EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
“Ashley Smith: Perfection at its peak”
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| Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello for NUMERO |
ASHLEY SMITH
@ TRUMP NY @ FOREMAN (MA) @ ELITE IT @ MARILYN PARIS @ MODELS1 UK
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| vs pink |
PR: Coffee or tea?
ASHLEY SMITH: BLACK COFFEE!
PR: You shared a cover with Lauren Hutton! You knew when you were shooting with her how big she is?
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wwd.com |
ASHLEY SMITH: Of course I knew who LAUREN HUTTON was, I knew before I was even modeling. Yes, I knew Lauren as a beauty icon before the shoot, after the shoot I now know her as a symbol of strength, confidence and feminism. She is beyond her looks! And I was so enchanted to make her acquaintance.
PR: Well you never know, we had to ask, you are after all… SO YOUNG! Do you know SO YOUNG, your colleague-model? We don’t know if that’s the coolest name or the strangest name.
ASHLEY SMITH: I love unique names! Hers is definitely special! I wonder what kind of jokes she will get when she is older though. I imagine her meeting a man for the first time and her saying, “HI! I am SO Young!” and the man not sure how to respond.
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| Will Davidson for RUSSH |
PR: We want to know more about Lauren! Is she… A DIVA?
ASHLEY SMITH: NO WAY! Lauren is no diva at all. Which can probably be hard. This industry is made to turn us all into divas in a way. But when your hair and skin are being pulled and poked all day, you tend to get a little annoyed.
I applaud her for her ability to stay grounded. And I hope I will remain the same as well.
PR: What did you two chat about?
ASHLEY SMITH: Everything under the sun, we talked about her journeys to Africa and how the modeling industry has changed. Also we talked about her make-upline (http://laurenhutton.com/). Its really innovative design with good natural products.
PR: We didn’t know that.
ASHLEY SMITH: You should check it out.
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| PH: Thierry LeGoues for FRENCH |
PR: Definitely. Ashley, did you ever consider modeling before Alan Foreman approached you?
ASHLEY SMITH: I had the occasional housewife come in my grocery store and tell me how I looked like a model and should try it out. But never really bothered myself to actually peruse it. Alan and Tanni did all the foot work to get me to New York, and once I got to New York, I was too excited to not continue there.
PR: Prior to this interview, we actually read 2 interviews with you! We loved you dynamic energy! Do you get that energy from an overdose of coffee or you are a natural?
ASHLEY SMITH: Natural! My brain is always going, thinking, planning my next attack or move. This has become a sore to my agents here in New York I’m sure. ALWAYS asking questions. Always curious!
PR: We love our Adidas sneakers, and you seem more as a Converse type (We’re not saying we’re not)… are we right?
ASHLEY SMITH: With Converse branding themselves with the rocker chick, I suppose yes, I am much more of a Converse girl. But I don’t even own one pair of Converse. In fact my only sneakers in my closet right now are Reeboks (http://reebok.com/).
PR: Converse are not comfortable at all!!! Is it just us?
ASHLEY SMITH: Its not just you, you have to break them in, and they look all funny when they are all clean. So Converse takes some time and energy.
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| ph. Daniel Jackson FOR A.WENG |
PR: Speaking of it, what are the most comfortable high heels that you own?
ASHLEY SMITH: My favorite heels I own… MIU MIU black patent leather studded heels. They don’t look comfortable. But surprisingly they are!
PR: Wang handbags are gorgeous, aren’t they?
ASHLEY SMITH: I OWN TWO (HERE) ! My favorite bag to hit the market in the last five years.
PR: What is your other favorite bag?
ASHLEY SMITH: Wang is by far my favorite. I surprisingly don’t own any other designer bags. The rest of my bags are all vintage. I love vintage 80s clutches.
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| Josh Olins for TOPSHOP |
PR: How often do you visit TOPSHOP?
ASHLEY SMITH: I visit it at least twice a month.
PR: what is your best buy there?
ASHLEY SMITH: My favorite buy there are the cute floral stockings and cardigans. Also really amazing coats in the fall. I have three faux fur jackets from them, super warm and terribly cute!
PR: And from these 3 : Mango, H&M, Zara…
ASHLEY SMITH: H&M
PR: Which brand are your favorite leggings?
PR: The sun is finally shining: what are your fashion essentials?
ASHLEY SMITH: I hate wearing too much clothes, winter drives me mad. So as soon as the sun starts so do I, with my short floral dresses and ACNE cut off shorts. You can take the girl out of Texas but you can’t take the cut off shorts and bikini tops out of the girl.
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| Will Davidson for RUSSH |
– BODY TALK –
PR: Hallelou! LOL. Do you have body worries?
ASHLEY SMITH: Body worries? Nah. I work out to stay in shape, eat healthy, I use loads of sun screen for skin. Drink loads of water!
The only skin worry I have is that my boyfriend has a beard, and after kissing him my chin always gets all sore. But what are you to do about that? Its unavoidable when you like bearded guys!
PR: Haha. Share with us your gym routine!
ASHLEY SMITH: I go somewhere between 2-5 times a week depending on a lot of things. I do Pilates, Yoga and Zumba. But when I go to the normal part of the gym I mostly focus on my cardio.
– BEAUTY TALK –
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| @ C.Kane via TFS |
PR: How do you maintain your skin?
ASHLEY SMITH: I get asked this question in every interview I have ever done, and I find it hard to answer every time! I’m 20 years old! That’s my best beauty secret!
PR: Well it is unavoidable question.
ASHLEY SMITH: But besides that:
- H2O, loads of water and not crappy sugary drinks
- Cut back on dairy products, there are a lot of foreign hormones in milk that throw your own hormones out of balance.
- I have really dry skin, so I use a night time milky moisturizer from Paris, Embryolisse Lait-creme concentre.
- With all the constant on and off with make up, a good make up remover is always needed! I use soft cotton balls and Bioderma Crealine to remove the face make up and Chanel Precision Gental Eye make up Remover for the heavy mascara and black eye shadow looks.
- SUN SCREEN! It’s hard for the sun loving Texas girl to stay out of the sun when it’s out. So make sure your always protected! Shiseido 60 SPF ultimate sun protection lotion. It’s not a heavy oily lotion so it won’t clog your pores!
- For the body I use Palmers cocoa butter after the shower.
- And a light exfoliator to get off all those dead skin cells. Aveenoskin brightening daily scrub is my favorite.
PR: Any other beauty ritual?
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| Ph. Hugh Lippe for c.editor |
ASHLEY SMITH: Everything I just said for previous question. I do all of that after a shower. And the sun screen every morning!!! Even if it’s cloudly outside.
PR: Are you a natural blond?
ASHLEY SMITH: I am a natural blonde, but more of a natural blond in the ASHY blonde sense. Some call it “Dirty Blonde”
I bleach my hair as blonde as I have it in all my pictures. WHICH does MAD damage to it. So I use a lot of replenishing moisturizing shampoos, conditions and hair masks.
PR: Are there hair products that you particularly love?
ASHLEY SMITH: I use the expensive Bumble and Bumble quenching shampoo and conditioner. It’s great for extremely dry hair and they also have a ten minute mask under the “quenching” name as well.
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| PH. Thomas Lohr for DANSK |
But if you don’t have cases to these types of pro products, I would highly recommend L’Oreal Ever Strong sulfate-freehydrate shampoo and conditioner. It’s the best product on the shelves in a common store like Walmart. And only around 7 or 8 dollars.
And Moroccan oil is really awesome for my dry frizzy hair. I use Je Veux Moroccan oil, the sent isn’t over powering and the label design is cool.
PR: O.K. why on earth is everyone crazy about Miss Kitty?
ASHLEY SMITH: What’s Miss Kitty? You mean Hello Kitty?
PR: Oh c**p. YES. Hello Kitty.
ASHLEY SMITH: I’m not the person to ask, I have never understood that craze. My best friend in Texas has Hello Kitty tattoos, some girls just relate to the cute character.
– MODEL NUTRITION-
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| Ph: Armin Morbach | Tush September 2010 Cover |
PR: Ashley, nutrition is important, wouldn’t you say?
ASHLEY SMITH: Extremely important, you treat your body and mind the way you want it to treat you back!
PR: Do you pay attention that products you use are organic?
ASHLEY SMITH: Yeah, I can’t say I always buy organic but most of my fruit and vegetables are always bought organic. Oh and Green and Blacks Organic Dark Chocolate. Holy crap! Try it!
PR: Will do!!! If we were about to open your fridge, what would we find?
ASHLEY SMITH: Let’s see, I’m opening it now, I have almond milk, Newman’s lemon-aid, maple syrup, flax seed oil, blueberries, strawberries, loads of hummus and carrots, and… well its a small fridge, so not much more. I eat out a lot!
PR: What is your favorite dish?
PR: What is your favorite dish?ASHLEY SMITH: Vegetable tempura! I love Japanese food. Oh or vegetable enchiladas. But if you asked me this three years ago, before I started getting healthy, I would have told you a whole bag of sour gummy worms.
PR: Hm. What is your favorite vegetable?
ASHLEY SMITH: Broccoli! It’s so freaking good; I just eat it raw most of the time.
PR: Your favorite smoothie?
ASHLEY SMITH: Blueberries, bananas, peanut butter, almond milk and chocolate protein mix. Sounds weird. But it’s so delicious.
PR: What do you usually have for breakfast?
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| PH. Randall Mesdon for Intermix |
ASHLEY SMITH: Every morning I have oatmeal made from almond milk with flax seed oil and blueberries. Breakfast of champions!
PR: An apple a day! Which apple sort is your favorite?
ASHLEY SMITH: My favorite apple is a Granny Smith! Maybe cause we share the same last name.
