Tate McRae’s Comfort Watches Include Love Island and Wingstop Mukbangs

Getty Images

When you watch Tate McRae perform, the 21-year-old pop star oozes the confidence of a seasoned veteran. This may be surprising given her young age, but McRae has been in front of crowds since she was 13, when she made it to the finals of the dance reality competition So You Think You Can Dance. Since then, McRae has become a Gen Z icon, scoring Billboard-charting hits like “Greedy” and “You Broke Me First” and her first world tour.

Despite her success, you’d also be surprised to know that McRae struggled with confidence on stage during her teenage years. “I used to be so insecure about my smile,” she tells Glamour. “I remember growing up, I was always so insecure about my teeth. I would never smile with my teeth. I’d always do the closed-mouth smile.”

So as her career started to take off, McRae turned to Invisalign clear aligners to help straighten out her teeth and is now working with the brand on a new campaign. “I obviously love them and feel way more confident because of [Invisalign],” she says. “I’m such a giddy and bubbly person, and I smile all the time, especially when I’m performing on stage. Invisalign aligners have definitely changed my entire smile and changed my whole look. It’s been very, very helpful to have over the years.”

Now that she’s more confident in her smile, McRae can put her attention toward other beauty looks. Currently, she’s having a blush girl summer. Her product of the moment? Pal Hailey Bieber’s new Pocket Blush. “I grab whatever’s there in my drawer, but recently I’ve been using the Rhode blushes,” she says. “I prefer cream blush for sure. I’m a big fan of the summery, almost a bit purply blush or cherry blush.”

Ahead, Tate McRae shares her best tour beauty tips, the musical artists that get her hyped, and favorite ways to unwind for Glamour’s Big Beauty Questions.

What’s one beauty rule you swear by?

Tate McRae: Put on a shit ton of moisturizer. If my skin feels good and my face feels good, then I’m satisfied with makeup. But if my skin’s dry, I feel like everything goes down hill from there. So I’d say make sure you get a lot of moisturizer on before you start the makeup.

What’s your beauty routine like on tour?

I drink lots of water and make sure I’m never sleeping in my makeup. I always have to clean my face after I get off stage because it’s a total workout. But honestly, a lot of it is what goes in your body and your self-care routine. What I’ve realized is when I take that 30 minutes at the end of the night to just take some time for myself and clear my skin and make sure I feel good and ready for bed, I feel like that’s when I wake up the next day and I’m ready to do a show. If I don’t take that time for myself, then you can get thrown off pretty quick.

What’s one beauty rule you think is BS?

I tried to jump on the whole 20-step skin-care routine, and I really tried because I love the girls that put their headbands on and do a super-intricate routine. And every single time I’ve attempted to do that, I break out and my skin goes crazy. So, for me personally, just keeping it simple and clean—and not the cutest-looking skin-care products, just something that is very simple and clean and three ingredients. Clean your face and put a moisturizer on. That’s been my holy grail.

Fill in the blank. I feel most beautiful when___.

When I internally feel confident about my personality and myself. That’s when I could not give two shits about what I look like on the outside. If I feel confident in my soul and how I’m acting, then I think everything on the outside doesn’t really matter to me.

Do you remember the first beauty product you ever used?

I always stole my mom’s makeup, but I remember in ballet when I used to put on mascara for the first time and it was a tube mascara. It was the only mascara my mom owned.

What is your biggest beauty fail?

So many. I have a good glam team who does me right, but I’ve done some awful looks in the past with crazy colors. I also do my own glam on tour and sometimes, if I’m too many cities in, I’ll give myself a black eye with too much of a smoky eye. I can do a lot.

You do your own glam on tour, that’s so cool. Is that just a preference thing?

Yeah, I feel like I couldn’t sit in a glam chair for a couple hours before a show. I would get anxious.

You can only use three products for the rest of your life. What are they and why?

My Invisalign liners because I got to keep the teeth straight. I would say a lip balm and a mascara.

What color are you loving on your nails right now?

I like all the girls with the turquoise and the greens, but I’ve always been a nude or a white girl. I feel like my nails always remain very neutral.

What’s your go-to getting-ready music?

My go-to is always SZA. Whenever I just need to calm myself before a show and get into it, I always put on SZA or Frank Ocean.

What is your favorite way to take a moment for yourself?

Usually I’ll shower, do my nighttime routine. I’ll wash my face, get into some comfy clothes, go to the bus, and I’ll put on Love Island or something and just start to get back into my own body after getting off stage.

What is the last Instagram or TikTok rabbit hole that you fell down?

I don’t know why I always get into Wingstop mukbangs. They are always the rabbit hole that I fall into. I’m like, why is Wingstop my entire For You page? Absolutely crazy.

If you could change one thing about beauty perceptions on social media, what would that be?

There are so many things that I’m still learning as a 21-year-old that I wish I could tell my younger self that I’m still trying to figure out. It is true: Comparison is the death of happiness. It’s really hard to look at so many people on social media every day and not criticize yourself and tear yourself down.

But people do need to realize that your own individual beauty and your personality and what makes you so special is what other people are going to find beautiful about you. When you’re constantly comparing yourself to other people or a picture-perfect Instagram, it can be easy to dim that light and take away what are the best parts of you. There’s so much beauty in every single one of us, it’s just believing it. And not looking to other people to find your own beauty. You have got to look within and figure out what are the best parts of yourself.

Ariana Yaptangco is the senior beauty editor at Glamour. Follow her @arianayap.

Originally Appeared on Glamour