Kaia Gerber on Confidence and Beauty Lessons From Mom
Kaia Gerber on Confidence, Beauty Lessons From Mom, and Golden-Hour Selfies
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During any other year, Kaia Gerber would have been right in the middle of another Fashion Week when she hopped on a Zoom call with us, but because of the current circumstances (read: global pandemic), she was sitting at home with plenty of time to reflect on the last year — and that epic pink-hair moment.
In an effort to control the uncontrollable happening around her, she turned her attention to her hair: "I, like many people, decided to take [the uncertainty] out on my hair, so I bleached it," Gerber told POPSUGAR. "I'd always wanted to have pink hair, so I went pink." (This was in August 2020, and she documented the entire thing on Instagram.) But the colour was short-lived.
With her shoulder-grazing brown hair back to its natural state, she admitted that while it was fun and exactly what she needed at the time, she doesn't recommend it. "My poor hair — it was like, 'Stop. OK, please stop,'" she said. "I really appreciate my natural hair now."
That's not the only thing she appreciates more now; she also used this last year to "get to know the woman I've become." The new Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Intense Eau de Parfum, which Gerber is the face of, couldn't represent that more perfectly. "It feels like a new scent for a new grown-up chapter of my life."
Ahead, Gerber shared how she fights her insecurities, her evolving perception of beauty, and more.
How Kaia Gerber Is Leaning on Scent Amid the Pandemic
Over the last year, while some people got into the habit of applying a little makeup every day to establish a sense of normalcy, Gerber leaned on scent the most. "I always wear fragrance," she said. "I just wanted that one step that I was like, 'OK, I'm getting ready. I'm doing something for me today.'"
Her go-to, the new Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Intense Eau de Parfum ($96), is a twist on the beloved and classic Daisy scent. It's deeper and more intense than the original, which is why the campaign video was shot during golden hour to tap into that rich time of day.
For Gerber, the scent, which smells like a fruity blend of strawberry, honey, and moss, reminds her of sun-drenched walks on the beach in Malibu with her family. "That's always been my favourite time of day," Gerber said. "My family and I always would watch the sunset together. Having a fragrance that is also associated with it, it just brings me that warm feeling of when the world all looks really rich, radiant — you have this golden blanket that's over the whole world."
Kaia Gerber's Tips For Taking a Perfect Golden-Hour Selfie
You know what golden hour is also good for? Taking stunning selfies, which Gerber has demonstrated countless times on her Instagram. It's no secret she knows how to take a good picture, but she has tips for helping us all look model-level photogenic, too. Natural light is key.
"I'm not a self-timer girl — I don't do that," she said. "I have very long arms, fortunately. I would say you find where the sun is setting and face the sun. The good thing about golden hour is it looks good no matter what you're doing and where you are."
The Beauty Lesson Kaia Gerber Learned From Mom Cindy Crawford
Modelling runs in Gerber's family, but the biggest lesson in beauty her mom, Cindy Crawford, taught her has nothing to do with looks — although we're sure she shared a few pointers along the way — and everything to do with manifesting beauty from the inside out.
"Obviously, [my mom] is objectively very beautiful and everybody knows that, but what's incredible to me about her is that's the last thing that you are amazed by," Gerber said. "She is smart, kind, and funny. She also has this confidence, and I really admire that about her. Her advice was always less is more and beauty is very much on the inside."
How Kaia Gerber Is Learning to Be More Confident in Herself
Like any 19-year-old, Gerber is still working on herself. Despite the 6.1 million followers on Instagram and the fact that she's appeared on countless runways and in hundreds of campaigns, she still feels self-conscious now and then and admitted to not always being the easiest on herself.
"Part of me envies young Kaia, who was not self-conscious at all and always felt beautiful, but I also think you can find that again in adulthood," she said. "[The pandemic] gave me time to step back, get to know the woman I've become, actually take the time to get to know myself. Over the last few months, I have probably felt the most beautiful I've ever felt because I have felt the most like me."
