've been using this because I've been trying to get rid of these dark spots. And since I've not been out of the house much with the baby, I'm wearing my glasses, and I've been getting these pad marks here. So I've been using that to kind of try to brighten it up a bit.
One thing I really love about all of these products is how they source their ingredients from West Africa. All of these are Black-owned and woman-owned products. This is again from Uzo. This is the stem cell moisturizer, and this makes your makeup really zing on top. It's perfect for underneath.
My skin is definitely—I don't know if my skin has changed, but my bags are bigger, and they're darker. Exhaustion is on my face more since becoming a mom.
Speaking of Black-owned, woman-owned, here's my homemade body butter, which is not for sale, but I do make this every couple of months. It's shea butter straight from Ghana, coconut oil, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, and then whatever essence I fancy: lavender, orange, whatever. And then I whip it up into a little butter, and I've got this on my body every single day.
For me personally, I feel like I'm very much drawn towards everything being more natural and holistic. I love—yeah, I played Annie, and she was a herbalist, and I've been doing a herbalism course. So I've been learning about all these herbs that are good for your skin, for your digestion, for your—I don't know, everything, your immune system. And when I see these products that have babassu oil in it, I'm like, yeah, I know that that's good for this, or shea butter or, like I said, calendula.
So now I'm going to go into my concealer. This is Lancôme. I think it's called Skin Glow serum concealer. I don't wear a lot of makeup. I'll tell you what I'm doing. I'm doing my audition makeup. This is what I wear when I go in for an audition. So I do under the eyes, on the chin, on here, and then I get here.
I think about Sinners. That was basically just a tinted oil on my skin, which was really quite nice because it's so hot and everyone was sweating so much. It was like if you had to deal with concealer and foundation and that heat, it would have just been game over.
So this is my version of contouring. Put a little dot here. Don't know if it does anything, but it makes me feel like it's doing something.
So I did a film last year with Sir Idris Elba. Now, the makeup call for that was very long. I mean, she was just kind of full glam, like full red carpet glam, it felt like every single day.
So next is Pat McGrath. Another Black-owned, woman-owned. So this is a blusher and—no, like a high—no, a bronzer. This is a bronzer. I'm just going to put a little bit here. There this one is.
But in The Social Reckoning, I play someone who's kind of very—she's kind of buttoned up and very professional. So my makeup was really simple, like a nice eyeshadow and nice eyeliner. She's professional, isn't trying to make a splash, but needs everyone to take her seriously. She's kind of the ringleader in a way, and everybody's kind of looking to her. She's the conductor, I would say.
Okay, so now I'm going to go in with my liquid eyeliner. Oh, it wasn't too bad. I want to put some more concealer on that glasses pad right there.
I'm launching a maternity line, nursing line called Iyadé, Iyadé by Wunmi. And so I design all my—all my pieces are nursing friendly. So you can wear them way past postpartum. I wear them because they're great at hiding messy toddler food spills and still look kind of cute doing it. This is called Adire, which means, in Yoruba, it means to tie and dye. So yeah, I've been designing the fabrics, and that's what I do in my spare time.
This is Lancôme Flutter Extension.
Okay, so then I got some S'ABLE lip balms. I'm not sure which one I want to go for. I think maybe the Scotch Bonnet. No. Let's try the Jollof. I'm going in for the Jollof.
Cute little tint. Like it. This is my audition look. Let's hope I get the role. Thank you so much, Vogue. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
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