Vampire Diaries’ Kat Graham Schools Us on Makeup Tips and Loving Yourself

Singer and* Vampire Diaries* star Kat Graham loves talking about, thinking about, dreaming about, and doing makeup. Like, loves it so much she sometimes does her own for events and no one can tell a professional didn’t get his or her hands on her. And unlike her character Bonnie, she loves playing around with color, so it makes sense she would be the face of Wet n Wild, the cosmetics line known for crazy, fun pigments.

We sat down with the multihyphenate this week at the brand’s holiday and fall-winter preview to dish on where she gets her beauty inspiration, the tricks she picked up during her dancing days on making things stick, and her advice for anyone who wants to feel a little bit better about themselves today. Read on her for her insights (sprinkled with some upcoming product love) below. Our favorite part is where she lays down some truth about inner confidence and not allowing people to change the way you feel about yourself. It’s a pure mic-drop moment.

Lipstick: Where do you get your beauty inspiration?

Kat Graham: I get a lot of my inspiration from Instagram and beauty bloggers like LolaLiner. I’m hoping I’ll eventually get to be a beauty blogger myself because I do my own makeup and I have for years. Wet n Wild has so many new products coming out—they just dropped off a box of them at my hotel and there are so many other colors and crazy palettes. I’ll get my inspiration from picking one color or a couple colors from a palette, colors you wouldn’t necessarily think would go together end up working really well and they just do it for you. I travel with palettes for quick on-the-go things, but also because I need options.

L: What are your top three products?

__KG:__The H20 liner, it was the only way I kept my makeup on underwater in my “Secrets” music video. I don’t have a lot of lashes naturally but the brand has this new Fanatic Mascara with an amazing curved brush. You can get your lashes from different angles. It literally elongates and curls because of this scientific brush. A bright lip is always a great product, but I can’t pick just one! I’m actually the greediest I’ve ever been with a company, because I learned how to do my makeup with Wet n Wild in the ’90s.

__L:__You’ve been dancing forever and dancers always have the best tricks for making makeup stay put. What are yours?

__KG:__I think it’s super important to have a primer. And powder is so key.

__L:__How is your style different from Bonnie’s on* Vampire Diaries*?

KG: The character is kind of a minimalist when it comes to makeup, so I get to have more fun on the red carpet. Whether it’s red lip colors or bright eyes or crazy cheeks or nails—something fun. The character they like to keep very minimalist, which actually I think has this effect on me where after I’m done I’m like, “OMG, get me a cat eye immediately!” I go way opposite because I need my crazy eye and lip liners. I’m trying to get away with these long nails I have now, and I’m praying nobody will notice. But they’ll probably ask me to cut them soon.

__L:__You play a witch, so we have to ask, if you could have one power in real life what would it be?

KG: I’d like to be a healer.

L: You have a tattoo on your wrist that translates to “know thyself,” is that an important message for you?

__KG:__It’s about learning to accept your flaws and love yourself. I think magazines and interviews make celebrities into this bigger-than-life thing, but I’ve gotten bullied over trying different things with my makeup. I’d say when it comes to being who you are just don’t be afraid to try things. I found my style and how I like to do makeup from trying and failing and trying and failing again, and unfortunately, I had to do it publicly to figure it out. But I’m now celebrated for being known for crazy makeup things, and I have a campaign with a makeup company. Don’t be afraid to try things because you never know what you’ll realize about yourself. Like maybe if I look at my eyes differently and play with palettes, I can accent the shape differently and bring something different out.

__L:__Have you always had this confidence?

KG: Yes, sadly. I am delusionally confident. My mom doesn’t even wear that much makeup—she’s proud of herself when she puts on eyeliner, so I think just being around the WeHo world had that effect. You don’t care at a certain point because it’s about loving how you look, and that’s how we’re empowered and feel beautiful and good about what we look like. It’s not about other people. If you let others make you feel good they can also make you feel bad, so you have to be careful about who you give your power to as a young girl. You have to look in the mirror and say I love who I am.

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