The multi-slasher says that she didn’t chase it, she “manifested it, yes. You just think about it. You watch stuff that would set you on fire, inspire you.”
The year 2018 was a pivotal moment for Heart Evangelista-Escudero she tells us during our interview one Tuesday morning.
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It was the year she lost her twins with husband, Governor Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero. She carried them for four months. “I thought that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom,” she recalls. At the time, she was ready to do just that.
After receiving the tragic news from her doctors, she had a change of perspective.
She thought, “Okay, you know what, maybe this happened because I’m really supposed to make my dreams come true. So I have more stories to tell my kids when the day comes. I wanted to make sure that I would be able to achieve as much as I can so I can be an example that you can make things happen if you work hard. And I felt that if that didn’t happen to me, then I wouldn’t have enough stories to tell.”
The stories didn’t come fast, but Evangelista was patient. “Nothing inspired me then,” she says. “I was being paid, which was good for me. But what else is there? I guess the evolution started by me not having anything.”
Manifest destiny
The term “manifesting” has been making its rounds in all spaces of the Internet, and the celebrity is one of the firm believers of this method.
“I didn’t chase it,” she says when we ask her if went after everything she has now. “I manifested it, yes. You just think about it. You watch stuff that would set you on fire, inspire you.”
But, for the record, Evangelista did make the first step in fulfilling her goal of going beyond what she has been doing for more than two decades.
In January 2022, after announcing that she had become part of the Dior family, she made her way to the Paris Fashion Week, all by lonesome.
“What’s important is you make the first step,” she says. “I didn’t know how to travel by myself. But I had to get out of the country by myself. So, I was by myself, and it just happened. I wasn’t pretentious. I didn’t pretend. Of course, I wanted them to like me, but I didn’t want to try so hard ’cause I wanted to see how the universe would react: okay, this is how I am. And so it just happened.”
“Happened” means she got to have croissants with Hamish Bowles, global editor-at-large of Vogue. It means Evangelista met the “very intimidating” Anna Wintour, Vogue’s editor-in-chief; and got to talk to Edward Enninful OBE, British Vogue’s editor-in-chief, who, Heart says, is “so, so nice, and warm.”
Now, the global star feels like she’s just starting this inexplicable journey she didn’t plan to take years ago.
“I’m in a rush,” she says, laughing. “I wanna do everything. I feel like I’m on fire. And I’m so lucky that I have a supportive husband. I really am all about living your life to the fullest, and not letting pressure take control of your life. I have anxiety, and I do get pressured, so I realized that the magic is just to enjoy. Be as real and as organic as possible in what you do. And people will like you for that.”
Evolving needs
With all that’s happening in her life and around it, it is to be expected that Evangelista’s mind refuses to go to sleep. “I have a very active mind, to a fault,” she says, smiling. “It gives me anxiety. I’m an overthinker.”
Despite this, she has made it a point to put herself first above everything else.
“Before I was very shy about taking care of myself” she remembers. “But now, self-care, self-care. Before, there was a negative connotation when it comes to taking care of yourself. Now, it’s all about embracing yourself, embracing your evolution. That’s my priority, and that includes my work, my family, my husband.”
Even her fashion and beauty must-haves have evolved, especially since she has been traveling so much.
“I want to live a full long life,” Evangelista says. “In spite of how busy you are, you really have to take care of your health. Everything can fade, but your health is wealth. You can do whatever in life and start from scratch as long as you have good health. I changed the way I ate.”
RIVERA
Don’t get her wrong, she eats donuts and all her favorite food, like dairy and bread (two reasons why she loves Paris, too, FYI), but only once a week. On most days, she eats whole foods, and tries to “eat clean.” She also drinks lots of water, and sometimes skips breakfast to fast.
Going by her YouTube channel and Instagram feed, the actress is attentive and precise when it comes to skincare and beauty routine, which she follows even when she’s out of the country.
A good set of lashes “always saves the day,” she says about the power of lashes. “It makes a big difference, especially if you don’t know how to put makeup on. I don’t put on mascara anymore.”
For her lashes, she relies on NÉW Lounge, which recently sealed a partnership deal with specialty retailer SSI Group, and had recently launched the Bonifacio High Street and Glorietta branches. Like Heart, NÉW Lounge has also evolved and grown into a celebrity-favorite eyelash, nails, and wellness center.
Like Heart, too, NÉW Lounge is always finding ways to innovate and adapt to changes. That makes their lashes the ideal companion for the fashionista, who brings the brands she supports at the forefront, not only in the Philippines, but also throughout the world.
One such example of this innovation is their Icon lashes, a new design that is bolder and bigger than ever—just like Heart herself. With that in mind, one wonders how this partnership could conquer more places in the near future.
More to discover
Evangelista says she’s going with the flow, and is in the habit of not expecting anything.
The actress was set to do something for Netlix, but according to her, “there’s so much going on in my life, so I’m not even sure if I can continue.”
She immediately adds, smiling, “But I have a better thing that I can’t say yet. There’s just so many things that are evolving and changing as we speak. Yesterday I got news, the other day, too.”
In short, there’s nothing really specific in the pipeline for her, at least nothing she can reveal.
“I just really enjoy doing them all. Of course you like to dream and manifest, but I don’t like believing yet, so at this point, I’m just really enjoying the stories that are being told, the possibilities that are being presented,” Evangelista says.
She continues: “And it feels good, even if it doesn’t push through or it does push through. Doing what I do for 25 years, I didn’t really think that I would ever be given a chance to do what I love. And to discover this world.”
Photography BJ PASCUAL assisted by RUEL ESTRELLIS, RICHARD DETITA, RUEL LOPEZ, KIAN MANLUNAS, and CAMI ALVIZ
Creative Direction MARC YELLOW
Sittings Editor DONG RONQUILLO
Videography KIERAN PUNAY
Makeup JUSTIN SORIANO
Hairstylist JECK AGUILAR
Lashes NEW LOUNGE PH
Stylist KAT CRUZ assisted by JOHN KARUNUNGAN
Set Design I AM ABI Studio
Shoot Coordination MAE TALAID and MJ ALMERO
Shot on Location LUCAS STUDIO
To read more about the changes in Heart Evangelista-Escudero’s life, check out the June 2022 issue of Lifestyle Asia.
