Though Isabeli Fontana has just been named the new international spokesperson of L’Oréal Paris, for a good chunk of her life, the Brazilian model says, she didn’t know much about beauty. On a phone call to Vogue last week she explained, “I was a tomboy growing up. Even after I started modeling at thirteen, I didn’t learn how to do my makeup. I would just sit in the chair and let [the makeup artists] do their work. I wouldn’t even look after.” In fact, it wasn’t until the birth of her first child that the she started to pay attention to the eye shadows, lipsticks, and blushes that were being applied to her face. “My feminine side came out.”
Since then, Fontana has amassed enough technique and fortitude to have fun with products—sometimes despite the advice of more experienced pros. “The other night, I told the makeup artist to put color eye shadow on me along with a bright bold look. He told me I was crazy. But I said to him, ‘Trust me, it’s going to look good.’ ” No surprise here: Fontana won the argument. “I like extravagant beauty [and] coming up with new, edgy looks.” Luckily, her makeup arsenal is growing. “I have a big box of new L’Oréal Color Riche lipsticks,” she says. “Every night I wear a different one!”
If Fontana credits the “geniuses” she works with for her product education, it was her native country that taught that her the key to pulling off any look is confidence. “In Brazil, no matter your shape, you’re comfortable walking around in a bikini. You feel good in your body. We know you’re never going to be perfect. If you get caught up in worrying about this and that, you’re going to spend all your life working on these little spots.” Though she’s pretty Zen about it all, Fontana says she does plenty to maintain her lithe five foot ten frame: “I run intervals,” she says of her exercise regime. “It helps get rid of the fat in the stomach.”
As for the rest of her beauty regimen: The less done the better, as far as Fontana is concerned. “I’ll put mousse in my hair if I’m going out and want to look pretty, to build the volume,” she says. “Otherwise I just do nothing. I let it breathe.” Though, admittedly, the laissez-faire attitude might stem from a lack of skill. As adroit as she may be at wielding eyeliner and lipstick, she says, “Hair, I still cannot do.”