Eva Mendes Talks About Eyebrows and Livin' Green

Actress. Beauty trend-setter. Cool gal. Eva Mendes is undeniably fun and down-to-earth. So, we caught up with the stunner while she was in NYC to find out how to score her signature look and recreate those famous brows. Her surprising answers, below!
Eva Mendes
Real Beauty: So, first and foremost, we have to ask about your eyebrows. Our readers are dying to know how to get the look. Any secrets?
Eva Mendes: (Laughing.) It's funny you say that. I actually just shaved them off for a dramatic film I'm shooting with Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling. It's called The Place Beyond the Pines.

Read More: The ultimate eyebrow makeover challenge!

RB: Whoa! Why did you need to shave them?
EM: Well, my character ages throughout the film and the director suggested that I have very small eyebrows to make this look realistic.

RB: Has it been traumatic to wait for them to grow in?
EM: Oh, it doesn't bother me that much. The makeup artists I work with fill them in the pencils and powders. My father has very strong brows, and I inherited them. Normally, all I need to do is shape them in between appointments to make sure I don't get any Frida Kahlo action going on. So, now it's just a waiting game.

RB: It's great that you're so laid back about it. Which leads us to our next question, girls want be your friend and guys love you. How do you manage to be both 'girl hot' and 'guy hot,' when most celebs are one or the other?

EM: That's so nice! Honestly, though, I'm not sure how the way I look plays into that. I don't have any guy friends. They're all girls. And I've had the same close friends since I was 12, plus the others that have come along the way. Maybe the fact that I'm a girl's girl is what other women pick up on.

Read more: Find out what beauty looks men dig.

RB: What are some of your beauty staples?
EM: When it comes to makeup, I don't wear that much product, but I love what I do wear. Dr. Perricone's No Foundation Foundation is a wonderful tinted moisturizer that has just enough coverage. I wear that religiously. When I wear a little makeup, I like to play up my eyes. Laura Mercier has great eye shadows. And I love wearing paler lips. I'm obsessed with Tom Ford's lipsticks in palish pink or peach. I rarely wear a darker lip.

RB: And what about your mane? Any hair care tricks?
EM: I wash my hair with Pantene's Nature Fusion Shampoo. But my big thing is about using amazing conditioners. So, when I have a little bit of time, I use triple the amount of conditioner that I normally would and don't rinse it out. Instead, I pin up my hair and put on a shower cap, and sleep that way. In the morning, I rinse out the product. It's like I had a hair treatment, but I can do it on my own.

RB: Nature's Fusion has eco-friendly sugarcane packaging. Do you try to live a greener lifestyle in general?
EM: Yes. It feels great to not be as much a part of the problem. Most big corporations don't make it easy for us to live that way, though, so when a company substitutes oil for a renewable resource in the manufacturing process, it shows that they're trying. For me, everything's recyclable. An old towel can be shredded up and used to clean furniture. You can pass things along to friends and family. I come from a household where you just recycle as much as you can.

Read more: These 15 beauty goodies support Fair Trade.

RB: Speaking of family, as the holidays approach, can you, as a someone who travels a lot for work, provide any beauty or diet secrets for women who will be flying and celebrating a lot in the months to come?
EM: Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. It's key when you're traveling or having a couple of cocktails. Stay hydrated with water. Also, a trick that I use once we get into the holiday season is to eat something healthy before I go to a party. What happens is that you're not starving by the time get there, and you make better choices. In general, I don't deprive myself of any food, but I do things like this to make it easier to eat in moderation.

For more from Real Beauty:
• 33 Surprising Things That Ruin Your Skin
• 9 Dirty-Hair Styling Tricks
• 33 Best Makeup Products of All Time
• The 7 Biggest Beauty Sins
• Easy Hairstyles in 15 Minutes or Less
Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.