Kaia Gerber on Fragrance, Skincare, and the One Beauty Trend She'd Never Try

Like many of us, Kaia Gerber grew up with Daisy. The iconic fragrance from Marc Jacobs, which debuted in 2007, quickly became a mainstay on teen vanities everywhere (mine included) because of its joyful, fresh scent. Unlike the rest of us, however, Gerber is more than just a fan. The model, who has been fronting the brand's beauty campaigns since she was 14, is now the star of its latest addition, Daisy Ever So Fresh ($157), a warm, vibrant update to the original.

Daisy smells, quite literally, like a sunny bouquet of daisies, and that mood, just as much as the fragrance itself, is why newcomers and long-time wearers alike keep coming back for more. Gerber agrees. "I literally get to frolic in a field," she says of the Daisy campaigns she's worked on. "That's the feeling that the fragrance gave me."

The scent is feel-good to its core and has the sort of no-frills energy that Gerber is drawn to in all things fashion and beauty. So, it comes as no surprise that all of her beauty favorites are about her "less is more" approach to hair and makeup. Ahead, we spoke to Kaia Gerber about all her beauty and style favorites, including her fashion icons, the skincare product she swears by, and the haircut she loves most.

The One Smell That Makes Her Feel At Home

"I grew up on the beach. So, I always could smell the ocean. And, you know, I feel like memory and scent go together. I remember my mom—she still smells the same way—and the way that she smells or the way that my childhood home smells. If I smell them now, I like, immediately feel something. And I feel that way about Daisy because I was wearing it even before I started working with them. Since then, it's been five years, maybe more almost. And I have so many memories that are associated with them that I think the second I smell it, it's just immediate.

"There was a scarf that smelled so much like my mom—it was her scarf. And when she would travel, she'd leave it with me, and I would just hold it and hug it. I now have realized that it was an Hermes scarf, but I had no idea then, it was just soft and smelled like her. Anytime she would leave or I'd be away from my family, I always wanted something that smelled like them. Getting a comforting feeling from something that you smell. Daisy is the same way, I'm so comforted by the scent. Every time I put it on, I feel held and safe."

The Style Icon(s) She Looks To for Inspiration

"By style icon, I should say icons. It has always been Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, interchangeably. I would wear anything that either of them wore at all times. And I feel like that's kind of how I explain myself is like, I can one day be Jane Birkin and one day be Serge."

The One Makeup Look She Loves

"I think like, the more natural for me, the more I feel like myself. I've been doing this [working with Marc Jacobs] for so long. And when you get your makeup done when you're really young, it's really fun. And it can be really playful, but it also can be like dysphoric because you're like, this is my face. But it doesn't feel like my face. I like finding ways to do my makeup, or ways other people do my makeup, that still feels like me."

The One Haircut That Makes Her Feel Like Herself

"I will do whatever with my hair. It was super freeing for me having short hair, and I really felt like myself when I had short hair. And yeah, I think also, because I grew up in Malibu on the beach, like no one's wearing makeup and your hair is natural. Shooting Daisy when I was so young was so nice because they didn't try to make me look like anything but me—and they still don't. And I still feel like it's super young and fresh whenever I shoot for them. To me, that is how I feel the most beautiful: this is a little bit better than how I look. Just a little—a little bit like how I wish I looked when I woke up."

The One Product Her Skin Can't Get Enough Of

"Allies of skin. Okay, the clean oil that they have, the Firming Oil ($150). It's so yummy. And my skin just like drinks it up. I love them. Someone introduced me to them a couple of months ago. And I'm just like, how does it keep getting better? Like normally your skin kind of gets sick of something? Never with this."

Her One Travel Essential

"I keep these [Daisy travel size] everywhere. When I get off a plane or something, I use them right away."

Her Beauty Philosophy

"Less is more. Which is something I needed to hear when I was younger. Less is more, and don't touch your eyebrows. Even though I was just talking about this, like the '90s trend of really thin eyebrows is coming back. But someone told me "Don't. Just don't touch your eyebrows." Like you'll regret it later. And, and I'm really glad now that I didn't."

The One Thing She Does to Unwind

"I really love meditation. I love journaling. I try to do a stream of conscious journaling every day, like even if it's just five minutes with no pressure. You just write your brain down for five minutes. And it clears my head before I start the day.

"I drink like three of these [water bottle] a day—so much water. And what else do I do? Like I I love getting out in the sun, which I know isn't good. But just being in the sun for a second, I feel like it's really good for you and for your mental health to be in nature."