Why Eva Mendes picks chocolate over champagne.
SISTERLY LOVE “My beauty inspiration is my beautiful sister Becky. I’m 10 years younger than her, and I have vivid memories of being in awe watching her getting ready. She taught me how to blow out my hair, and she loves hot curlers. When I got older, I looked to women like Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida. I had a major beauty-fashion moment with Diana Ross when I saw Mahogany.” STYLE ERA “My own personal style is connected to the ’50s because of my mother. She was a young woman at that time; we were a lower-middle-class family, but she made such an effort. She popped that collar! She drew in her eyebrows! I also love wearing turbans or head wraps. That stems from me being lazy—and wanting to hide a bad-hair day!” FITSPO “How do I stay in shape? I admit, a lot of it is about diet for me. I allow myself to splurge, but I watch what I eat. When I have a day that’s really busy, the first thing to go out the window is exercise. I’m like ‘I can’t fit that in today? Aww, geez!’ [Laughs] That’s where having a balanced, healthy diet really comes into play. When I do exercise, I up the cardio and up the weight training, which is a must for me because my body really responds to it.”
ON JOINING THE ESTÉE LAUDER FAMILY
“When I was growing up, Estée Lauder was always an iconic brand to me. When I was about 12 years old, a lady at one of their counters sprayed me with the perfume Knowing. I got very excited and thought: ‘This is my scent! This is what a woman should smell like!’ My mom got a kick out of that. She has been buying it for me as a Christmas gift every year since then. That’s how the relationship started. As I got older, I learned more about who Estée Lauder was: a woman from Queens [N.Y.] who started a business in the ’40s. Working with a company that empowers women is the ideal fit for me.” n
WHO Actress Eva Mendes, the face of Estée Lauder skincare line New Dimension. WHERE An airy white space at Milk Studios, Hollywood, Calif.