In the Makeup Chair: Why Neuroscientist Cara Santa Maria Hates the Sexy-Nerd Cliche

*After spending more than a decade as a makeup artist, my favorite part remains the conversations I have with my clients. The openness that occurs when I’m standing in front of someone, touching her face, is the inspiration for the Lipstick.com series “In the Makeup Chair.” Listen in as I chat with one incredible woman at a time about what beauty means to her, all while doing her makeup. Pay close attention too, because I’ll be doling out makeup lessons throughout the conversation.*When I meet Cara Santa Maria at her home in Los Angeles, I’m instantly drawn in by the offbeat coolness she exudes. Yes, she has a lip ring and the kind of skin that, at 31, still gets her carded, but it’s her passion for her job that comes across immediately. Cara’s a neuroscientist and an Emmy-winning journalist with regular contributing gigs on TechKnow on Al Jazeera America and SoCal Connected on KCET. She’s also the host of the wildly popular science podcast “Talk Nerdy.” Here, I give her a soft, smoky look as we discuss beauty, women’s equality, and why she hates the sexy-nerd cliché.

Meet Cara Santa Maria, the self-proclaimed punk-rock science geek, in her natural habitat, producing her “Talk Nerdy” podcast.

Andrew Sotomayor: This is the first of the “In the Makeup Chair” series, so I’m super, super stoked.

Cara Santa Maria: Yeah, this will be fun.

Andrew: Your podcast is called “Talk Nerdy,” so obviously there’s a fun cheekiness about it, and you talk a lot about being super sex positive on it. Considering we’re in Hollywood, though, I can’t help but think about when the librarian or scientist in the movies lets down her hair, flips it over, takes off her glasses, and all of a sudden she’s considered a bombshell.

Cara: I hate that shit.

Andrew: Right? Like why couldn’t she have the makeup and wavy hair all along?

Cara: Exactly. That’s not how girls are. That’s a male pornographic fantasy that we’re buttoned-up all day and let our boobs hang out at night. The truth is, some girls are very girly and feminine, and they love to wear makeup and high heels. Other girls are more tomboyish, and they don’t. For some people, the way that they’re perceived by the outside world is not a priority—and, you know, more power to them for that.

Makeup Lesson: You want skin to feel slightly dewy before you apply foundation to prevent makeup from appearing dry or cakey. First, apply moisturizer. If it absorbs into skin right away, spritz with a face mist and add another layer of moisturizer. On Cara, I used Olay Fresh Effects Dew Over! Moisturizer and sprayed her face with Avène Thermal Spring Water Mist.

Andrew: But your personal appearance does matter to you, doesn’t it?

Cara: Well, for me, it’s very important that I take care of my skin. I exfoliate every day; that’s the number one thing I do. Otherwise, my routine is simple: wash, eye cream, serum, and a little spot treatment when needed. Oh, and a good overnight moisturizer. Good skin makes me feel pretty, and it makes me feel healthy, and it makes me feel happy. I’m 31, and I like the fact that people are surprised by my age. I like the fact that I get carded.

Makeup Lesson: For a lit-from-within effect, use a pearlescent primer under a BB cream or foundation. It will bounce the light under the makeup, making skin look like it’s glowing. Here, I used a foundation brush to layer Burberry Fresh Glow Luminous Fluid Base in Nude Radiance under L’Occitane Immortelle Precious BB Cream in Medium. To highlight Cara’s cheekbones, I also used my fingers to dab a little more of the Burberry fluid base across them.

Andrew: So when friends or fans are trying to describe you in simplest terms, do they say, “She’s a neuroscientist with a lip ring”?

Cara: Sometimes. It’s funny to hear how much certain people resist the lip ring. Sometimes I’ll do a piece on an important topic and all the YouTube comments will be about the lip ring. I don’t really have a good answer for why I got the lip ring. I just wanted it! But I’ve had it for a million years. I got my lip pierced when I was like 15.

Makeup Lesson: Makeup can look natural but brighter if you choose sheer, saturated color, especially on lips. On Cara, I first applied La Mer The Lip Balm and topped it with CoverGirl Colorlicious Lip Gloss in Succulent Citrus.

Andrew: Well, it’s memorable—and creative!

Cara: Science is actually, I think, a very creative venture. It requires thinking outside of the box. It requires an ability to be open to new experiences and an ability to change course in the middle, try a different path, or go about things in a new way. It’s not uncommon that you set out to answer one question and then you discover this random thing along the way. A common example of that is Viagra. Scientists were trying to come up with a blood-pressure medicine when they created it, and it turned out that it…did what it do.

Andrew: Yes, Latisse is used to grow longer eyelashes, but it was created as a glaucoma medicine, and Propecia is supposed to help regrow hair, but it began as a prostate medicine.

Cara: Exactly.

Makeup Lesson: Black mascara works on everyone—yes, even if you’re blond—and because it opens up your eyes, you might not even need to use as much concealer to hide dark circles and shadows. For this look, I gave Cara two coats of Surratt Beauty Relevee Mascara.

Andrew: Speaking of men, it seems to me that in any male-dominated field, women who are comedy writers, directors, scientists, etc. are tired of being asked “What is it like to be a female _________.”

Cara: That’s true, but the frustration comes not so much when people ask, “As a woman, what has your experience been like in the sciences?” The frustration comes about when a woman feels like she can’t just be an astronaut or a rocket scientist or a neuroscientist but she has to be a female version of that—as if that’s a denigrated version or a less-than version. That’s a real frustration that a lot of women deal with, as you said, in every field. Ultimately, the main reason that you want more women in the sciences is the same reason you want more gay men in the sciences. It’s the same reason you want more Latinos or African Americans; it’s because if you come at a problem from a different perspective, you will be offering a creative vision that wasn’t there before. There is a built-in perspective that comes from having a similar upbringing, coming from a similar place, having similar life experiences. The minute that you make the discussion in the room more well-rounded, multicultural, and of course having differences in gender, you’re going to have a different approach.

Makeup Lesson: Use two different shades to fill in brows for the most natural effect. I filled in Cara’s with the lighter shade of Clé de Peau Beauté Eyebrow and Eyeliner Compact and then extended them with the darker shade. Use a spoolie brush to blend the colors together.

Andrew: I feel like what’s really different nowadays from just a few decades ago is that female professionals can really be the full picture. With what you just said about bringing new experiences to what the establishment hasn’t already had, there’s a different ability to embrace femininity that wasn’t so possible when, say, our mothers were first entering the workforce.

Cara: That’s been a huge issue in the sciences. I talk to a lot of women [from that generation] who really felt the need to act like the men. They didn’t want to style their hair because they thought they wouldn’t be respected by their male peers. It was a pioneering generation. I’m a bit of a tomboy, but one of my best friends just finished her Ph.D at Cal Tech—an incredibly competitive institution—and she wears glittery heels! It’s important to be able to be a girl and be a scientist and have neither of those things affect each other.

Makeup Lesson: People typically apply eyeliner using the very tip of the pencil. Try lining with the side of a freshly sharpened pencil instead; it’s easier to control and see what you’re doing in the mirror. For Cara’s soft, smoky eye I went with the MAC Eye Kohl Pencil in Teddy. It lays down a rich bronze color that intensifies the lash line, without being too dark, and it smudges out smoothly. I intensified the look with a light shade from the Maybelline The Nudes Palette on the lid and applied a deep bronze shade over the MAC pencil.

Andrew: Well, women have achieved so much in the past few decades, and even if it’s unrelated to their job, women are choosing to be a lot more expressive. I know you said you’re a tomboy, but you’ve been on camera a lot, so I know you wear makeup really well.

Cara: For other women, you know, I think makeup can be hugely exciting for them, but I don’t wear makeup every day.

Makeup Lesson: Powder is great for a matte look, but if you want something a little fresher, especially on warmer days, opt for a blendable cream blush or lip-and-cheek stain, like Clinique Chubby Stick Cheek Colour Balm in Robust Rhubarb used here.

Andrew: When you’re on TV, makeup can start feeling like a work uniform. It doesn’t have to be that done up though every day. I love a transformation, but I also like when I’m able to do makeup that allows you to still see freckles.

Cara: Do you usually try to show girls’ freckles through their makeup?

Andrew: I do a lot of times, yeah.

Cara: I like it too. Your job is to enhance the things that are already there—the things that nature gave us. It’s not to try and cover up how I look and make me look like somebody else.

Andrew: Agreed. Do you want to look in the mirror?

Makeup Lesson: I like skin to look fresh and a little dewy, so I rarely powder the entire face, except for television. In Cara’s case, I used The Powder From La Mer under the eyes and through the T-zone with a small brush, the Cozzette S140 Highlight Stylist. It’s more precise around the eye area than a large brush would be.

Cara: Yeah. Actually, can you cover that zit a bit more?

Andrew: Sure.

Cara’s finished look: She has a lot of brains behind those gorgeous brown eyes, so I played them up with wearable bronze tones that look chic but not overpowering. She’s a smart woman, with a big agenda. Makeup certainly isn’t required, but when you wear it this well, why not live it up?

Cara: Thank you. [Laughs.]

Andrew: Well, helping nature out a bit isn’t all bad right?

Cara: True.