Lupita Nyong'o: "I Use Beauty Products as a Celebration of Just Naked Me"

First Lancome memory:

"Using one of its blushes for my first big red carpet at the Toronto Film Festival. I just remember thinking, 'Wow.' Blush can often be a rather foreign idea for dark skin. It can also look kind of contrived or forced, because we don't blush naturally. It gave a rosiness, a warmth, to my face without being too obvious or too conspicuous, and I liked that."

Specific color recommendations for wearing blush if you have a deeper skin tone?

"I would say that you want to go with the plumier colors more so than the peachier colors. It just needs to be a little deeper."

What inspires her bold-colored makeup choices on the red carpet?

"I want to have fun, and I am lucky enough to get to play dress-up very often. It's a moment of experimentation and of whimsy and fantasy, really. And I just like to embrace that."