I'm a trash can. I eat whatever makes me happy.
— Paulina Porizkova
Modeling sucks.
From Kevyn Aucoin, I learned about the power of eyebrows. He was an eyebrow freak, and rightly so because there's nothing in your face that changes you more. You can quite visibly lift your eye with a higher-placed eyebrow, or if you thicken or thin it.
I remember when I first started modeling, and I would read interviews with people. Then I would see them, and they would always say something entirely different to a crowd of people than they would say privately. I always found that really offensive.
I'm not a quitter.
Reading is, hands-down, my favorite activity.
I think every model has times when they get obnoxious and crazy. You all of a sudden realize you are young and beautiful and you have money, and you just kind of go nutty for awhile.
I used to think the word 'feminist' reeked of insecurity. A woman who needed to state that she was equal to a man might as well be shouting that she was smart or brave. If you were, you wouldn't need to say it.
Nothing ages as poorly as a beautiful woman's ego.
Now, I don't actually know the exact cut-off age where beautiful ceases and 'must have-once-been-beautiful' begins. It's true it's not forty-five. I can still get attention when I try really hard, even if it's greatly reduced.
The real bummer of fame is that at some point you're bound to get demoted.
I have now spent over a year trying to figure where in the workplace I belong.
I discovered when I was young that I was not like everyone else, and that was great, because it's the people who are different who bring about change and new things.
If you have really pretty skin, then you can pretty much stick on mascara and a lip cream and look great.
I'm definitely a narcissist, and TV is fabulous for narcissists.
I think I had my first anxiety attack at the age of 10. Then it sort of varied between being so bad that I barely dared to go out to periods where it almost vanished. It's sort of like an ebb and flow thing.
At 52 and unaltered, people tell me I look good for my age. This is not the same as being told you're beautiful.
I always hear, 'Oh, she's really beautiful.' I'd die to hear, 'Oh, she's really smart.' I'm not as dumb as I look.
I've always hated modeling. It's superficial and fake, and I hate to have to care about what I look like. I get a pimple and freak. The whole business is all about selling beautiful girls' faces and bodies, so how can there be anything intelligent or nice about that except for the girl who makes money?
Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, and Linda Evangelista - those models got bunched together. I was always asked to be bunched in there, but I didn't want to be part of the herd. The only one I really had a problem with, though, was Naomi.
I was fired by 'America's Next Top Model' on my birthday.
My first recognition of age setting in was exactly on my 36th birthday. I have no idea why, on this day of all days, I looked in the mirror and realized my face no longer looked young.
Fame is an interesting phenomenon.
When I model I pretty much go blank. You can't think too much or it doesn't work.
I'm doing modeling to stay alive. I don't enjoy my work. I don't find it creative. You don't need brains, and there are no heavy qualifications. All it takes is not to be shy and to dare to make a fool of yourself. But I shouldn't complain, because I am privileged enough to be overpaid.
I wash my hair once a week. If it gets stinky in between, I just dry-shampoo it.
After I finished working for Estee Lauder, I stopped being a professional model. I decided to never again advertise something that I don't actually use. I only sign up for things that I truly believe in.
I'm against all of us looking homogenous, where there's only one kind of a template of a person.
Words are my life.
People want you to be beautiful and shut up. When I paint or play music, they'd rather not know about that.
My name is Paulina Porizkova, and I am a feminist.
When you have used your beauty to get around, it's like having extra cash in your back pocket. I was so used to walking down the street and having the young guys passing by at least give me a flicker of a look. But once you're over 40, you become invisible. You're a brick in the building, and it's sad.
Beauty, unlike the rest of the gifts handed out at birth, does not require dedication, patience and hard work to pay off. But it's also the only gift that does not keep on giving.
I will continue to be intelligent, I vowed, no matter how beautiful I become.
I have worked every day since the age of fifteen, supporting not only myself, but also helping a sizable family when needed.
My boyfriend thinks I lost my true calling to be a librarian.
