GLAMOUR: Why is speaking to immigrants so important for you?
“Beauty is in the different things we all have. It’s not one kind of person, shape, one kind of anything.”
CC: It’s important for me to be outspoken about my background as a Latina. All the traditions we have—my family, my temper, falling in love, how I eat, how I dance—it’s such a huge part of who I am. It doesn’t matter where you come from, nobody can tell you where you’re going. I didn’t even think that [music] was a plausible career for me, because I was living in Miami with immigrant parents who just wanted me to focus on school. Everybody I went to auditions with was born in L.A. or New York [with means]. There was nobody I could look up to. I didn’t see myself represented in pop culture.
GLAMOUR: How did that impact your self-confidence as a kid? What was the beauty ideal around you?
CC: The good thing was I grew up around a lot of Latin people in Miami. It was a melting pot of cultures. I wasn’t surrounded by one type of person. But still, there was a period when I really wanted light eyes. It was only as I got older that I was like, “I like my brown eyes, I like my black hair, I like my skin. I don’t need to be blond and blue-eyed.” There are still things I’m insecure about, like my crooked teeth, but I think part of beauty is accepting imperfections. The more I meet people and see the world, the more I realize it’s those little quirks—a birthmark, a crooked tooth, a scar—that makes you you. As they say with art: Perfect is boring.
GLAMOUR: Once you came into the public eye—you were 15 when you joined Fifth Harmony—was there an expectation to look a certain way?
David Koma jacket, skirt.
CC: Yeah, sometimes, especially with social media. I don’t like when things just get so focused on being pretty for girls my age: “Oh, she’s so pretty, and this is so pretty, why can’t I be pretty like her?” You don’t get to improve yourself or your life when you’re just thinking about looks, looks, looks, looks. Social media is a huge part of that because you’re constantly seeing these unrealistic images of girls. I think it’s so important to be silly and fun and to be able to post a picture without makeup, because that’s normal. With me just starting my solo career, I can present myself the way that I want to.
GLAMOUR: How are you hoping to instill that kind of acceptance in everyone? What can we all do?
CC: Speak your truth. For me, that’s speaking about immigrant rights, about the Dreamers. I also love how Hayley Kiyoko is making videos with two girls in love—it’s not even super sexualized, but that’s just her truth, and a lot of my fans’ truths. Sharing makes everyone feel less alone.
GLAMOUR: The rituals and social bonding around beauty are a big part of Latina heritage. What did you learn from your mom?
CC: For my mom and all the [women] in our family, it’s about doing whatever you need to do to feel good about yourself. For instance, we have our beauty secrets: You crack open an egg, take out the yolk, put the white on your face, and let it dry up to close up your pores. I also do this honey mask—it gets really hot and moisturizes your skin. And we’re into putting oil all over your body and doing hair masks.
