Savannah Lee Smith From Gossip Girl Shares Her Fave Beauty Products, Including a $6 Pick

As a product minimalist, Smith knows what works for her skin and she sticks to it. To cleanse away a full face of makeup after a long day on set she uses the Then I Met You Living Cleansing Balm ($38). "I've realized that I like a cleansing balm way more than makeup wipes, just because those can be rough on your skin and pull," she said. Then, switching from a K-Beauty favorite to a drugstore staple, she uses the Humphreys Witch Hazel Soothe With Rose Alcohol-Free Toner ($11), followed by a moisturizer.

But no skin-care routine is complete without sunscreen and Smith knows that, which is why she slathers herself in the Sun Bum Mineral SPF 30 Sunscreen Face Lotion ($18). "It doesn't leave a white cast, which is hard to find as a highly melanated queen."

All of this talk about skin care is not to say that Smith doesn't like getting all glammed up. She described her going-out makeup style as classic. "I usually do a classic, small wing and lashes and just a lot of blush — and I love a red lip," Smith said. She prefers liquid or cream blush to powders, which is why she's been loving the KVD Beauty ModCon Liquid-Gel Blush ($26). "It's really highly pigmented when it comes out, but when you blend it into your skin, it just looks really natural."

Her go-to red lip is another drugstore favorite: Maybelline New York Color Sensational Made for All Lipstick in Spice For Me ($6).

Like most New Yorkers right now, staying cool amid the heat is one of Smith's main priorities, but she has the added factor of being on set under hot stage lights for hours on end. Luckily, she has a hack for beating the heat: the mist version of the Humphreys Witch Hazel Refresh With Cucumber Alcohol-Free Toner ($11). "It reminds me of when you go to Disneyland and it would be really hot and they would sell those little fans that also had the spray mister — that's what it feels like," she said.

Smith has gotten to work with many industry professionals over the years, but she credits Tyra Banks for the biggest beauty lesson she's learned to date: always take your makeup off before bed. "I was obsessed with America's Next Top Model, I watched it religiously growing up," she said.

Smith's other favorite beauty tip is more recent and comes from her Gossip Girl costar Zión Moreno (who plays Luna La). "She also told me that it's best to wash your pillowcases a lot more than any of your other bedding because of your skin," said Smith. "And that's something that I never thought about."

Although she considers herself to be a dedicated skin-care enthusiast now, Smith's introduction to that side of the beauty world didn't come until after high school. "I didn't really know that [skin care] was a thing that I was supposed to be focusing on or thinking about," she said. "Then, I went to college and I started educating myself on skin care and I realized that I really love it."

You could say college was her awakening to all things beauty. When she moved to New York City to pursue a degree at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, her whole perception of what "beauty" means "changed drastically."

"In high school, I went to a predominantly white high school in a predominantly white area and my idea of beauty was just so skewed," she said. "Then I went to college and I got older and I started meeting different types of people and just immersing myself in kind of the melting pot of New York City."

For the 20-year-old, it's still hard to put into words exactly how she would define what beauty means to her, but she certainly knows what makes her feel like her most beautiful, authentic self. "I feel the most beautiful when I feel comfortable in my own skin," said Smith. "That's why I think skin care has become a love for me — because I do love going outside and feeling just as beautiful without any makeup on as I do with a full face."