When you see Laverne Cox acting onscreen, that’s only half of her job. (Her new film, Promising Young Woman, premieres April 17.) Off-camera, she’s making sure no one forgets all the ways LGBTQ+ people are in danger of losing their rights. When we spoke with her, the Supreme Court was deliberating a Title VII case that could legalize discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the workplace. "Because I’m a black trans woman," she says, "I'm at the center of a culture war."

Cox has been instrumental in that battle. Sometimes she's standing on the steps of the Supreme Court; other times she's behind-the-scenes doing the work. Earlier this year, she executive-produced a documentary, Disclosure, that chronicles the representation of transgender people in media. "We are at an unprecedented moment of trans visibility," she says, "where trans people are being cast in roles that are not just trans and where our stories are being told with such humanity."

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Growing up in Alabama, before her transition, Cox rarely saw transgender people in magazines or on TV, but she was still able to cultivate her beauty ideal. "I remember lying in bed with Jet magazine next to me," Cox says. "The woman on the cover was the most beautiful human being I had ever seen. She was wearing a diamond headdress and pink eye shadow. She looked like royalty." But it was the woman's regal air — Cox later discovered it was Iman — that made her stand out. And it was something Cox wanted to emulate.

She recalls the moment she recognized a similar beauty in herself: "Around '97, I got these honey-colored loose braids, and I felt like something shifted. I came out of a shell and introduced myself as Laverne for the first time." Today, blonde hair is still Cox’s signature look. The rest of her beauty routine is simple: a daily dose of Clinique eye serum and moisturizer, Tarte Shape Tape concealer, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish powder, and a swipe of Pat McGrath Labs lipstick.

At 47, Cox exudes her own queenly aura. "I honestly feel like I look better than I ever have," she says. "This feeling of oneness with yourself and the universe comes with age, and it makes you look better."

Cox's Minimalist Makeup Bag Staples:

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