Chrissy Teigen: “People Appear to Be Perfect and It Helps Knowing They’re Not”
Supermodel Chrissy Teigen served as host of this year’s Billboard Awards. (Photo: Billboard/Miller Mobley)
Chrissy Teigen’s career is at an all-time high. The supermodel and wife to singer John Legend served as co-host of the Billboard awards with Ludacris this past Sunday and has posed for the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, campaigns for brands like Gillette Venus, Olay, and Nike, and the cover of magazines like Glamour and Cosmopolitan, but that doesn’t mean she’s lost touch with reality. In fact, Teigen makes it her obligation to show her 2.3 million Instagram followers just how real she is, proudly revealing her stretch marks and vowing to never retouch her selfies. We caught up with the model to hear about her experience hosting the award show, what goes into looking so glam, and why she’s not afraid to show her true self to the world.
Joanna Douglas: Congrats on hosting the Billboard Awards! What was the experience like for you?
Chrissy Teigen: Thank you! Of course, it’s an honor to even be asked to attend them, and every time I go it’s always really fun. The hosting job, I think my first words were “Did Luda approve this?” You just never know! So as soon as I knew he was cool with it I was very excited. It’s a lot going on at once and you have people pulling you in all different directions but you try to just breathe and have fun.
Chrissy Teigen wore five different outfits at the Billboard Awards, from the red carpet to the stage. (Photos: Getty Images)
You changed your outfit five times during the night! Is that stressful?
That was the easy part, actually. We had a dress rehearsal so we knew the timing with a lot of the gowns, but I used to work a lot of trade shows when I started modeling, so I know the art of the quick change.
How do you pick what you want to wear for big appearances like that?
I do it all based on mood. I picked out maybe 12 dresses and brought them all — I like to decide at the very last minute. Whatever I’m feeling in that moment. It’s not like I’m a huge risk-taker, anyway. I don’t love crazy prints. I like sexy and simple, and also I wanted to coordinate with Luda a bit. He’s not gonna go crazy either, so it worked out.
Chrissy Teigen says she prefers simple, sexy outfits for appearances. (Getty Images)
You changed your hair so many times at the awards, too. You had it curly, you had a fishtail braid, you had it to one side. Did Jen Atkins do all those looks?
Yes, and she’s such a good planner! She works with my stylist, and they went though every look and she made sure the changes were noticeable but subtle as well, because it’s a live show and sometimes you only have two minutes. I was so nervous sometimes, but there’s such an art to it and she’s perfected it. She does last minute changes all the time, so you have to put your trust in someone like her and she’s just perfect.
You interacted with your husband a lot at the awards. Does he have a high maintenance beauty routine? Do you share your products with him?
We travel so much we basically just use the same toiletry kit. He uses my face wash. He uses all my stuff! I think I’m a lot pickier than him.
Many of your peers in the public eye like to appear perfect at all times, but you are very open about real things like getting spray tan on your hands and having stretch marks on your legs. Have you always had such confidence?
Definitely not, but there are people that appear to be close to perfect and it helps knowing that they’re not. Nobody is. When someone like Lena Dunham comes out and says, “I have these flaws and I don’t care about showing them,” I know that makes me feel more comfortable, so why not do the same thing for other people.
You’re have said you won’t retouch any of your photos on social media. Are you planning to stick to that? Why do you feel that’s so important?
I definitely am not going to retouch any of my own photos. Of course not. It’s a personal decision for me, but I don’t care to. I’ve never been that much of a selfie girl anyways and I never want people to think all photos are like that [retouched]. It raises the standard for what we all have to look like. If I have puffy eyes in a photo or stretchmarks then I get all the haters, but the girls who all Photoshopped to the hills get “Oh my god, you’re so perfect, you look beautiful.” I hate that. I think it’s terrible.
Earlier this month, Teigen showed off her bruises and stretch marks on Instagram and said she’ll never retouch her selfies. (Photo: Instagram)
I noticed you shouted out your Acuvue contacts on the red carpet. I always see women thank the designers they’re wearing but they don’t usually give props publicly to their makeup artists or the other people who help put together the whole package.
Yeah, and there’s a lot that goes into it! Of course, we all love the brands we get to wear, but if there’s something that can enhance your natural beauty that’s great, which is why I love Acuvue Define lenses. They actually highlight what’s beautiful about your eyes in the first place. For me when I’m running across the country back and forth — truly the weekend of lifetime, hosting the Billboard Awards — it’s nice to have the confidence that you look great because that makes you feel better.
Do you ever do your makeup yourself?
I actually don’t. I don’t wear much makeup really. The only time John [Legend] and I will really ever go out to dinner or to a club or a party or something is when I already have my makeup done for a shoot that day. For me, doing makeup is not something that I love to do, so that’s why I have so much respect for people who do it well. I like wearing makeup, but I don’t like doing it myself.
Will you go out to dinner without makeup?
Yeah, definitely. I won’t go to Chateau [Marmont] or anything, but I’ll stop in. I don’t care about people seeing me without makeup.
If you’re going without makeup great skin is important. What’s your secret?
I love a good facial, and my girl in LA, Shani Darden, is so fantastic. She does Jessica Alba, Emma Stone. I was lucky enough to find her, and she has just done wonders for my skin. She makes this product called Retinol Reform and if I put it on before bed, after I wash my face, I wake up with the softest skin and it’s almost like an anti-aging peel that peels away that dead layer of skin. You can feel it working but it’s not strong or harsh for my sensitive skin. Every time I use it people talk about my skin.
Every woman seems to want off-duty model hair. Do you wake up with yours looking like that?
I don’t wake up like that at all! My own hair is full of extensions. Sometimes my girl, Pricilla Valles, she uses wavier pieces so it dries nice and wavy. So my natural hair isn’t like that at all either. [Laughs]
What’s your hair really like?
I can get it long, but I did cut it a few years ago. Being on TV so much using clip-in hair extensions every day was getting a little old, so I put in the more permanent ones. My hair has a bend — it’s not too curly and it’s not quite straight.
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