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Chiara Ferragni is not your average fashion blogger. Since launching her blog, The Blonde Salad in 2009, the 28-year-old has garnered more than 5.4 million Instagramfollowers, has launched a shoe line with Steve Madden and has attended the MetBall alongside her friend Kendall Jenner. And now she's in a new role as the Global Ambassador for haircare brand Pantene. This girl is unstoppable.
It seems like ancient history, but seven yearsago blogging was a relatively new phenomenon. Chiara was then a 21-year-old Lawstudent at Bocconi University in Milan, when she began posting about herfavorite fashion items and her opinions on the latest style trends. “It beganas a hobby,” she tells HELLO! about about her blog. “It was a mix of several factors: the right time,publishing every day, very hard work from the beginning. Brands began to want towork with me, and I have built a great team."
The Pantene ambassador started fashion blogging as a hobby in 2009 Photo: Getty Images
In this interview with the new ambassador of Pantene, we ask her about herfavorite beauty tips, the success of her blog and how she keeps up with thelatest fashion trends.
H!: So how do you define your style?Chiara Ferragni: “My stylechanges every day. I would say its casual chic. I like to wear boots withskirts or mini-dresses, or jeans with sneakers and jumpers, leather jackets ora rain coat. I like to mix designer clothes with vintage pieces or high street [non-designer] names. I really like Mango and Zara, they have really great collections, but Ialso love brands like Loewe or Davidelfin.”
Where do you get your fashion inspiration?CF: “I don’tfollow other fashion blogs but I do follow other fashionistas on Instagram.Many of them are my friends, it’s really cool, they can inspire me and they’realso my friends. I also look for inspiration in the street, there are so manyfashionable women walking around.”
H!: How does itfeel to become the new face of Pantene?CF: “Thiscampaign means a lot for me. I have always used Pantene hair products since Iwas a child, since I was 9 or 10 years old when I began to shampoo andcondition my hair. I have also always been ‘obsessed’ with the brand's beautifulad campaigns. It is one of the brands that has alwaysstayed with me and so to become an ambassador for the company is a dream cometrue.”
H!: What's your best beauty trick?CF: “I try tosleep as long as possible. This helps me work well but it isn’t alwayspossible, because I travel so much. When you travel you don’t always feelgreat, you feel bloated… It’s not the same as when you’re at home. But I love whatI do, I love my life, so it’s all good.”
H!: Do you havea trick to overcome jetlag?CF: “Reallythere is no trick. Sometimes you take it well, sometimes you take it badly. Thekey is to sleep but try not to obsess about it."
H!: How do youstay healthy when you are traveling so much?CF: “I try andbe healthy wherever I am. I am trying to work out more, but it’s not alwayspossible as I don’t have enough time or energy. I try to eat well, not drinktoo much, maybe a little wine, but no spirits.”
H!: What areyour must-haves in your makeup bag?CF: “Some daysmy skin is great and others it’s not. It depends on so many things. There isn’tone cream that always works, it has more to do with my mental state. I look alot better when I’m relaxed, that’s when the creams work wonders, but they areless successful when I’m stressed. I tend to have dry skin, so I use an oilfrom the brand Sunday Riley, that helps me to resolve that problem. [Formakeup] I really like Aqua Foundation by Koh Gen Do, a Japanese brand, it’sreally light and I hardly feel it on my skin at all, lipsticks from NARS,eyeliners from Eyeko and Brow Drama by Maybelline.”
H!: In yourInstagram photos we often see your street style, how is your day time makeup different to your evening glam?CF: “Day today, I prefer a natural and smooth looking skin, mascara, eyeliner, a touch ofnatural lip gloss, like Carmex and maybe just a brush of blush for my cheeks.For an evening out, red lips! For aprofessional event I use a makeup artist, but it has to be someone I trust.Sometimes you work with people who apply too much makeup and you can’t evenrecognize yourself and you don’t like the end result. But when you know someonewho is good y they know what you like, it’s great.
H! Who is yourstyle icon?CF: I love Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. I have met her a few times, she is beautiful. Shedoesn’t always wear my style of clothes, she always goes for a bit more of asexy style than me, I prefer the tomboy look, but I really love her look, shenails it.”
H!: Looking tothe future, what is her next challenge?CF: “I’m hopingto land more campaigns like Pantene, I would also like to work with brands thatfit in with my style and are authentic and I will also be continuing with myshoe line.”
H!: And, anyfinal advice?CF: “You knowwhat you’ve got, but don’t think too much about it. Follow your instincts andeverything will work out. But the most important thing on social media is to beauthentic, publish what you want and what you like, don’t become preoccupiedwith your amount of followers.”
CHIARA AT A GLANCE:
A beautytrend that you love:"I love alltypes of braiding, for example corn rows."
Your favorite ‘front row’:"All of them,for different reasons. I love New York for the parties, the energy… Milan forthe street style, the color… And for the runway shows I would have to sayParis. They’re all so different."
Yourfavorite color:"Black forclothes and blue for life."
Pizza orpasta:"Difficult, maybe pasta."
Milan orLos Angeles:"L.A to livebut Milan has my heart, all of my friends and family still live there."
You can’tlive without…:"My iPhone."
Yourfavorite item of clothing:"My leatherjacket."
Yourfavorite brand:"Right now,Gucci."
Eyeliner orred lips:"Eyeliner. Ican’t wear red lipstick every day."
Long, shortor medium length:"Long,always!"
Loose or aponytail:"Loose."
Red or nudenails:"Red."
Instagramor Facebook:"Instagram,I don’t use Facebook."