Super Smalls founder (and former Elle accessories director) Maria Dueñas Jacobs is known to pile on pieces of jewelry—including an heirloom-worthy gold locket or four-leaf clover pendant from her cultish collection of sparkly, feel-good statements for little ones. But as the mom of three tells it, she takes a more pared-back mindset to her everyday collection of personal beauty accents.
“I always tell my girls that the secret to makeup is to look like you’re not wearing any,” she says. Her daily routine emphasizes maximum efficiency—and a minimum of product—for an easy polished look, as seen in our latest beauty video. After prepping with Skin Activator serum for a dewy hydrated base, she reaches for Bonne Brow pencil in Bark, Eye Want You Mascara, and Baby Cheeks blush in a complexion-boosting shade called Petal, which she dabs on with her fingers.
A signature swipe of lipstick that’s blended to a soft pink stain is her secret “to looking fresh and awake,” she says. Clearly, it has made an impression:. As Dueñas Jacobs dabs on a subtle pop of mood-boosting pigment, courtesy of Lip Suede lipstick in Pip, her eight-year-old daughter, Sylvi, performs a mini-me mirroring technique—using a shade from Super Smalls’ best-selling Mom’s Makeup Play Kit. “It looks rosy in the bullet but goes on lips clear!” she confirms.
With that final flourish, Dueñas Jacobs is ready for the day ahead: “My mother used to say, ‘Look at yourself in the mirror, but don’t look for too long,’” she recalls. “I always want to model that for my kids: makeup is fun and, sure, it accentuates your beauty, but that’s not what makes you beautiful,” she says. “So put on the blush and the lipstick, and then move on. There are other ways to radiate your beauty.”
