Whilst at Coachella, ELLE Magazine spoke to Nicole Richie about her beauty secrets, especially whilst in the desert.

Nicole told ELLE, “I’m not a big ‘cake on the makeup’ person. We’re in the desert, I’m from California—I want to look good, but I’m not trying to weigh myself down with 700 pounds of makeup.”

She has also always been open about her limited makeup skills: “I don’t know how to do my own makeup. I have three tricks that I know, and that’s it. So, if nothing else, throw on a nice little red-orange lipstick and it’ll bring out the rose in your face.”

1. She’s learned that less is more.
“Over the past two decades, I felt I needed a lot more before—I needed extensions, foundation, the brows, so many things. Then, I got to a place where I was more confident and wanted to show who I was, because being somebody else can be fun for a second but at the end of the day, it ends up being tiring because it’s not you. That doesn’t mean that I hate makeup. I am somebody who is all about being your most authentic self and representing who you really are and loving makeup at the same time.”

2. She was once ashamed of her curly hair.
“In the ’80s, having curly hair was not cool at all and I would go to school with all of my white friends and they would show up just out of the shower with their wet hair and I was like, ‘Oh my God, why can’t I be just like them?’ I was almost ashamed to have curly hair and now I love it. It’s who I am. It’s me, so I’m down to rock that right now.”

3. She loved crazy hair colors, but it caused serious damage…
“I loved the lavender, it was when I started [wearing unique hair colors] and I would definitely say that’s my all-time favorite. It was the biggest change for me. Once I got into color, I would change my hair like it wasn’t that big of a deal. Then, it all fell out and I had to cut it off.”

Click here to read all 6 of Nicole Richie’s beauty secrets.