María Zardoya, Musician, The Marías

“I like to call Submarine an album of solitude, exploration, and change. Josh [Conway], The Marías’ producer and drummer, and I were in a relationship for seven years. We ended the romantic part of our relationship after our first album, and that threw us into a different state of consciousness where we could rediscover who we were in a new dynamic. ‘No One Noticed,’ one of my favorite songs from the album, perfectly encapsulates what I was feeling at the time. As for our tour, we wanted to create an otherworldly experience for our fans for a couple of hours, and I think we did that.

In LA, my version of ‘going out’ is just going to dinner, and then coming home and watching The Great British Bake Off. [Laughs] I love Izakaya Osen and Kenbey in Silver Lake. They’re both sushi spots and really delicious. I ate at Amour, a French spot in West Hollywood, recently. It’s pretty pricey, but I would eat there again once in a blue moon. Oh, Lolo is a tried-and-true staple. If I want a classic branzino and a salad, I’ll go there. But throughout our tour, ‘going out’ means hosting our ‘Freak Marine After Parties.’ Josh DJs, and they’re so much fun.

SKINCARE
When I’m on stage, my look needs to be able to withstand the entirety of the show, including a part where I submerge myself in a bathtub full of water. That said, I don’t do anything crazy to prep for makeup. I cleanse with Cerave to get whatever dirt and makeup are already on my face. I love that it doesn’t foam because foam cleansers tend to dry my skin out. I’ve also used toners in the past that have broken me out, and so far, Barbara Sturm’s hasn’t. It’s pretty pricey, but I do think it’s worth it. Plus, you can really stretch it out to make it last.

My dermatologist, Dr. Heather Roberts, recommended her vitamin C. I pat it on, wait for it to dry, and then throw on squalane oil from The Ordinary, which she also recommended years ago when I had crazy dermatitis. I love that the vitamin C doesn’t have a smell, and I’ve really noticed a difference since I started using it. My skin is both brighter and more even in texture.

When it comes to hydration, I like SkinCeuticals’ Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 moisturizer. It leaves my skin feeling plump and dewy. I stopped using it when I pared down my routine when I was dealing with dermatitis, and I could really see the difference in hydration. When I started using it again, I was like, ‘OK. This is good. For my eyes, I like Biossance’s squalane eye cream because it’s really light but moisturizes just enough. I’ve tried a bunch of eye creams and it’s my favorite. I swear by it.

MAKEUP
Leticia Llesmin, my makeup artist, travels with me. We’ve been working together for three years now, and she really understands that I like a natural, almost no-makeup look. Of course, we do define everything a bit more since I’m on stage under bright lights. We start off with Chanel’s Vitalumière Aqua. It’s super light and silky and covers just enough to even out my skin. I will never use anything else, I think. It just gives me this really great dewy finish.

I love Make Up For Ever’s eye pencil—it won’t budge the entire night. I also love how it goes on smoothly and doesn’t drag. For eyeshadow, we’ve been using Chanel’s Parure Venitienne quad. We use a lot of browns with a little bit of coral, but we’ve also experimented with some blues and glitters and that’s always fun.

Chanel’s waterproof mascara is good all-around with volume and length—and it doesn’t clump and it’s not too dramatic—so I use it for shows but also in my daily life. It lasts through my water moment, but it’s not too difficult to get off at the end of the night. And I’ve been using Glossier’s Boy Brow for a long time. It’s really versatile. If I want to have a full eyebrow moment, I can accomplish that, and if I want to go super natural, I can accomplish that, too. I’ve used other ones and I’ve thought, ‘No, this doesn’t hit as hard.’

I love to overline my lips a little bit with Make Up For Ever’s lip liner in 3C—I use it daily. The color blends out really well with my Chanel liquid lipstick in Soft Rose, which is pretty much the same color as my lips, just enhanced a little bit. It goes on like a gloss but then it dries matte and stays on the entire night. I haven’t used another lip product quite like it.

HAIR
On tour, Leticia will do these ‘90s twisties in my hair to give me a sort of grunge wet look. We use R+CO’s pomade and the look lasts the entire night. It was important to me that the product be alcohol-free and not horrible for my hair because I’d be using it night after night. And considering the amount of product we’ve used throughout the tour, my hair’s in pretty good shape. I have to wash it every night of course. Davines’ Love shampoo and conditioner are so gentle and smell so good. I put some Davines hair oil on my ends when I get out of the shower, too. I blow dry it after but it takes me all of 10 minutes because I got a gentle keratin treatment at Hairroin before the tour. That’s been a life-changer.

NAILS + FRAGRANCE
I love dark nails, but I don’t want a stark black shade. Instead, I always paint them with the same shade of dark purple from OPI—Lincoln Park After Dark. And then I wear Maison Louis Marie’s No.04 Bois de Balincourt perfume oil. I’m not the best at describing it, but it’s woody and spicy. I actually watched a TikTok that said Bad Bunny wears it, too. In my apartment, I’ve been burning Glossier’s Orange Blossom Neroli candle. It smells so good, and I love the vessel.”

—As told to Daise Bedolla

Photographed by Brittany Bravo in Los Angeles on August 27, 2024