Salma Hayek, who’s fitter and sexier than ever at 44, insists she’s never had plastic surgery, doesn’t believe in Botox and claims she was teased for being “too short” and “too brown” while growing up in Mexico.
The busty 5’2″ actress, who’s of Lebanese (dad) and Spanish (mom) descent, says skin color was an issue even south of the border. “You would think in Mexico that would be something normal, but I did get teased,” Hayek recounts in the Sept. issue of Allure. “I got teased because I was too short, or I was too brown,” Hayek says.
In Hollywood she found herself pandering to another stereotype. “When I first started, I found that I had to play the part of something they could swallow in Hollywood, which was the sexy Latin girl. “I was not dressing like that in Mexico,” she said. Hayek, who denies longtime rumors that she had breast implants and a nose job, attributes her age-defying beauty to careful skincare, a healthy diet and regular workouts.
“My career has given me a lot of experience to be under pressure of having to be beautiful, and having to look for tricks to make it work,” says Salma, who recently launched her own skincare line called Nuance.
“I’ve never had anything done on my face,” Hayek insists. “I’ve never had dermabrasion or peels or injections of any kind, nothing,” she said. Salma admits she gained “a lot of weight” while pregnant with daughter Valentina in 2008 and even developed gestational diabetes as a result.
But through strict dieting and regular exercise, Hayek eventually regained her old form, plus a little more up top. “My boobs, they’re not bad, by the way. I’m not complaining about them,” she said. Hayek, who’s happily married to Valentina’s dad, French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, 49, isn’t afraid of aging.
“As a woman, you should be more at ease with your sexuality when you are in your 40s,” she says. “You are more self-assured about that part, and that’s the way it should be. “If you are a girl who cannot walk in heels, it doesn’t matter how beautiful you are. If you look like a chicken that’s been spiked in the feet, it’s not going to be sexy.”Salma, who works hard to stay fit and youthful, says it’s important to fight aging, but not to go overboard.
“I believe that every woman is entitled to fight to preserve her youth,” she says. “[The plastic-looking Botoxed look] is not necessarily beautiful. It’s not wrinkled-looking, but it’s not beautiful.”