Italian model and mother of two, Bianca Balti has been taking the runway by storm for over a decade – walking for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen and Givenchy, to name a few. More recently, you’ll probably recognise her flawless olive complexion and piercing blue almond eyes from the Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue fragrance campaign. Grazia caught up with Bianca at the launch of the new Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Sun Collection in the exquisitely beautiful Capri to talk all things beauty, holidays and filming with a grumpy David Gandy…
On her favourite holiday destinations…
“I love to discover new places and go on lots of different trips. Last year I went to Japan for 10 days and travelled around. It was a dream. The food was amazing and it was so different to everywhere else I’ve been. I also love travelling Asia and recently visited Costa Rica.”
“I’ve always dreamt of having a summer house somewhere special, but then I realised that there are too many special places in this world. And until I’ve seen the whole world, I won’t settle down.”
On social media while away on holiday…
“I disconnect from social media really well. I have such a hard time trying to keep my Instagram updated because although I take photos, who is going to take photos of me? I can’t bring myself to ask my boyfriend – it’s stupid.”
“When I went to Costa Rica for my birthday a month ago, I was like ‘oh finally, I’m going to have some material.’ But then I was just too busy, living life on my holiday and having fun. I do check Instagram before bed, which is just the worst, as it keeps you awake.”
On her holiday go-to make-up look…
“I always go for eyes over lips as the main focus. I can never do a red lip, because I always ask my boyfriend; ‘Do you want me to wear red lipstick? Or do you want me to kiss you tonight?’ and he’s always like; ‘No, I want to be able to kiss you!’
“I’ve recently learned to do eye liner, which is crazy because I’ve never been able to do any make-up. And I’m 35, so I feel like I need to spice it up. So, I’ll do eye liner, which takes me like, what? 40 minutes to do? I’ll do some bronzer on the eye lids, just to make the blue of my eyes pop and some mascara.” To recreate Bianca's look pat a little Dolce & Gabbana Eyeshadow in Bronze, £27, on lids, and sweep Dolce & Gabbana's Emotion Eyes Eyeliner, £27, along the lash line.
On her holiday preparation…
“For my skin, I usually go for a scrub and face wash, then moisturise and use SHISEIDO Wetforce Suncream, £30. Being Italian I also love having a tan – I know it’s not the best for your skin and it might make you age faster, but I just love it.”
“I also love to exercise with surfing. I’m not good, but I still enjoy it. I started a year and half ago and for me it was a thing of just proving to myself I could do it, because I’ve always been scared of the water where you can’t see what’s underneath. So, I did, I tried it. In Costa Rica, I got a wave that everyone was like: ‘Oh my God, well done, that was the biggest wave of the day!’ Although I was just like, well I had to, otherwise I would have been crushed by the wave.”
On her holiday hair…
“I’m really bad, because I actually really love my hair with salt water, which I know dehydrates it.”
“It just gives me this nice texture and I don’t want to get rid of it because I think it looks so beautiful. It’s usually after the summer that I’m more like ‘Oh, wow, I need a trim.’ As you can tell I always go for the best stuff… tanning, salty water.”
On her favourite summer fragrance…
“I have always loved Light Blue, £90 for 100ml. It has been Light Blue since I was 14 and it was like 'the thing', everyone smelt of it. You know when you want to smell like everyone else? The whole classroom smelt like Light Blue, so funny.”
On shooting the Light Blue campaign with David Gandy…
“The first time we shot together, it was a nightmare. The weather was terrible, we spent a whole week here in Capri and it was raining. We couldn’t go in the sea, and we were just hanging around the hotel and David was very grumpy.”
“I’m a chatter box, so eventually he opened up. I even made him smile for pictures, which is a big deal, because he hates his smile. By the 2nd time around it was amazing, it was really summery, so warm, and we went to Costa Azzurra. It was beautiful, and by then we knew each other so well, it was really fun.”
On her summer style…
“My favourite summer outfit is a dress. Usually, I’m always in jeans, t-shirts and sneakers, but in summer I love the freedom of a dress. Either pared with flats or ideally barefoot.”
On her holiday drink and dish of choice...
"For food, I love raw fish. It's just the best!"
"I don't drink, but I love hot water and lemon. Everyone makes fun of me for this! But, I love tanning and salt water... so I drink my hot water, which means balance."
Shop the new Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Sun Fragrance
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