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The makeup on the show is so minimal — it's like real life but worse because they try to emphasize the eye bags and skin issues. Does that make you really want to go all out on the red carpet?
"I like strong anything: strong choices, strong voices, strong makeup, strong looks, strong women [snaps]. You know what I mean? I like strong plus a noun — that’s my thing. Red carpets are an opportunity to really dress up. It’s like being able to go to the prom all over again. I like the collaboration because there are so many different departments [collaborating], making the stuff. That is what theater is. That’s what Orange is. It takes a lot of us to come together and make a good thing.
Since you really like doing bold makeup colors, what are some of your favorite makeup brands for that kind of look?
"I love Make Up For Ever. I love Illamasqua — their foundation. I love colors on the lip; I just started doing red. That is new to me. I love berries and juicy colors. I love skin-care products, too. Is that weird?"
That’s definitely not weird. The way some people buy a new pair of shoes to be a new person, I buy a new face wash. I think, This is going to change everything.
"Well, let me give you something that is going to change everything. I absolutely love Dr, Hauschka products. They are so clean and so light. Specifically the Moisture Mask. It will change your life. You do the Cleansing Milk, which I love, then the toner and the scrub. Then, you put the mask on…It is my favorite thing.
Who is your beauty icon?
"Denise Huxtable [Lisa Bonet] is up there — she's incredible. Naomi Campbell is up there, too. She is fierce. Beyoncé, of course. She is slaying it right now; she is slaying the kids. Unbelievable."
Let's talk a bit about the Bantu knots your character Suzanne wears on the show.
"I used to wear my hair in the Bantu knots. I was doing a show right before Orange, and I was wearing my hair like that and then I had the idea to wear it to the audition. I thought that since the show is set in prison anyway, the knots work, and I didn’t think anything of it. I used to wear them [in real life], but I had to stop wearing them because that attention as Suzanne made me want to stop. I take them out when we finish shooting."
I talked to Maddie Brewer (Tricia), and she was telling me how intense the hair routine was for her. Is it a similarly crazy process for you?
"It is a full-out job. The hair seems to be a very strong element on Orange, across the board. That hair chair is an event. My hairstylist on Orange is Dierdre Harris — DeeDee. Love Mama Dee. She is brilliant. You get in there and she knows how to moisturize it right with the coconut oils and all of this other stuff. She keeps it hydrated.
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