For her new VH1 series (Mondays at 10 P.M. EDT), Jessica Simpson explores how different cultures perceive beauty. Here, Simpson reveals a few highlights of her world beauty tour.
BANGKOK, THAILAND
While in Thailand, Simpson attends a ceremony of a little girl getting her first neck ring, a beauty custom that stretches and elongates the neck over time.
ALLURE: “Neck rings look bizarre to an outsider. Do we have a beauty regimen in America that will someday seem inexplicable?”
Jessica Simpson: “Probably stilettos. That would be a shame!”
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
Butt implants are popular in Brazil, but Simpson wasn’t convinced.
ALLURE: “Most American women think their butts are too big. What did you make of the concept of butt implants?”
Jessica Simpson: “I could definitely use one, but I’m not about to go through a procedure like that.”
PARIS, FRANCE
“Parisian [culture] is the closest to American culture, I found—except with plastic surgery. They don’t do it. And if they do it, it’s minute. They embrace their flaws. That’s what makes them who they are, and they can walk a catwalk owning the body they’ve been given, owning the face they’ve been given.”
TOKYO, JAPAN
“It takes five years to become a geisha. We had five hours. CaCee was accepted. I was denied.”
MARRAKECH, MOROCCO
Simpson learns the art of tea tray dancing in Marrakech.
MUMBAI, INDIA
[Operation Smile] had just operated on a little girl in India, so you’ll see that. Operation Smile is a charity that is very close to my heart. To give somebody a smile is probably one of the best gifts you can give, whether it’s through laughter or surgically.”
BAHIMA VILLAGE, UGANDA
Women in Uganda strive to fatten up for their husbands.
ALLURE: “If we lived in a culture where we needed to go for fattening beauty treatments, what would be your calorie-stuffing foods of choice?”
Jessica Simpson: “Fried chicken and Mexican food.”
ALLURE: “Were you self-conscious about your thinner Western body in Uganda?”
Jessica Simpson: “I wasn’t uncomfortable at all.”
Source: Allure.com
