Things got worse before they got better: “[Accutane]
made my emotions crazy. I was a nightmare for the six
months I was on it. Being an emotional 15-year-old and
being on Accutane? It was just a lot. But my skin was
magically better. I don’t know if I’d recommend it to any-
one, but I wouldn’t have changed [my experience] for the
world. Once I was off of it, keeping my skin clear was what
I was really into—I wasn’t wearing foundation [or] makeup.
But when I was 20, I started getting breakouts again. I
started freaking out, like, ‘Shoot, do I go back on Accu-
tane?’ I hadn’t learned about skin care—I had just done
the Accutane. I started watching YouTube stuff on skin
care, I started getting facials, then I did microneedling
because I had a lot of scarring [from picking at my acne].
It really helped. My skin is constantly changing with my
hormones. I’m in a phase where I’m trying to figure out
my routine. I recently went off of birth control because my
facialist [suggested it], and my skin has been a disaster, to
say the least. My friends recommended a new facialist.”
Minimalism is working for her: “I wash my face with Fresh
Soy [Face] Cleanser, then just put on sunscreen and pure
rose water whenever my skin feels dry. I’m not using any
moisturizers before bed because I’m really nervous to put
stuff on my skin. I’m 25 and trying to figure it out, trying
to get clear skin.”
Maximalism is working for her too: “I’ve been getting
tattoos since I was 18, probably like one a year. I have
matching cherries with my boyfriend. I have three red
hearts because [I was] going to wait in line for ramen
with two of my best friends and the line was too long and
we were just like, ‘Let’s get tattoos.’ [I have] this smiley
face that’s so messed up and the ink is all coming out—
[my best friend and I] were backstage at Lollapalooza, in
Brazil, bored and drunk. This guy was giving out tattoos,
we were speaking the little Portuguese we knew, and we
ended up with these. I look at it and remember the day
exactly. Maybe it’s not the best tattoo, but I love it. The
first tattoo I ever got was [the word] serendipity. I feel like
I was trying to be so serious, and it’s just silly to me now.
It’s not my personality to have something so serious, but
whatever, I did it.” —DEVON ABELMAN
She’s pulling for a ’90s makeup revival: “I did go buy
brown lipstick after this shoot. I want to try experiment-
ing with lips. I wear the same gloss every day [because]
I’m constantly drinking matcha or licking my lips. I want
to experiment with decades—channel some early-2000s
stuff, some ’70s looks—and find my own unique twist on
old trends.”
With some exceptions: “When I was younger, I would lit-
erally try to copy the makeup that was on Barbie heads.
I would use my mom’s makeup. She had frosty pink MAC
eye shadow that I would cover my entire eyelid with. I got
my inspiration from Lizzie McGuire.”
She’s toned things down since then: “I’ve been into lining
my eyes with brown liner—it makes blue eyes pop. And I
cannot leave the house without brow gel. I love Anastasia
[Beverly Hills Clear] Brow Gel. I have a lot of eyebrow, and
[with the gel] they don’t move. It’s like glue. It makes my
eyes look more awake—all the hairs are up.”
Her first foray into YouTube was short-lived: “I was a
competitive dancer from age 4 to 18, and I was doing
hair and makeup on our entire team. I started watching
YouTube when I was a senior, and I remember being like,
‘We should make a YouTube video of our competition
look.’ It got sent around to other schools, and girls were
just mean in high school. Everyone made so much fun of
us. I was so embarrassed. I was like, ‘I can’t. I’m taking it
down.’” [She now has a six-figure YouTube following with
“Yesssss, the queen of sunshine” as a typical comment.]
Her relationship with her skin has been... “quite the
fucking journey. In eighth grade, I was getting acne on
my forehead. My mom’s cure was bangs. Then she took
me to a dermatologist. I would get topical creams and
antibiotics, but they never did anything. Or I would get a
weird, different type of acne. I would just cry and cry to
my dermatologist, ‘Please prescribe Accutane!’ She did
not want to do it, [but my acne] ended up being little pim-
ples covering my entire face—literally, the texture of my
skin was completely different—so she put me on it. It was
crazy because you have to go in once a month for blood
tests and answer a pamphlet of questions just to get a
refill. It was an intense process.” [Dermatologists have all
women of childbearing age do this because you can’t be
pregnant and on Accutane.]
Above, from left: Some of Carlson’s favorite
ink (“All my tattoos are pretty spontaneous”),
a Wildflower case (plus excellent soft, smoky
shadow), and a touristy shot at the Louvre.
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32 ALLURE APRIL 2020
FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF SUBJECT;
LAUREN LEEKLEY
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