Emily Ratajkowski Is Proud to Be a “Bed Girl”

Welcome to Beauty Around the Clock, Marie Claire's weekly peek into the daily lives of some of the most game-changing men and women in their industries. Ever wonder how they get it all done in a day? Here's your answer.

Emily Ratajkowski is many things: An author (if you haven’t read "My Body," get on it), a model, a mom, an actress. I could go on. But after sitting down with the Viktor&Rolf ambassador, I’m pretty sure my favorite new descriptor for the multi-hyphenate is “bed girl.” She likes to lay. She likes to scroll on TikTok. And, she prefers to do her makeup from the comfort of her nightstand. “When I lay in bed, everything is well in the world,” the Inamorata founder ever-so calmly tells me as we sit side-by-side on a hotel couch. 

She’s perhaps the most relatable person I’ve ever interviewed—and not just because I share her love for a plush mattress. It shows in her beauty routine, too. She fell for the snail mucin craze on TikTok (I’m guilty), goes through Aquaphor like candy (who doesn’t?), and just wants a fragrance that’s going to make her feel like Rihanna (same, same). Here, Ratajkowski shares her skin, makeup, hair, and fragrance routine—top to bottom. Gatekeeping is overrated, after all. 

Rise & Shine

My alarm clock is my son saying, “Mama.” He's been doing this thing where he tells me that he's dreamed about me, which is so cute. I make coffee and spend some time with him. Then I’ll turn to my own routine—sort of. 

Morning Maintenance

I usually don't wash my face in the mornings. The first thing I do is  put on vitamin C serum, then I put on snail mucin, and then I put on a vitamin C moisturizer. I do sunscreen, and that's my skincare.

Power Start

Cheerios recently—because of my son. If he's having cereal, I'll end up wanting some because it's just so good. When I cook him eggs, I just don't feel like eating them. But if he's like crunching on cereal? It looks so good.

Fitness Fix

I live in New York City so I walk a lot. I have a dog and I don't have a dog walker. Everyone thinks he's a German Shepherd. He's not. I'm a loser and I got his DNA testing. He’s 90 pounds, so he's a big boy. I do have a little backyard area, but he needs a decent amount of walks. Then my son is 35 plus pounds and I carry that man around. He likes to be held and I love to hold him, but it's getting serious. 

Signature Makeup

Then I start my makeup. I don’t do foundation, but I use concealer. Hourglass is what I’ve been reaching for recently. I’ll use Kylie’s Mascara. They used it on me on set and it’s so fluffy. I feel like I don't have to do that many layers. I love Charlotte Tilbury’s highlighter and contour. That’s how I bronze myself up. I use the Pat McGrath makeup stick and the freckle pen from TikTok—I really do love my freckles. My lips alternate, but I do love a good lip liner moment. Right now I’m using a MakeupForever one, but I really love the Rhode balms and all of the Pat McGrath lip glosses. There’s nothing like them. I can do it pretty quickly now—it’s all in all 12 products. So simple.

Self Care Ritual 

I am such a bed girl. Sometimes I just need to be horizontal with the blinds closed. Today, I have dinner plans and I might be a little tired, but we’re going to do it. I’m just going to give myself five minutes, on TikTok, in bed. I’ll pour myself a very small, but very nice, glass of red wine. I honestly might even start my makeup in bed because I might not quite be ready to get in the zone.

Signature Scent

Full transparency, not just because I’m the ambassador, I really love Victor & Rolf Tiger Lily. My makeup is always about trying to look sun kissed, even though I'm not. I grew up in Southern California. I grew up going to the beach. I look the best at the end of August when I have a tan. I feel that Tiger Lily just embodies this tropical, sunny energy. It’s like when you’re at the end of a girl's trip and you’ve been on the beach and you have salt water in your hair, so you slip on a cool dress and you're just like, Am I Rihanna? 

I really don't wear fragrance every day. It's a special occasion thing. My mom taught me to spray on pulse points and I've just done that ever since. But if I have a dirty shirt that I want to wear I’ll walk into a cloud. 

Hair Help

I’m really bad with hair. It's not that I'm low maintenance, I'm just not that good at it. I've accepted that. I really just kind of do hair health. I've been working with Kerastace forever and I swear to God that I changed my hair. I really feel like with makeup you can do drugstore. But I think you should spend money on hair products. I used to not be able to grow my hair past a certain point because it would break. Now it grows and it's healthy.

Cheap-But-Chic

I feel like I never have enough Aquaphor. I need it all the time. I use it on my body. I use it for my son. I use it for my lips. 

Backup Career

Oh my God, I wonder what I would be doing. I feel like I was going to somehow be online just because of the age of Instagram. I was going to school for art, so maybe I would've been an artist. I actually think I would have been writing about art. That would have been very cool.

Beauty Icon

There are a lot of women I pull from and think look amazing, but I really think Penelope Cruz is just someone who really knows her face. She’s been on the scene for a long time and she consistently looks like herself and she consistently looks good. 

Daily Playlist

I've been listening to a lot of Fred Again. I’m not even an electric music person, or a country person, but Fred Again has changed that for me. My son loves Bad Bunny too. 

P.M. Routine 

I take off my makeup with Bioderma; it’s the best makeup remover. Then I wash my face with either Dr. Loretta or Dr. Dennis Gross face wash, which are both really simple and clean. I use retinol from Dr. Dennis Gross because it’s the only one that never gives me a hard time. His products are just great. I use snail mucin again and then sometimes I’ll layer that with Weleda SKin Food, depending on the season. When I wake up I’m ready to go.