Priyanka Chopra Jonas on the emotional and cultural power of beauty

If anyone can speak on the power of beauty, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Max Factor Global Brand Ambassador, former Miss World, and international beauty symbol, is pretty well positioned. Sitting in front of us on a Zoom call from LA, her expertise in that department is undeniable, even before our first words are exchanged. But when we got down to chat with the actress about all things beauty, we weren't talking about the status or 'pretty privilege' that comes with being beautiful. We were talking about the power of beauty practices, products, and routines in our lives.

“We live in such busy worlds, constantly giving, but when we focus on beauty or self-care, you're bringing the focus back to you,” says Priyanka. “That little time that we give ourselves can have such a profound effect on our confidence, our sense of self. It can make us feel like we’re important and that it's okay to take care of ourselves.” But there’s no rulebook to how we do that; “Whatever your version of that is, whether it's a face mask at night or shimmery eyes and gorgeous makeup; putting the lens on yourself has a profound effect on our self-esteem.”

 

Feeling like you look good is a part of it, but it’s also about how the actions of self-care improve our mental well-being. Because even as a global beauty icon, Priyanka pins being happy as the secret to when she feels her most beautiful: “Whether I'm wearing makeup, not wearing makeup; when I’m happy I look at my face and I’m just like ‘She's glowing, it's giving. It's giving life.’ Even if I'm dressed to the nines and have been made up by the most amazing makeup artists in the world, if I'm feeling like shit, it doesn't translate.”

Beauty is such a powerful mood shaper for Chopra it’s become a tool in her work too. Naturally, hair and makeup are a huge part of getting into character, but Priyanka goes beyond the visual when it comes to getting into a character’s head space. “Olfactory memories are so powerful. If you smell a certain food, you're transported to wherever you ate it, if you smell someone's scent you're reminded of this person,” says Priyanka, recalling; “My mother used to wear Dior Poison and every time I smell it I'm taken back to when I was four years old, rubbing my nose into my mom's closet while she was at work, because it smelled of her.”

So she decided to put that emotional connection to fragrance to use; "I try to find notes that I think would identify with the characteristics of the person I'm playing. For spy Nadia in Citadel last year I used Bulgari's rich, creamy Allegra Baciami scent, and I used Valentino's soft, vanilla fragrance, Born in Roma for my character Sati in The Matrix Resurrections.” But it has to be a fragrance that's new to her for the magic to work, explaining; “It's a very interesting way to bring me immediately back to them."

And what fragrance would someone wear to play Priyanka Chopra Jonas? According to the lady herself, it would be spicy for sure, fresh, with a little sandalwood and an earthy flavour. By this point, we could almost smell her through the screen.

Now a mother herself, sharing two-year-old daughter Malti Marie with husband Nick Jonas, Priyanka has a bounty of generational beauty traditions to pass on through her daughter. "Beauty plays a huge part in Indian female legacy. It's called shringar, which means beautification and is a very important part of the culture,” Priyanka explains. “I’ve imbibed a lot from the women in my life and their beauty practices. I remember my grandmother wearing kohl in her eyes, and she always had a low bun with U hairpins she’d keep on her dressing table. She would sit there doing her little 15 minutes of lotions and potions.”

They’re memories so many of us can relate to, that stay with us. As do the habits and practices we inherit and take on as our own. “My maternal grandmother from the south of India, swore by coconut oil,” says Priyanka; “Coconut oil on her face, her body. She used it for exfoliation with towels, she used it for hydration, and for cleansing. Oiling my scalp is a very traditional Indian thing, my grandmother swore by it and I try to do it once a week.”

These shared practices don’t just bond us through time and memory, they bond and foster our connections as we do them together too. "My mom used a lot of natural therapy, masks made at home with turmeric and yogurt and flour, and exfoliation with chickpeas. We used to do beauty together on Sundays, she would make some mask and we would put it on our faces and our bodies together. That's something I still do."

But beyond what Chopra herself learnt from the traditional beauty practices of her culture, and having grown up between India and the US, we wanted to know what she thought Western beauty could learn; "I think people are discovering natural products a lot more.” Telling us how she grew up putting aloe vera straight from the plant onto her face; “My mom used to grow it and she'd be slicing it in the morning and we'd put this aloe vera concoction on my face before I went to work, then cleanse it off in the makeup chair..."

"...Now we have products that do that for us, leaning into Indian beauty which is so ancient, and ingredients like saffron and turmeric that I grew up with. So it's cool to be able to see that that happening now, cultures and people learning from each other."

It doesn’t take much reflection or digging to see the true depth of beauty, an area that's long been trivialised as frivolous or superficial. That's not to say it isn't also totally ok for beauty to be frivolous or superficial. Some days you want soul-healing and other days you just want to look hot. So best believe we asked Priyanka about those secrets too. We got you...

Priyanka’s 4-minute makeup essentials

1) "I have drier skin and I'm on planes all the time, which takes a toll on my skin. So if I'm in a rush I use the MaxFactor Miracle Pure Foundation in shade caramel, because it has hyaluronic acid and is super hydrating, you're doing two birds one stone."

2) "I like to take a lipstick and use it as a stain and then whatever's left on my finger I use on my cheeks and then a little bit on my eyes, so it all becomes cohesive. It's funny, growing up my aunts used to do that and I thought they were being cheap. Then a makeup artist did it to me and I was like, “Wait a minute, my auntie used to do this and we made fun of her.” He said it's the best way of bringing it all together and I was so mortified. So it's a hack that I've taken from my auntie and I still use… once it was corroborated by a makeup artist."

3) "Then I take the MaxFactor 2000 Calorie Mascara, and do a quick curl of mascara on my eyes."

4) "Finally, MaxFactor's Brow Sculpt in tinted or clear. On a day where I don't need to fill them in too much I just do the clear, to set."