One look at Bianca Balti—with her poreless, olive complexion and Botticelli-fall of brunette lengths—and it’s easy to see why the Lombardy-born model is one of Dolce Gabbana’s longest standing muses. With countless ad campaigns and runway appearances (including one at eight-months pregnant) for the storied house under her belt, the 33-year-old model says of their partnership, “It really feels like a family.”
Family is of great importance to Balti, who is in New York for just 24 hours to celebrate the launch of Dolce Gabbana’s newest Light Blue fragrance, of which she is, of course, the face, before returning home to Orange County, California, to be with her two daughters. “I’ve always been a simple person, but everything got more simple [after] becoming a mom,” says Balti, whose daily makeup routine consists of just a dab of lightweight foundation and a brush of the eyebrows. “If you have beautiful skin and a [strong] brow, people don’t even notice you’re wearing makeup, but your face is so much better.”
Her less-is-more approach to makeup came from something of an aha moment. “My mom never used to put makeup on,” she says. “But one day, when I was a kid, she had a red lip, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, you look so amazing!’ She said: ‘But if I wore it all the time, you would not have noticed.’ ” It’s a lesson Balti took to heart. Now, she, too, insists that high-glamour makeup (and a spritz of Light Blue) should be a special treat. “I keep all these things for date night,” she says with a grin.
As for the message she hopes to pass down to her daughters? “To accept themselves. It seems cliché, but it’s true,” she says. “I transform when I work, but on a daily basis I really don’t pay that much attention to my looks. I do feel like through me they’re going to learn that.” Che bella.