Exclusive: Camila Cabello Launches Makeup Collection with L’Oreal Paris

2018 has been a milestone year for Camila Cabello. The 21-year-old pop star, who got her start in the pop group Fifth Harmony, had her first solo album Camila debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Her hit singles “Havana” and “Never Be the Same” have dominated radio airwaves. Now, she’s continuing her success with a totally new venture: beauty. Today, July 9, Cabello debuts Havana, her very own makeup collection created in collaboration with L’Oréal Paris.

Cabello, who joined L’Oréal as a face in 2017, is the brand’s first global spokeswoman to collaborate on products. Her collection has 14 pieces all retailing for $15 and under, including eye shadows, brow products, lip gloss, and L’Oréal’s first liquid bronzer. The line will be available in 18 other countries (including Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, and the U.K.).

“I am so excited! The process of getting to build a line from the ground up and getting to pick out the shades, and the fragrance of the lip glosses, and the packaging design has been an incredible experience,” the singer told ELLE.com, “I just knew I wanted to make a makeup line that was natural. If I’m not on stage or doing an award show performance, I really don’t like wearing a lot of makeup. I feel like this line is really an expression of what I would wear. It’s glowy and simple.”

Ahead, Cabello talks exclusively with ELLE.com about the launch, how her Cuban roots inspire her beauty routine, and her experiences with insecurity and confidence.

Your hometown, Havana, Cuba, obviously inspired the collection. What do you love about the city?

I feel like so much of me comes from my culture. I live in Miami now, and Miami has so much Cuban influence. It’s everything from the way the people are, the culture, the food, the tradition, how lively and how warm people are, the music playing in the streets, the heat, people walking around in flip flops and sweaty and just feeling so lively and real. That’s the beauty of it.

Which product from the collection is your favorite?

I love the liner. To me, liner is really important. It’s this very beautiful, black liquid liner. And it stays on for a long time—I hate when eyeliner just sort of droops off. The way that the pen is shaped, it’s a very thin, precise line. I’d also say the liquid bronzer. You can mix it with foundation, you can use it to contour, and it just gives you that summer glow.

What was the collaboration process like?

I feel like I’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone a lot this year and being able to work with L’Oréal to create my personal collection is such an incredible opportunity. I think the best part of it was really getting to be involved in it picking out the names and the shades and the colors and the packaging design. I just felt like it was so much fun to make products that I would wear. The samples that I had, I use them on myself now. It was important to me that they would work well on different kinds of skin tones because that’s really important to me, and I feel like all of my fans are going to be able to use it and love it.

As a young woman always in the public eye, did you ever feel pressure to look a certain way?

I did when I was a little bit younger because I started when I was 15. There were times where I didn’t feel pretty. Being in the public eye just makes it a little bit harder because you have to put on this confident, smiling face. I think every girl experiences that feeling of, ‘I don’t feel pretty enough. I don’t like this about my face. I wish I could change this about myself.’ I think being bombarded with perfect images of people on social media gives you this kind of unrealistic, impossible bar to live up to.

What is one beauty insecurity that you’ve faced?

I could name a lot of really dumb ones. I don’t like the right side of my face, I feel like my face looks different on the right side. Also my teeth—I have some really crooked teeth on the bottom. There’s one [tooth] that just juts out when I smile which is not fun. But, whatever, it adds character!

Who were some Latina beauty icons you looked up to when you were growing up?

My biggest Latina beauty icon is definitely my Mom. And my grandma, and after that my sister, and after that, Penelope Cruz. My mom is the perfect example of somebody that doesn’t really like wearing a lot of makeup. She puts on mascara, she puts on lip gloss, and how she looks on the outside doesn’t really determine who she is as a person. Who she is inside is what makes her radiate beauty and strength and confidence.

Are there any Cuban beauty tips or traditions that have been passed on to you?

I don’t know if this is Cuban, but my Mom and I have this thing that we do. It sounds weird, but you crack open an egg and take out the yolk. Then, you put the egg white on your face and let it dry to close up your pores, then you wash it off. Whenever I feel like my pores are getting big or I have blackheads, or when I get laugh lines or wrinkles from being dehydrated, it makes your skin tight. And, it’s totally natural.

What would you say is the most luxurious part of your beauty routine?

The most luxurious part is definitely getting my makeup done by my glam team. And that’s really fun. I can do my liner, I can put on mascara, I can put on bronzer and foundation. But, when it comes to doing really intricate designs with eyeshadow and a smokey eye and all of that, it’s fun to let other people do it because I would look like a clown if I tried to do that on myself.

What is the most low maintenance part of your beauty routine?

Definitely when I wake up and I just….do nothing. I just let my skin be. When I’m working, I have makeup on my face all the time. So, when I have my days off, unless I’m doing something special, I won’t put anything on. Because I like to have my skin breathe and I like feeling like a kid. I like not feeling like a public person.

Your bangs are always flawless—how do you maintain them?

When I get my hair done, I never ever have people curl, or blow dry, or touch my bangs. What I do is I wet them and put them behind my ears. That gives them that kind of Farrah Fawcett-shape. Then, when they dry they dry in that kind of curtain-y shape.

How does being creative with makeup make you feel?

Feeling beautiful and feeling confident and feeling cute as a girl is important. That has nothing to do with whether you wear a lot of makeup, whether you wear a little, red lipstick, no lipstick, smokey eye, just mascara, no makeup at all, it’s all about whatever makes you feel good. I think it’s fun to play. It’s fun to play with makeup and to test new products. I think the exciting thing is being able to be creative and give people the same products and having them do something completely different on their face. It’s a way of expression.