Adria Arjona on starring in Giorgio Armani's unretouched fragrance campaign and her bargain beauty hacks

Welcome to Beauty Bytes, a place where I chat to celebrities about all things beauty, from their favourite products to the best advice they’ve ever been given. Read on for the beauty low-down from Adria Arjona…

If you've not heard of Adria Arjona, chances are you're going to see a whole lot more of the 25-year-old American actress from now on.

The Mexico City-born daughter of a Puerto Rican beauty queen and a Guatemalan musician spent most of her bohemian childhood travelling the world, before landing in New York City to pursue an acting career.

Now she's gearing up for international success. She's not only signed up to star across from Jared Leto in the Spider-Man spin-off Morbius. But she's also the face of Giorgio Armani's new sustainable perfume My Way.

Here Arjona tells Marie Claire’s Fiona Embleton how the Armani campaign pushed her out of her comfort zone...

Fiona: Starring in an unretouched beauty campaign is groundbreaking, but also daunting. What did it feel like to show your wrinkles in a fragrance ad? 

Adria: The My Way campaign was probably the most vulnerable thing I’ve ever performed in. Usually you hide behind a character or the lines that a writer has created for you. This time I decided to just be myself. I love the fact that the campaign wasn’t re-touched. I’m not a model, I'm an actress and I love to be relatable. You can see my freckles and my little smile wrinkle, and that's one of my favourite things of the whole campaign. It tells you, 'This woman smiles.' To embrace and feel confident with who you really are - that's a powerful message to send out.

Fiona: What do you love about the way My Way smells? Does it conjure up any personal memories?

Adria: Perfumes take you on a journey. What I love about My Way is that it's unlike anything else I've ever smelt before. It's fresh and feminine but not overpowering. I can smell the tuberose, jasmine, vanilla and orange blossom, which I love incidentally. I first smelt it when I was already on location shooting the campaign. That was a scary moment as I loved so many aspects of the perfume: the sustainability aspect and the fact that it’s about popping your own bubble and experiencing  different cultures. I'm thinking, ‘What if I don’t like it?’. I needn't have worried as it smells so joyful and welcoming. The campaign was an incentive to create amazing new memories around this scent. Every time I smell it now I'm transported back to learning how to dance flamenco in Spain or having a beautiful conversation with someone in Tokyo.

Giorgio Armani My Way Eau De Parfum, £76, Armanibeauty.co.uk

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Fiona: What does beauty mean to you?

Adria: Beauty for me is about acceptance. Someone shines so bright when they feel comfortable in their own skin. When they look you in the eye and feel unafraid - that’s beauty. My mom was a beauty queen so we always had a lot of products in my house growing up. But she taught me from a really young age not to hide behind make-up - just to use it to enhance the favourite parts of your face. The more natural you look the better.

Fiona: How do you take care of your skin? 

Adria: My skincare regime is pretty simple. I don't cleanse in the morning. I believe in having all those natural oils and just enhancing them with moisturiser and sunblock like Kiehl’s Super Multi-Corrective Cream SPF30 . The one thing I have to do, even if I’m just going out to work out, is brush up my eyebrows. For me it's like brushing my hair! At night, my regime is almost like meditation for me. I shower, then use a konjac sponge and cleansing oil to remove the day's impurities from my face. Instead of toner I'll spray rose water and then I alternate between the Giorgio Armani Crema Nera Extrema Supreme Cream, which feels delicious on dry skin, and using face oils. My favourites are the Shiffa Emerald Clarifying Face Oil and Vintner's Daughter Active Botanical Serum.

Adria Arjona: Favourite Face Oil

Vintner's Daughter Active Botanical Serum, £175, Cult Beauty

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Adria Arjona: Best Moisturiser

Giorgio Armani Crema Nera Extrema Supreme Cream, £340, Harrods

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Fiona: What’s in your make-up bag right now?

Adria: I love really glowy skin so I only use cream-based make-up. Even before I was with Giorgio Armani, the Luminous Silk Foundation was one of my favourite bases. The texture is so elastic that it's easy to smooth over the skin. Better still, it looks like you don’t have any make-up on. Sometimes I’ll use a darker shade to contour instead of bronzers. For me, the best highlighter has no glitter in it so I'll either finish by dabbing face oil or the Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer on to the tops of my cheekbones to brighten my face.

Adria Arjona: Favourite Foundation

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation, £43, Lookfantastic

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Adria Arjona: Best Highlighter

Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer, £40, lookfantastic

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Fiona: How do you look after your hair?

Adria: My hair is really curly so hydration is key. Coconut and avocado oils are great for keeping things natural and I'll just wear my hair in a bun while they get to work. Then when you rinse your hair at night your hair feels so healthy and shiny.

Fiona: There’s a strong sustainability message around the fragrance. Why is this so important to you?

Adria: I'd like to think that the longing to be around nature during the Covid-19 lockdowns means we will learn to take better care of it. Even before all this happened, Giorgio Armani was setting an example of what we should be doing. I love the fact that the My Way bottle is re-fillable and all the different parts are recyclable. Also the vanilla used in My Way is produced as part of an ethical sourcing programme in Madagascar, which aims to give back to the community and provide reliable work for socially-vulnerable people. The planet is our home and I think that we all have a responsibility to plant the seeds for a sustainable future.