Ella Emhoff Talks Beauty While Getting Ready for Planned Parenthood's Spring Into Action Gala With Saie

It’s a sunny Thursday afternoon in New York City, and Ella Emhoff is sitting in a chair getting ready for the Planned Parenthood Spring Into Action Gala. She’s attending the gala with Saie Beauty, a brand that has long supported causes that empower women and promote reproductive justice. There’s soft jazz playing at a low volume, a modest spread of blushes laid out, and zooming around the room is her rescue pup, Jerry, who occasionally jumps eagerly into her lap for a cuddle. Hung up in the closet is the outfit she chose, designed by her friend Emily Dawn Long. Her hair is already done in her signature curly bob, and it’s time to get her makeup done. The atmosphere is chill, natural, and a perfect reflection of how the 25-year-old artist, model, and activist approaches beauty, fashion, and personal expression.

“I love shopping my own closet,” Ella Emhoff tells Teen Vogue as she hops into her makeup chair. Clothes are usually the first thing she thinks about when it’s time to get ready for an event. She doesn’t go shopping much, but when she does, the pieces that catch her eye are generally timeless and attuned to her personal style, one that deeply values expression and comfort.

As the weather begins to warm up, she starts to see the process of getting ready in a different light. Aside from the evident shift into more colorful, bright clothes, she also rethinks the types of fabrics she wears. “Spring is when I start moving away from tight baby tees into flowy cotton pieces,” Emhoff shares. “I think I dress more like I did growing up in LA, with very little fabric touching my body.” You’ll likely see her wearing more flowy skirts and bright cotton shirts to run her daily errands. For the gala, however, she decided on a sleek, all-black outfit.

“For this event, I wanted to wear a woman designer, and one who I feel like is actually putting good into the community.” She chose a long jacket adorned with red-orange ceramic buttons by Emily Dawn Long. “I like going to my friends because I am lucky enough to have a lot of friends who own small brands and brands that are doing stuff in ways that are more thoughtful and more sustainable,” she says. “Everything you do and everything you put your name to means something.”

The change in weather also brings a change in how her hair looks, especially given her naturally curly hair. “I know exactly how my day is going to go based on how my hair is,” she tells Teen Vogue. It’s the first thing she thinks about in the morning. “It kind of controls everything.” She has recently been wearing her hair in a curly, short bob and shared her routine on Instagram. But some days, it can become unruly, which is when she finds her focal point shifting to a more makeup-forward look. It’s a choice for her every day when she asks: “Am I going to be a hair-focused look or a makeup-focused look?”

For the Planned Parenthood Spring Into Action Gala, Emhoff gets to indulge in having her makeup done, something she often values as a learning experience. She admits to not knowing too much about it, sharing that most of what she knows comes from sitting in these chairs. Even if she decides to do a makeup-forward look, the attention still goes to hair, just the hair on her face. “For me, it’s all about the brows. They’re the leading lady in my routine,” she reveals. “But sometimes my unibrow isn’t looking very good.” The acceptance of imperfection is a core part of her ethos when it comes to getting ready.

“When and how I choose to present my femininity is so commented on,” she shares. It used to be a point of stress for her, especially during the getting-ready process, but as she’s gotten older, it’s become easier to ignore the unsolicited opinions. She began growing out her body hair about eight years ago and has been subject to endless comments online. Her feelings about it are clear, though. “I like body hair. I think it's beautiful, so I take a lot of care of it,” she states matter-of-factly.. ” On her whole body, whether it’s her eyebrows or her underarms, Fur Oil is her go-to. “I am Team Fur all the way.”

As makeup is being applied onto her face by MUA Stevie Nelson, Emhoff stops her at times with curiosity. “Wait, that looks amazing,” she exclaims. “Can you teach me what you just did?” This time on the chair, she learned that tightlining the outer corners of her lash line with kohl liner makes her eyes pop and her lashes look fuller, which she loves. “I have really long lashes,” she says, laughing, realizing the humble flex of the statement. “It’s only a problem because I wear glasses.” Most mascaras leave her lashes smudging black, sticky residue against the lens, but her tried and true is Saie’s Mascara 101, which she swears curls her lashes perfectly into place, leaving her glasses clean. “I use that mascara every day,” she says.

It’s not just technique that she picks up. For the gala, she tried something completely new: lipstick. It was her first time ever wearing a lip color, and she was surprised by how much she loved it. “This is blowing my mind right now,” Emhoff says as Nelson puts Saie Beauty’s Lip Liner 101 in Flirt on her lips, topped with the Glossybounce in the shade Kiss. “I want to have a little more fun with lipstick,” she admits, “and not because I feel pressure to present my femininity, but because I want to experiment and see if I like it.” Tonight, she’s learned that she does.

She only began using blush very recently as well, and it’s been a gateway into exploring more products. For makeup, she generally seeks out light formulas that don’t irritate her sensitive skin, which is why Saie Beauty, a leading clean beauty brand, is a standout in her daily routine. Their Slip Tint Tinted Moisturizer and Dew Blush are staples in her (small, but mighty) makeup kit. And she loves brands that resist the urge to constantly drop new products in pursuit of trends. “I value when brands focus on formulation, rather than, like, the capitalism of it all,” she says.

In many ways, Emhoff’s choices mirror her larger worldview — one that rejects conformity and seeks to build a more sustainable, inclusive future, especially at an event like the Planned Parenthood Spring Into Action Gala, and during a time when reproductive healthcare is being stripped from many across the country. Her emphasis on sustainability and authenticity reflects the kind of world she wants to help create. “At this point, it's not enough to just be like, ‘I support this,’” she says candidly. “It's so easy to amplify the right thing and put your money where your mouth is.”