Kylie Cantrall on Her Lifelong Love of Beauty and the Winged Liner That Started It All

For Kylie Cantrall, the makeup chair is not a chore but a sanctuary. The actor and musician has built her relationship with beauty around intentionality—a practice that began at six years old, when she would study her reflection in the mirror to perfect a winged liner before dance competitions.

In a conversation with Hypebae, Cantrall traced her creative journey back to childhood visualisation. At five, she recalls telling her parents she would one day appear on Disney Channel. That same clarity extended to how she presented herself physically. "Manifestation is such a real thing because I've truly visualised myself doing all the things I'm doing now," she explained. "Every dance class and all the hours I've spent in the studio have prepared me for this moment."

Those early beauty rituals—the red lip, the precise liner—were not frivolous. They were acts of preparation, ways of rehearsing the version of herself she intended to become. Yet growing up in the public eye shifted that relationship. As her career on television took shape, beauty became less about joy and more about calculation. She found herself hyperaware of contouring for cameras and favoring her "good side."

With the release of her latest EP, Valley Girl Problems, Cantrall has consciously returned to the roots of that practice. The project marks what she describes as "the bridge between where I've been and where I'm going," both sonically and personally. It reflects her life as a woman in her early twenties navigating friendship complications and unresolved feelings—themes she explores through her signature Y2K aesthetic and carefully curated visual identity.

Building Her Beauty Foundation

Today, her approach to makeup and skincare is as deliberate as her career trajectory. She credits her glam team—Robert Bryan and George Cozma—with helping her feel secure in the chair. "A huge part of my job is sitting in a makeup chair, but I genuinely enjoy the process," she said. "I feel so lucky to have found a glam team that really understands what I like and always makes me feel my best."

Her essentials reflect both practicality and loyalty. She has relied on L'Oréal Telescopic Mascara since age eleven, praising its wand size and ability to lift without clumping—a drugstore staple she returns to despite experimenting with countless alternatives. For skincare, she favours Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Moisturiser, which her makeup artist introduced to her. Its lightweight hydration works particularly well for her dry skin without creating a greasy base for makeup application.

For a Los Angeles resident, the Rhode Glazing Mist Face Spray has become essential. A gift from her best friend about a month before the interview, the hydrating mist combats the dryness that comes with the heat, offering a portable refresh throughout the day.

The Signature That Ties It Together

Cantrall's current lip combination represents what she calls "every girl's canon event"—the moment of discovering her perfect formula. She pairs Charlotte Tilbury's Pillow Talk Lip Cheat in Medium with Laneige's Glaze Craze Lip Serum in Cinnamon Sugar. The pairing balances definition with a glossy finish, a visual signature that aligns with her overall aesthetic.

What distinguishes Cantrall's approach to beauty is her refusal to separate it from identity. Whether she is perfecting liner at six or selecting a lip combo in her twenties, the ritual serves the same purpose: preparing to step into the fullest version of herself. Her beauty choices are not responses to external pressure but deliberate expressions of how she wants to move through the world.