Perth-born beauty Jess Gomes visited Australia from her home in California recently to launch Jets Swimwear’s new range.
We took the opportunity to sit down with the model turned skincare founder and talk exercise, beauty, and the one thing she cuts before a big shoot.
What does your normal week look like exercise wise?
I’ve been travelling a lot so packing is my cardio! I try and do some yoga and stretching when I get home and I work with a trainer, so we usually just do a lot of weights and boxing when I can. Whenever I come to Australia, I always get off the plane and do a soft sand run on the beach. I really enjoy yoga and meditation these days but I also really enjoy sweating it out in the gym.
I feel like every model credits boxing!
(Laughs) well, it looks good in videos – it’s pretty sexy, right?! Boxing is good for your mind too because you’re learning a skill, it’s not as if you’re just doing boring gym workout. It actually makes you really ripped because you’re constantly holding up your gloves.
What do you find is the workout that gives you results the fastest?
I love Tracy Anderson, I do the dance/cardio classes there. I always think I look the best when I’m doing a combination of different things. One day I’ll be doing dance cardio and the next day I’ll be doing boxing. My body reacts to when I change it around, so I try not to let it get too comfortable, plus I get really bored with the same old thing.
If you are preparing for a bikini shoot, is there anything you’d cut out or extra exercises you’d incorporate?
I wouldn’t drink. I don’t drink before a shoot because that’s what bloats me and I’ll just do everything that I can do to make me feel my best. Getting good sleep, drinking lots of water, eating as healthy as I can, getting massages. As I get older, my body doesn’t react to me cutting out too much. I feel better when I’m eating really healthily, and I feel full and have energy.
I read that you don’t drink at all?
Sometimes I do. Jennifer Lopez once said that she didn’t drink, and I was like ‘that’s why she looks so good!’ But you know what, I don’t really even like the taste of it. I hardly ever go out these days and just find that alcohol makes me feel ill. I also have Asian blood in me so I go red when I drink! Cutting down has totally changed my skin, it’s no longer dehydrated. But obviously, on special occasions sure, ill have a glass of champagne or a beautiful glass of wine.
What does your usual day on a plate look like?
Breakfast: Eggs, maybe some avocado and some whole-wheat toast with some butter and vegemite.
Lunch: Brown rice sushi with tuna, miso soup and a salad
Dinner: I sometimes make a brown rice pasta with peas. If I’m at home peas and tuna and broccoli and olive oil and spinach – something really simple like that.
I love cooking if I’m at home. I’ll have like a steak with some vegetables, the meat and three veg thing always works.
What kind of swimwear do you think you’ll wear this summer?
I will definitely be wearing a one piece – the black Jets one piece with the long sleeves (above), because I just want to cover up now from the sun. I used to love tanning – I’d use oil and be out there all day – but now being a skincare owner and learning about skin, I just really want to cover up.
I guess that it would be really flattering as well?
It is really flattering! I don’t want to be in a little string bikini, where I am going to be conscious of everything falling out. What I love about Jets is they really create shapes that hold you in and give you the support that you need. It’s just that feeling of feeling secure that makes you feel empowered and confident and sexy – it’s still sexy wearing a one piece.
What does your everyday beauty routine look like?
I cleanse, I tone with a beauty water, then I’ll do a serum, then a tinted moisture or just a regular moisturiser, and then I’ll put sunscreen on and then a spritz. So it’s like: hydration, hydration and then protection. My main philosophy is clean – clean/cleanse your skin, hydrate it and then protect it.
I clean my skin three times a day. It’s like washing your hands your face is the same. You need to wash your face at night before you go to bed, and you need to clean your face in the morning.
What is your favourite facemask to use and why?
My Equal Beauty Moisture Veil Mask because it’s hydra-lifting, hydra-firming and it’s fragrance-free. It’s really gentle and it’s like a drink for your skin. When you put it on you hook it behind your ears, so it’s really firm on your face and won’t fall off. It gives the exact amount of liquid that you want and it’s not too heavy.
So you would use that if your skin was really dry?
And really puffy. It really hydrates and gives you this feeling of a natural facelift.
What about if you have a breakout?
Even now, I’ve got a little thing here (points to chin) from travelling and I’ll just leave it or put a little bit of salt water or I’ll just cleanse it and leave it. The reason I started a travel skincare brand was because I found that my skin was always its worst when travelling because it’s stressed from the different time zones and not getting enough sleep.