I HAVE A BRUNCH ABOUT IT
Friday is the day I go and do a brunch. I’m obsessed with brunches, I think it’s the perfect meal – it’s sweet, it’s salty. [Weekends are] also the time my son doesn’t have school, so we usually do some fun activities together as a family like trying new sports, going to the movies or mini-golf, or seeing a show.
DESTINATION DUBAI
My mother is Indonesian and my father, who is Swiss, has been in the hospitality business managing hotels around the world his whole career, which meant growing up I changed countries and cities every two or three years. I decided to move to Dubai when my husband [Nicola Ventola], an ex-Italian footballer, retired and became a sports commentator. He was offered a job with a TV channel here in 2015.
SWITCH TO NATURAL
I wasn’t very health-conscious before I became pregnant; something switched in me, I became more aware about eating natural and organic – it was more for my baby than for myself but soon it became a real lifestyle. The hunt for natural and organic products extended to my cosmetics, too. I’ve loved doing my nails since I was a child but during that period I found it difficult to find a product that was less toxic – a nail polish, if you think about it has so many chemicals and the nail is not waterproof, so with time it [the nail polish] goes in your system. But the water-based nail colours in the market either didn’t last long or have nice colours. So I pursued this little idea and gap in the market with my best friend, who is in the cosmetic industry, and luckily for us, one of the biggest [labs in Paris] that manufactures nail polish took on the challenge and that’s how Kure Bazaar was launched in 2013.
CREATIVE IN THE KITCHEN
On weekends I love to cook, I’m very creative in the kitchen, I think it’s a way of expression. My mum is Indonesian, so there’s always a little Asian influence of that in my cooking, and I also lived a lot in Italy so I love the simplicity and freshness of the Italian food. But I cannot look at a recipe and cook. I love to do my own thing and that’s how I become creative [while cooking].
FICTIONAL FRIEND
I love to read. The one book that keeps me company like a friend and I carry with me wherever I’m travelling is Le Petit Prince [by Antoine de Saint Exupery]. I’ve read it about 20 times at different stages of my life in various languages – in original French, Italian and English. It’s a well-written, simple child’s book but the message is so powerful: what’s essential is always seen with your heart and not eyes. I was probably 12 or 13 the first time I read the book and thinking it’s for kids, I underestimated it. But I recall that when I read it later in life at 16 or 18 I could relate to it.
NAIL IT
Manicures and pedicures are something I’ve always done, for both research and for my job [as a model]. It’s such a nice little treat; you can be dressed in sweatpants but if you have your nails done you’re forgiven for everything else. Nail polish is a real fashion accessory, it can really change an outfit and make it look more rock and roll or really chic – if you’re wearing a beautiful outfit and make-up but your nails are chipped and cracked it doesn’t [finish the look]. Nails are the only part of make-up that you do for yourself that you can actually see. When you put lipstick on you don’t see it constantly.
LIE FOR MASSAGES
I’m not a stressed person but sometimes I cook up stress and use it as an excuse to justify getting a massage to my family. I tell them ‘oh, I’ve had a hard day so I’m off to get a massage,’ because otherwise I just feel bad leaving the [house]. I enjoy massages during the night just before bed, never in the morning or the afternoon – it has to be the latest [appointment]; if they close at midnight I’ll be there at 11pm. I’ll leave the house showered, with my night cream on, go get the massage and then come back and go to sleep immediately.
WARDROBE STAPLES
The last thing I bought was a white shirt from Saint Laurent; I needed the perfect white shirt for a photoshoot that was crisp and well-fitted, almost as if it was tailored on my body. It was a splurge for a white shirt but it will last a lifetime and I’m really happy I bought it. A white shirt is a wardrobe essential we all need.
REDISCOVERING RIO
Rio de Janeiro is my bucket list travel destination because I was born there and left the city when I was three months old. I’ve never, ever been back. So I definitely want to go there to discover my roots and visit the place where I was actually born.
MOTHERHOOD AND MEMORIES
The bond that I have with my son Kelian, 13, is what I cherish the most in the world. There’s nothing that will ever come above that. I was a model for many years and stopped my hectic career full of travelling because it was important for me to stay in one place, stop everything and be a mum, to take care of my child and be there. I cherish motherhood; the laughter of my mum is my earliest memory of happiness.
TO THE TUNE OF
Somewhere Over the Rainbow from Wizard of Oz would be the soundtrack to my life because it’s such a positive song with a great rhythm that gives you hope. When my son was a baby and he’d cry I would play this song and he’d stop crying instantly.
RUNWAY DREAMS COME TRUE
The second [fashion] show did was for Chanel in Tokyo. I had just started [out] and I was having my make-up and hair done and next to me there were all these top models like Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer and, oh my goodness, I could not believe my eyes, that I was actually there with these people that I’ve been looking up to and admiring as a teenager.
I[A]M POSSIBLE
A phrase I use often is ‘impossible is just an opinion.’ The author Paulo Coelho originally said that. I’m very optimistic in life and people can get annoyed by it because sometimes I’m not realistic.
STAY SPORTY
If I had to advice my teenage self I’d tell her to continue doing what she’s doing and stay positive. I would tell her to do more sports and take care of our body. Sports was never part of my life and it’s so difficult today to make it a part of my routine and doesn’t come naturally to me but I’m working on it constantly – I love playing beach tennis now.
PROUDEST MOMENT
The Park Hyatt Vendôme in Paris created a nail suite for us, turning a junior suite into an exclusive Kure Bazaar nail bar – that had me really excited since my father has been in the hotel business and the Park Hyatt is one of my favourite hotels in the world.
BLOW OUT TO DRY
I have a weird habit. I dry my mascara with a blow-dryer because I like to have two coats on so I dry the first coat with a dryer and only then put the second coat. I don’t know if this is something that many people do.
