Salma Hayek: ‘I Was Fat and Broken Out’
Salma Hayek is one of those beauties who's so striking, so breathtaking that it's hard to imagine she ever went through an awkward phase. But the Mexican-born star insists otherwise. "My skin?! When I was 25 and I left being a soap opera star in Mexico to go try to be a movie star in Hollywood and all of Mexico was laughing at me? And I could barely get work as an extra? You want to talk about bad skin? I had acne," the 45-year-old confesses to Lucky magazine. "And this acne was so bad it sent me into a severe, severe depression. Like I couldn't leave the house. I'd wake up in the morning and lie there and touch my face before I got up, just to prepare myself to look in the mirror! The next stage with that sort of depression is food: too little, or too much. Guess what I did? I mean, I was fat and broken out, I couldn't leave the house and I couldn't pay the rent!" Salma credits the drug Accutane, which she took reluctantly, and her friend, director Alfonso Cuaron, with giving her the motivation to change her reflection. "[Cuaron] did not play it down, he did not try to say, oh you look fine. He said you can't do this to yourself and taught me to meditate, relax. I got myself back together!"
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Twenty years later, the wife of French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault and mom to 4-year-old Valentina is hotter than ever. No thanks, she says, to the shots of Botox many other women in Hollywood rely upon. "Botox, trust me I've been tempted — but I resist! Think about what happens to your muscles — and your skin — if you're sick and don't move for a few days. It all atrophies! Plus, if you freeze a muscle in your face, other muscles have to compensate! And once you stop, what does that look like?"
The "Puss in Boots" star is so savvy about how to keep her skin glowing and gorgeous these days that she's started her own line of skincare and beauty products, Nuance, that's carried exclusively at CVS. The line of moisturizers, body washes, lotions, and cosmetics is inspired by Hayek's grandmother, who once handed out facial creams and potions, and died at age 96 with, according to Hayek, no wrinkles.
As for her fab physique, Hayek admits that like most women she struggles when it comes to diet and exercise, and aspires to be as disciplined as her fit friend Demi Moore. "She's so disciplined," Salma praises. "I wish I could be like that." Unfortunately, Moore, who has buffed up for movies like "G.I. Jane" in the past and recently completed a stint in rehab for "exhaustion," now appears to be a little too thin. "You watch, Demi will be back," promises Hayek. "She's an inspiration to all women."
But while inspired, Hayek admits she just doesn't have as much will power as Moore seems to when it comes to food. "I like to eat," she confesses. "I'm always on the edge of how much can I eat without looking too — you know. If I eat something salty, it makes me want something sweet. I eat something sweet, then I want salty, and exercise is not my thing, though I do it."
Clearly, whatever she's doing is working!
Read Salma's full interview in the May issue of Lucky magazine, on newsstands Tuesday, April 10.
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