Gal Gadot on makeup, feminism and a cultural shift in Hollywood

Does makeup have a place in feminism? If you ask “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot, the answer is, “definitely.”

“Anything that makes you feel more confident more beautiful and better about yourself has to do with [feminism],” she said during an interview about her latest gig as a Revlon Global Ambassador. “There’s a big misinterpretation about the way that people view the term of feminism. I have friends — girlfriends — who have careers and they’re mothers and they do it all, and they are afraid to say that they’re a feminist.”

“Feminism is not about hating men or burning bras or fighting anyone,” Gadot continued. “It’s about, first of all, equality, and it’s about freedom of choice and I think that in this world we should all be feminists and whoever is not is a sexist. And I am that [a feminist], and I love women, and I think especially now with everything that’s been going on in Hollywood, we’re in a beautiful momentum and in a very interesting era for women. It truly feels like there’s this cultural change — shift — and I think that it’s necessary.”

Gadot, a model, actress and mother of two who has competed in beauty pageants and served in the Israeli military, shot to superstardom in 2017 with the release of “Wonder Woman.” Revlon is her first big beauty contract.

“I’ve been familiar with them since I can remember myself wearing makeup,” Gadot said. “They love women, they celebrate women and they’re very accessible.”

While now Gadot says she wears makeup nearly every day —”unless I’m on vacation” — it wasn’t a habit she picked up particularly young. “The first time I really started to understand the value and really understand makeup was when I started modeling,” she said.

Such is not the case for her six-year old daughter, Alma, though.

“She loves to play with it — she loves to put makeup on me, she loves to put makeup on herself and just play with it and feel like she’s an adult while trying to walk in my high heels,” Gadot said. “I must confess that when I was a young girl I never did that. I was a tomboy.”

These days, Gadot keeps her makeup routine relatively simple. On an average day, she’s wearing light foundation, bronzer, blush and mascara, she said.

“I’m about enhancing the right things,” Gadot said. “I don’t like to wear too much makeup, I don’t like when it shows too much. But I’m a working mother, so I do like to cover darkness around my eyes, etc., etc., and when I go out, to wear bold lips and mascara.” For Sunday’s Golden Globes, she went the bold lip route — pairing it with all-black Tom Ford. From the Revlon lineup, she called out Super Lustrous Lipstick (in red), Mega MultiplierMascara and ColorStay Foundation as go-to’s.

For Revlon, Gadot, who is Israeli, lends a more global perspective to the company’s latest marketing initiative, called Live Boldly.

“That’s where Gal really comes in, ” said Anne Talley, global brand president of Revlon. “She’s a worldwide symbol of feminine strength and beauty, but she’s also a modern, multifaceted woman … She’s a strong advocate for women, recognized for using her voice and platform to encourage the entertainment industry to strive for fairness. We really see her embracing feminine power and what a woman can accomplish with their own special strength.”

Revlon’s past two marketing campaigns — Choose Love and Love Is On — have centered around love. Live Boldly, which will roll out in multiple parts with additional ambassadors throughout January, is an intentional departure from that message.

“We are definitely shifting the way we communicate as part of our Live Boldly campaign and having a broader representation of women because we are a brand that represents women all around the world,” Talley said.