When you look at Melinda Shankar, it's hard not to be a little awestruck by her beauty.
The 21-year-old Canadian actress (who's credits include Degrassi, How to Be Indie, and most recently, Shawn Desman's flick, Alive) always looks stunning on and off-screen.
We spoke to Melinda to learn more about her beauty routine and to find out some of her best beauty secrets (including her trick to getting her covetable Kardashian-esque eyelashes!)
On her skincare routine:
"My skincare regime consists of one major step: moisturizing! I only use water to wash off my makeup, followed by three layers of lotion. Aveeno is my go to as I have dry skin…my favourite product from their line is the Daily Moisturizing Lotion. This process allows for minimal chemicals and hydration after a long day to better preserve my skin and its natural elasticity."
On her beauty must-haves:
"A few beauty products I cannot live without are mascara, under-eye concealer and lip gloss. I've never worn fake lashes, but with Dior's Black Out mascara they look dramatic and bold, just how I like them! I naturally am a little darker under the eyes, but that's nothing a little colour from M.A.C. can't fix! I usually get a shade or two lighter than my face colour to make it look like I'm well rested, even if I'm lacking in the sleep department. My collection of lipsticks, colours, balms, etc. makes up the majority of my makeup kit. I find that it's a small, easy step to pumping up your look, and all in under three seconds. Right now, I'm obsessed with M.A.C Plushglass in "Posh It Up" as it has a tint that compliments any lipstick colour and it plumps naturally because of the licorice ingredient. As for lipstick, I love YSL's plum colour, #13, as it's perfect for spring and [matches] all of the fashions and colours coming in for the new season."
On her everyday makeup look:
"My everyday makeup look consists of Make Up For Ever foundation, as it is light and moisturizing, followed by a daytime smokey eye using colours not far off from my skin colour. I then apply concealer under my eyes. After that I add eyeliner to my top lashline along with my Dior mascara. The longest part of this process is probably the time I take to pick a lip colour! Once that's over and applied, I'm ready for my day!"
On her go-to evening look:
"My go-to night look is basically my everyday makeup with a more dramatic smokey eye (I usually try to incorporate a colour from my wardrobe), cheek contour for definition and bottom eyeliner to really bring [my eyes] out."
On her favourite beauty brands:
"My favourite beauty brands are M.A.C., Make Up For Ever and Vasanti. Vasanti caters to South Asian skin colours and have makeup palettes to accommodate, making it simple to find my match."
On her best beauty tip:
"My best beauty tip is to use an egg sponge to blend makeup as it wont leave stringy or line marks like foundation brushes often do. If you want your look to last for many hours, I'd set it with a finishing powder or a matte skin match powder. Last but not least, if you're wearing a lip colour and are worried about it running, use a lipliner that matches to seal it all in, which will solve that problem!"
[Photo by: Lane Dorsey]
