Ming Lee Simmons, Model | Into The Gloss

“I’ve always wanted to work in fashion because I watched my mom work in fashion my whole life. Right now I help my mom with creative direction at Baby Phat. It’s really fun because my mom, my sister, and one of my best friends and I work together. I also have my own little social media platforms where I make a lot of fashion and beauty content, and I’ve modeled for brands like Good American, Skims, and Glossier, too. It’s an exciting time to model. My mom always talks about her modeling days, and how models had to stay a certain size. There’s still some of that pressure in the industry, but I’m excited that brands are looking for people of all different sizes and shapes and colors to represent them.

A night out, whether it’s in LA or New York, always includes an espresso martini. If I don’t have one I’m not going anywhere. And that’s mainly because I’m a tired girlie. [Laughs] When I was in LA recently, I went to Lavo with my best friend, and they had a really good espresso martini. But my favorite food is sushi, and in New York, my favorite spot is Kissaki. You can get sake pairings, and I’ll be honest, every time I go and get the sake, I end up obliterated and that’s my whole night. I also love going to Cipriani and American Bar.

SKINCARE
I had really bad cystic acne during the pandemic, so I started seeing aesthetician Sarah Ford, who I found through my mom. I love her Gentle Enzyme Cleanser. It exfoliates my skin without stripping it, so I can use it every day. I use a cleansing balm from Farmacy to get off my makeup though. I’ll be honest, most of the time if I’m going out and I come home and I’m a little drunkie, that’s probably the only skincare that I do.

I use Skinbetter’s Mystro Active Balance Serum because Sarah tells me to. She also recommended Osmosis’ growth factor serum, even though I don’t entirely know what it does. I’ve just noticed that if I don’t use it, I break out more. I’ve been using it for a year, and it’s the last serum I apply before Augustinus Bader’s Rich Cream. I started with Augustinus Bader’s regular cream, but as my acne got worse and I needed more astringents, I needed more moisture and switched over to The Rich Cream. I love that it doesn’t have a scent.

For sunscreens, I switch between two—the Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel from Isntree and Glow Recipe’s Watermelon Glow SPF 45. They both leave me so glowy, so I’ll sometimes use them at night because they act like a shiny base—and I always want to be dewy, never matte.

MAKEUP
Again, the goal is to glow, so I start with Dior’s Glow Veil primer and Glow Recipe’s Dew Drops. For foundation, I love Urban Decay’s Face Bond. It’s matte, but it stays glowy for me when I use my primer combo. But I really love it because of its packaging. It doesn’t leak, and I travel a lot. I alternate it with Hourglass’ Skin Tint Foundation. It’s really hydrating and pretty. Then I go in with the Radiant Creamy Concealer from Nars. It’s been my absolute favorite since I stole it from my mom’s makeup bag. It blends out well, and it’s truly so creamy. I use Tiramisu to conceal spots and Crema Catalina for my under eyes. If I want more coverage though, I use Hourglass’ Vanish Airbrush Concealer in Beech. All of this is being blended with a BeautyBlender, which I feel like gives me more of a margin for error. I know people say you can get dupes on Amazon, but none of them compare to the original. But, if I don’t have one with me, I like Hourglass and Patrick Ta makeup brushes.

For blush, I love Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch in Happy or Bliss—they are so pigmented. But my new favorite is the Unreal Liquid Blush from Hourglass in Scene. I think I have blush blindness, but I don’t care—I want all of the blush I can get. I have really almond eyes and I like to use blush to accentuate them, so I place it on the upper corners of my cheeks and blend it into my brow bones. That’s also great because I’m very bad at actual eyeshadow. Then I like to sculpt with Makeup by Mario’s SoftSculpt Skin Enhancer. It’s really easy to blend. I use Dark because it’s cooler and I like to give myself a more sculpted look.

I like to layer my liquid products with my powders to make everything stay longer. After I set my face with powder from Hourglass, I add in Mac’s powder blush to my cheeks. I’ve been using Burnt Pepper, a reddish-brown color, for eight or nine years. I also love Dior’s Rosy Glow in Berry, a darker, purple shade. It’s kind of similar to Burnt Pepper, but it’s a bit more cool. Then it’s time for bronzer from Gucci. I used to exclusively use Marc Jacobs Beauty’s O!Mega bronzer—after it was discontinued I had like five from eBay for a while. A friend recommended Gucci’s as an alternative because it’s not streaky and I’ve been using it ever since.

If I feel like it, I’ll wear eyeliner. I couldn’t really tell you which one though. I just pick up whatever’s around, sometimes on my floor. [Laughs] Or sometimes I’ll dip an eyeliner brush into my bronzer. I don’t wear mascara because I get lash extensions from Martina Tjokronolo in New Jersey. I used to only wear the thickest of thickest lash extensions, and it’s really hard to find someone that will do that because they’re not good for you. I found her on Instagram and she was working out of her house at the time. She’s amazing—and my lashes aren’t too thick anymore, by the way.

For highlighter, I use one from Rare Beauty in Mesmerized and Benefit’s powder highlighter in Cookie. I actually just started using powder highlighters again. For a while, people were saying we were done with highlighter—that it was so 2016—but I want to be shiny. I only place it on the tip of my nose and the bridge of my nose.

When it comes to lips, Makeup by Mario’s suede lip pencils are my absolute favorite. I wear Universal Earth every single day. I top it off with any plumping gloss, but I really like Mac’s Squirt gloss stick.

Setting spray is the last thing I use. I spray Mac’s Fix+ and I have a little fan that I use to dry faster. I feel like it really melts my powders. Then I do a mist of Hourglass’ setting spray, which adds a glow. When I really want my makeup to stay, I use One/Size’s On ‘Til Dawn setting spray, but I can’t use it every day. It feels like hair spray on your face—your makeup isn’t going anywhere.

HAIR
Before a blowout, I’ll add a million heat protectants to my soaking wet hair. Kerastase’s Résistance heat protectant and Oribe’s Straight Away blowout cream are my number ones. Oribe’s is especially good because I can use a lot of it without making my hair greasy. I don’t know how to do a blow out the traditional way, with a blow dryer and a round brush, so the blow-dry attachment from my Dyson Airwrap does all of the heavy lifting. If I’m straightening it, I’ll go in with my Dyson Airstrait. If I’m wearing my hair up—when my hair is dirty—I need two things: Emi Jay’s Angelstick and Got2B’s hair spray. With this combination, my hair isn’t going anywhere.

FRAGRANCE
I’m obsessed with smelling really good. I’ve always loved Glossier You, but Rêve is even better because it’s sweeter and sexier. My go-to is anything with vanilla, but I can really smell the plum butter notes, which I love. I also wear Boulangerie’s Soufflé Vanille perfume mist a lot. Oh, and I always make sure to put on body lotion before I spray on my perfumes because the lotion makes the scents last so much longer.”

—As told to Daise Bedolla

Photographed by Alexandra Genova in New York on August 1, 2024