Molly Sims Reveals the Truth About Industry Bullying & Botox

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Molly Sims does not hold back—and it’s amazing. The 41-year-old model and actress is busy promoting her new book The Everyday Supermodel and she’s dishing on what it really takes to get gorgeous. In her book and revealing interview, the former Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret model confessed that she wasn’t born with skinny genes and had teenage years filled with acne, braces, headgear, and a unibrow. To get to supermodel status, she says she “has been potioned, lotioned, plucked, prodded, bleached, bronzed, waxed, makeuped, extensioned, curled, blow-dried, and straightened into an entirely new human form.” To stay beautiful (and working) she’s tried lasers and Botox, and put herself through dozens of diets and that many workouts. “The truth is I have stealthily studied and applied my way into supermodeldom,” Sims writes.

Why the true confessions? “I just don’t want women to think something is attainable that’s not. If I say, ‘I eat M&Ms all day long. I don’t work out. I’m just born naturally like this.’ That’s just not true!” Sims explains. “I always say, there’s a chubby person inside of me waiting for me to get lazy.”

So thank you Molly Sims for not doing the celebrity spin #Iwokeuplikethis. Thank you for not pretending looking beautiful doesn’t take a ton of work. Love those hard-earned makeup, hair, & beauty tips too. The last chapter of the book is called I Made that S%&* Happen. It’s referring to the year where Sims went from double dumped to married and pregnant—but it could also apply to her entire career. Read on for her candid interview:

Molly Sims as a teen

SB: In the intro to your book you said your early teen years were super awkward. You had a unibrow, acne, braces with fluorescent rubber bands, and even headgear.

MS: I certainly wasn’t the ugly duckling, but I grew really quickly. A lot of people say, “Oh, that’s awesome!” But when you’re in eighth grade, and you have acne and buckteeth, and you’re huge and your feet are bigger than anyone’s—all of these things put together were hard! My parents were really good about trying to make me feel good about myself, and making me talk, which is probably why I love talking to this day. When you are 13, all you want to do is to fit in.

SB: But even now, you’ve said that you never feel beautiful— which is surprising coming from a supermodel.

MS: If you relied on what you looked like since you were 20—which is now 21 years—and your paycheck depends on what you look like, and a photographer says to you, “Your nose is crooked. Your shoulders—you’re a bit big boned. Your calves are really muscular. Your hips—you’ve got to shave at least an inch-and-a-half, if not two-inches off of them.” I don’t care who you are, if you think that gives you confidence, it doesn’t. Do I wake up and think I’m beautiful everyday? I don’t. I have not since I was… I don’t think I ever have. I didn’t have the opportunity to. I’m even insecure about my hands. So many photographers are like, “Your hands are a bit veiny.” Well, I mean, I can’t take out my veins! I don’t know one model, including the top models, that wake up everyday and are like, ‘I’m perfect.’

Related: 17 Stars that Get Better with Age

SB: How do you counter all those negative messages?

MS: People think that because someone’s skinny, they feel beautiful. If you’re a size 10 and you want to be a size 4, you automatically think that person is a size 4 feels great about themselves. It’s just not true. Even at my thinnest, I looked at photos and thought ‘I wish I hadn’t posed like that. Or ‘Oh God, that hair color!’ But I look at that same picture two years later, and I think, ‘I would die to have that picture!’ I was thumbing a book at Barnes & Noble the other day, and there was a photo of me in a swimsuit. I’m now eight months pregnant, and I’m like ‘Oh Lord, I would I kill for that body!’ I just think you have to learn to not pick yourself apart.

SB: I love how candid you are in the book, especially about beauty treatments that you have done. So many stars say they don’t do anything…

MS: It’s a lie!

SB: Why did you decide to be so open about the procedures you’ve done?

MS: No one has to divulge anything. At the end of the day, what a person says about themselves is really none of the media’s business. It’s not. For me, it was more about, I just don’t want women to think something is attainable that’s not. If I say to you, ‘Sara, I eat M&Ms all day long. I don’t work out. I’m just born naturally like this.’ That’s just not true! I always say, there’s a chubby person inside of me waiting for me to get lazy. I’m going to be honest, because I know that girls need the best advice, whether it’s with hair, makeup, fitness, losing weight, eating better. A lot of women have given me honest great advice, and I treasure it.

Related: Stop Messing with Your Face

SB: So what’s worked best with you in terms of beauty treatments?

MS: For hyperpigmentation, lightening creams really work. But if you go into the sun, you have to wear a hat and sunscreen. I’m doing this vegan Dennis Gross peel. Any salicylic acid and glycolic acid peels are great. The one thing that I worry about with women is the craze over microdermabrasion. Don’t do too much. Less is more. Don’t start too early.

SB: So when do you think is a good time to dip your toe in?

MS: It all depends on when your issues are. Like, for me, I knew that my main issue was the really deep angry line in the middle of my forehead. So I started in my early thirties. I can’t now because I’m pregnant, but I’ve done partial Botox. I only do it between where my forehead lines are. Some people have to start with sunscreen when they’re 15. For me, I’m all about preventative. I always tell women, you don’t want someone to look at you and think you’ve done anything, ever.

SB: Good advice.

MS: Let’s see…what else works? I lighten my eyebrows because I’m so blonde at the moment. It opened my eyes. Do not wax if you’re doing any lightening treatments, because your skin is a little thinner. If you have broken capillaries, they can be burned off in one second at the dermatologist’s office.

Related: ‘The Body’ at 50, How Elle MacPherson is Redefining Aging

Molly’s New Book

Related: ‘The Body’ at 50, How Elle MacPherson is Redefining Aging

SB: I loved all of the budget beauty tips you share in your book.

MS: I know! You don’t have to spend a fortune. I love rosebud salve for lips. Coconut oil, you can cook with it, you can have a massage with it. Almond oil is amazing for your hair and skin. You can make a sugar scrub with almond oil, dark brown sugar and a little bit of lavender flake. I keep it in the shower. Dry brushing is very cheap. It’s so good for circulation and for cellulite.

SB: You said in the book that you weren’t born with the skinny genes. So how did you get in Victoria’s Secret Shape?

MS: Think about portions. Prepack snacks for traveling so you won’t be tempted. Have hot chocolate as opposed to having a brownie at night. Frozen grapes, frozen blueberries as snacks. Do not order a smoothie with strawberry, banana, pineapple—you’re drinking yourself in calories. If you’re going to do a smoothie, do broccoli, kale, spinach, cucumber and apple. Throw in half of a banana or some non-fat vanilla yogurt. I love Udi’s simple organic granola. But I portion it.

Molly with her son Brooks

SB: You’ve said you work out six days a week. What’s your go-to workout?

MS: Not now that I’m pregnant, but I try to do something different always so I don’t get bored. It also helps my body not get used to doing the same thing. So, spinning at Soul Cycle, circuit with Tracy Anderson, Pilates with Emily, hiking with my girlfriend, or walking. It makes you feel better and it’s so much easier to lose weight. But you have to sweat. It’s like, think about your fat crying. That’s your sweat.

Related: Harley Pasternak: The Man Behind Hollywood’s Best Bodies

SB: What are the best makeup tips that you got from modeling?

MS: There is no one foundation that is the perfect match, so get a light and a dark and then mix them for the right shade. I love the new Laura Mercier, it’s got a really dewy texture. I also love Charlotte Tilbury’s Wonderglow. When you leave me, go get it immediately. It just gives a dewy glow to a tinted moisturizer or a foundation. It’s phenomenal. My makeup tends to sink on me, so sometimes I use a primer if I want my makeup to last from day to night. I also always double curl my lashes. Do a coat of mascara, then curl. Do another coat, then curl again. I do Vaseline or a lip gloss on my eyelids to kind of make it sexy. Cream blush, don’t do it where you’re contouring. Bring it all the way across your nose, almost like you got a suntan. I do it in a dark and a light. I know it’s weird, but it works. I use Milk Chocolate and Pale Pink by Bobbi Brown.

SB: What are your go-to products?

MS: I love a white inside liner— NARS Larger Than Life. I’ve been using Hourglass Raven. It’s my best new red — it doesn’t come off. It’s a little sticky.

Related: The Products We Raved About this Year

SB: I just saw your new YouTube channel with StyleHaul—very cool.

MS: It’s amazing. It’s really letting women and viewers and people get to know you. It’s intimate. I shot one in my kitchen this morning. I just did something with GloZell. She is phenomenal. She did a tomato facial with me, and a facelift using scotch tape. She is hilarious.

Molly with husband Scott Stuber and baby Brooks

SB: I love that you have your last chapter is called I Made That S*$& Happen. You talked about how you went from double dumped and depressed to engaged, married, and pregnant within a year, along with your career.

MS: I think people always wanted to know my journey and how I do things. So I shared what I’ve learned. You have to have that internal belief. And listen, a lot of things go wrong. I’m not saying that it doesn’t. But make a list, make goals. I was so co-dependent on a boyfriend—two boyfriends. It was more about them. I wanted to fix them instead of fixing me. You have to switch it up. It’s going to suck a little bit, but open yourself up. It’s not easy. Don’t be a Bitter Betty. Don’t go on three dates and expect them to marry you. If you want one thing to work, do ten things. Someone says you can’t do something, that’s okay — they may not think you can do that, but someone else will say that you can. If you want to change jobs, change it. I think the best advice that I will give women is that even though change is the scariest, change has brought me the best opportunities.

(Disclaimer: Bobbi Brown is the Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo Beauty)