Ashley Graham says her ambassador job with Revlon is proof that she is breaking new ground in the fashion world.
Ashley Graham
The 30-year-old American model is the newest spokesperson for the cosmetic brand and the plus-sized beauty insists her hiring shows that the industry is changing for the better because when she was growing up she only ever saw "very thin" models or actresses in makeup advertising campaigns.
Speaking to the Glamour website, she said: "When I was growing up, the women I saw in makeup campaigns always had an unattainable beauty. They were either an A-list movie star or a very thin model. I hope people understand how groundbreaking this is - that Revlon now has a curve model from my generation in their campaign."
Although she is one of the most in-demand models in the world, appearing on the covers of magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Sports Illustrated, Ashley admitted there was a time when she didn't feel beautiful and credits her mother Linda and her husband Justin Evrin for helping her to see her worth.
She explained: "There used to be a time when I couldn't say 'I love you' to myself in the mirror, so I began telling myself the affirmations 'I am bold, I am brilliant, I am beautiful.' I still say them. That's what gets me out of bed on my hardest days. My mom's always been a positive influence. When I first started gaining weight, she walked in on me while I was rubbing my hip. I told her, with tears in my eyes, 'It just bulges out right here.' She was like, 'Ashley, that's just a part of your hip and your butt. If you didn't have that, you wouldn't fit into this family.' Then it kind of hit me. That side butt - that's what my husband calls it now - is OK."
And now Ashley - who is also a Pantene ambassador likes to show off her curvy figure by wearing clothes that accentuate her waist and revealed she was inspired by supermodel Cindy Crawford's glamour to colour in her beauty marks with an eyebrow pencil for definition.
She said: "Of course [my favourite part of my body is] my hourglass figure. I can be fully covered, and as long as I have something clinging to my waist, I feel sexy. I also love the two beauty marks on my face. When I was shooting my Maxim cover a couple years ago, the makeup artist colored in one [on my left cheek] with an eyebrow pencil. I liked it so much I've done it ever since. It's a little Cindy Crawford."
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