What It Actually Takes to Stay Camera-Ready for 24 Hours Straight
From red carpet call time to cross-country flights and morning TV, Zanna Roberts Rassi breaks down the high-performance beauty routine designed to last 24 hours without breaking down.
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There’s the version of Oscar Sunday we see and then there’s the version happening behind the scenes. Scripts being memorized, stylists rotating in and out, beauty products lined up like a toolkit, not a vanity. For Zanna Roberts Rassi, founder of Milk Makeup and longtime on-air correspondent, getting ready isn’t a moment. It’s a system designed to last. Because on a day that starts before sunrise, includes hours of live television, and ends on a red-eye flight straight into morning shows, the goal isn’t just to look good. It’s to hold up.
With red carpets, flights, and on-air appearances, beauty can become less about aesthetics and more about endurance. “When I was flying across coasts for red-carpet moments and NYC post-Oscars on-air morning show participation...I let the makeup set and stay…all the way,” Zanna tells LA Times Studios. “Don’t judge my friends!”
Instead of constant resets, her focus is on building a look that can last. Strategic touch-ups, yes...but the foundation has to be able to last. “The Milk Hydro Grip collection is key,” Zanna explains. “The name says it all...the formulas grip makeup up to 12 hours and prevent caking, fading, and creasing, while also offering hydration with hyaluronic acid and niacinamide,” she says. “Of course we do touch-ups here and there, but the one part of my look that we leave to last the duration are the eyes…the KUSH High Roll Tubing Mascara lasts 24 hours, seriously.”
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At the center of her routine is what she calls the “hydrogrip sandwich,” a layering method designed to anchor makeup in place from the very first step. “My ‘hydro grip sandwich’ technique is key because the formulas don’t only grip to the skin, but they grip to each other,” Zanna explains. The difference is in how the layers interact. Instead of sitting on top of one another, each step bonds with the next, creating a structure that holds under pressure.
“The best part is that the finished look is glowy without a tacky feeling left behind. It’s grippy...not sticky. That makes a big difference because you don’t feel like you’re wearing a ton of makeup.”
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Zanna’s trick? Misting setting spray between layers. “We love to mist the Hydro Grip Hydrating Setting Spray in between each layer of makeup, like foundation and blush, to level up the long wear.” It’s a system that delivers what she calls the trifecta. “Rarely will you find the trifecta. Grip + Hydration + Glow = win, win, win,” Zanna says. And in high-pressure environments, makeup doesn’t fail all at once. “If not done properly, makeup won’t last as long. It will melt off, transfer onto clothing...or onto the poor unfortunate person in the white dress you hug.”
Heat, lighting, constant movement, and outfit changes all accelerate the process, Zanna explains. “When you’re on the carpet with all the cameras and lights, it can get warm, and when I’m changing in and out of outfits going from place to place, a little makeup is bound to rub off. Nothing a touch-up can’t fix.”
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But when the system is built correctly, you will notice the difference. “Any of these products can last 12 hours solo. But when sandwiched, we get literal light-heat, red-eye proof. I landed after a red-eye and had to run to the ‘Today’ show...my makeup was still set from the day before.”
Zanna approaches it proactively, especially when she knows her schedule will put stress on her skin. “I know I’m going to put my skin and body under stress, so I ‘front load hydration,’ as much as I can,” she says. “In the week leading up to a major carpet, I hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Inside out and outside in.” That includes treatments designed to extend beyond the day itself.
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“A must is a hydrating facial. Super nourishing and lifting. My go-to pre-red carpet is Joanna Czech. The halo effect of a facial by her will last a good week.” And in between, Zanna relies on sheet masks to maintain hydration across environments. “Backed up by some of her sheet masks. I’m also a big Tatcha sheet mask fan for those pre-carpet hydro bursts.”
What makes this routine work isn’t a single product or trick. It’s how everything builds because on marathon days like the Oscars, the real goal isn’t just to be ready but to stay ready.
Shop The 24-Hour Routine
1. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Hydrating Primer ($38) (MILK MAKEUP) 2. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Hydrating Gel Skin Tint ($38) (MILK MAKEUP)
1. Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Hyrdating Setting Spray ($38) (MILK MAKEUP) 2. Milk Makeup KUSH High Roll Tubing Mascara ($29) (MILK MAKEUP)
Click here to learn more about Milk Makeup.
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