How to Get Plump & Delicious Skin, According to Glow Expert Nam Vo

Makeup artist Nam Vo doesn't really wear much makeup at all. Her aesthetic is, and always has been, really glowy skin — she calls it her "dewy-dumpling glow."

Every day, Vo's more than 367,000 Instagram followers ask for, not makeup, but skin-care advice. "I get questions in my DMs all the time, like, 'What tool should I buy if I have acne scars?' What should I buy if my face is saggy?' 'What's one thing I buy if Im'm getting wrinkles around my eyes?'" Vo tells me in our recent Zoom chat. While the best skin-care advice is personal, Vo has glow tips to take with you. Here, she tells us exactly how she keeps her skin "plump and delicious" in the dead of winter.

"We can't all go to the aesthetician or the dermatologist, but I think really investing in really-good face tools — like LED masks, microcurrent, radio frequency, and massaging tools — is great. Anything to get the blood circulating, whether you're using a tool or your hands, really simulating the skin and getting the blood flowing. There's not one thing that will help with everything. If you have post-acne scars, you might need microneedling. If your face is falling to the ground, you might like radio frequency or microcurrent."

"I do think that the one thing that everyone could own that helps with most skin concerns is a good quality LED mask. For me, I don't really know how to meditate, but I put on my Brainwave music and my LED mask, and I swear, I move into a trance-like state. I've heard LED is good for mental health. I got my mask from T.J. Maxx (T.K. Maxx in the UK) and I use it seven days a week. Every LED mask is different in terms of time settings, but it's usually 20-30 minutes. Lately, I've been doing it in the morning. Some people meditate in the morning, I lay down and LED. I'm like, Okay, email this person, do this. I'm in my head thinking about my day."

"I know a lot of people don't like to wash their face in the morning, but I like to because it resets my skin so I'm starting on a fresh, clean canvas. I double cleanse at night and single cleanse in the morning. Then, I use a toner. I love toner, I feel like it really sets me up for the rest of my skin-care routine and gets me extra clean and pH balanced. It's not exfoliating, if you use like a rose water, but it's just a nice way to get off any of that residue from your cleanser. Then I use a serum —I always use a vitamin C during the day. Then I use a moisturiser, then an eye cream, then sunblock. If I want a little bit more glow, I might add an oil. But I feel like in the morning, it's all about adding those light layers and then your skin is plump, dewy, and delicious."

"I just moved into this new apartment and it's south-facing, so the light is really bright. I don't even walk in without putting on my sunscreen. Whenever I'm shooting my glow porn — you know me, I'm like right up at the window — I'm in direct sunlight, I can get freckles and sun damage. So I always use a SPF 50; I'm not stingy about it, I really emulsify it and press it into my skin, and that makes a big difference. Sometimes, if my skin looks really cute, I'll just use a glowy SPF, a teeny bit of concealer under my eyes, and just let the real skin shine through. I also love lip masks. I just got one from T.J. Maxx and it's a little bit tinted. There's this saying, your lips but better, and it's like that. It's like this watermelon tint — it just looks fresh." 

"Really, all this leads to good skin. But I've found that there are three things that will give you skin issues and breakdown: the sun, alcohol, and stress. Look at J.Lo, she doesn't drink, she doesn't go out in the sun. I don't know if she stresses."