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Why You Should Not Omit Massage in Your Beauty Routine and Other Tips from Model Arina Maksimova 

She started modeling when she was only 12 years old, and while she is not a fan of using makeup on a daily basis, the 20-year-old knows how to take care of her skin to keep it looking healthy and radiant. Today, the first-ever petite model shares her beauty secrets and tips with Vogue CS.

What does beauty mean to you? 

For me beauty is uniqueness. Whatever it is you can’t change about yourself makes you special. 
Foto: Amer Mohamad
Foto: Amer Mohamad

What is your daily skin- and body-care routine? 

I’m not a big fan of chemical products in general, but moisturizing is very important. So, to hydrate my skin and balance its pH, I use La Mer Moisturizing Soft Lotion, after which I apply Soft Cream of the same brand.

What is your view on makeup? And do you have any favorite products? 

I don’t wear makeup every day. My skin gets tired of it during photoshoots and fashion shows. In my line of work, you have to wear makeup almost all the time, and good quality products are not always used. So, I try to give my skin a break by not wearing makeup when I’m not working. I do, however, make exceptions, such as special events, and in that case my choice is light Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat All-In-One-Glow Foundation with SPF 15, Dior mascara and Dior Addict Lip Glow.

What skin care products or makeup do you always have on you, even when traveling? 

Just tonic and cream. When I began modeling in different countries, I got into the habit of trying local products, and the result was always unpredictable. After several years of experimentation, I stopped shocking my skin and just kept to my trusted basic skin care products. 
Foto: Amer Mohamad

What is the best advice you have ever received about skin and body care? 

Not to forget about massage. Beauty products can help you a lot, but nothing beats a massage. Not only does this treatment improve skin health, but it benefits the muscles as well. Sometimes I have jobs in different parts of the world within in the space of a week, and the only thing that helps keep me alive after so many flights is a massage. Moreover, if you use high quality products, a massage helps them to penetrate deeper, which also means seeing faster results.

Do you have a favorite perfume? How do you pick one? 

I barely use perfumes. Perhaps one day I will fall in love with a fragrance, but that hasn't happened yet. 

Who has had the biggest influence on you when it comes to makeup?

As I said before, I don’t really like makeup, but when I have to wear it, I take my inspiration from Doutzen Kroes and Natalia Vodianova, both of whom have a very natural and soft style of makeup application. 

You are a professional model even though you are just 158 cm tall. How did you overcome the stereotype that only tall girls can become models? And what was the hardest part about it? 

Foto: Amer Mohamad
It’s all about communication and perseverance. At the start of my career, there were no conversations in fashion about showing diversity. Everyone had to fit the same standards, some of which were not healthy at all. If, however, you truly believe your mission to improve society in some way and can explain it to people in your industry, you will find a way. Mine was to talk to everyone in my hometown who had the ability to send models abroad and then try to convince at least one of them to send me. I promised them that if I didn’t earn enough under the contract to cover the agency's expenses, I would pay them back out of my own pocket. And I found some brave ones who took the chance. I think that was the most difficult part. I went to castings all over the world and tried as much as I could to talk about petite models. Sometimes I even texted my ideas to brands and photographers directly. Of course, the percentage of those who agreed wasn’t very high, but there were enough of them to start showing the world another view on beauty. It’s a story with a good ending – I’m sitting here and having a conversation with Vogue after all. 

What is your next career move? 

For now, I just want to make people talk openly about petite models. But I feel it’s also very important to start a new conversation about what body positivity is actually about. First, it’s about the attributes you can’t change. You can gain or lose weight, you can dye your hair, but you can’t become taller or shorter. When I began sharing these ideas in the media, I was worried about feedback from the industry. It’s always scary to be the pioneer. But the way is all the more interesting when you are the first one to do something new, and the result is usually worth it. I will always try to cooperate with big brands as much as I can, but I want to go the way of social projects and smart campaigns, to get the modelling industry more and more familiar with this topic. A new community is being created in the fashion world, and I’m very happy to see the big players becoming a part of it. Later, I would love to be able to provide job opportunities to other short models, for example by opening my own agency. But that’s another story.

Photographer: Amer Mohamad
Model: Arina Maksimova
Make-up and hair: Yuliya Isaeva
Stylist: Anastasia Arabchikova
Light: Anna Kaganovich
This article was written in collaboration with Petite model agency.