It’s all down to Marc Jacobs….

Like any girl, Leighton Meester sure loves her shoes, but its not their beauty that Leighton loves.

A pair of Marc Jacobs shoes won her the role of Blair Waldorf on the popular show, Gossip Girl.

Talking to Grazia, the 24-year-old actress spoke about how she risked not paying her rent so that she could buy the designer footwear.

“I’d moved back to New York, I was living in a third floor walk-up in the West Village and I had no clothes because my luggage had been lost on the flight from LA.

“I saw this pair of red leopard-print Marc Jacobs shoes, turned to my mum and said, ‘If I buy them I can’t pay rent.’ Mum just said, ‘rent can wait’.

“As I bought them I imagined that these would be the shoes that would win me the part. They did.”

Source: Entertainment Wise

Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester has just been named the new Global Ambassador for high street hair brand Herbal Essences. With her immaculate style and fashion sense it’s no wonder the trendy actress has been snapped up by Herbal Essences.

Read on to discover how Leighton looks after her hair, which beauty treatments she loves and who inspired her to go into acting.

Why did you choose to partner with Herbal Essences?
Leighton Meester: Well, the Herbal Essences range is really incredible, so I’m very excited about partnering with the brand and my favourite hairstylist Charles. He’s my hair guru, he’s also the stylist for Herbal Essences in North America and he recommended it as the perfect base for taking care of my hair and creating incredible looks. It’s really important to me that I work with a brand that I actually use and trust.

What’s your favourite Herbal Essences product?
LM: My favourite product would have to be the Dazzling Shine Rinse Out Intensive Mask or the Leave In Serum. They give me a very indulgent pampering feeling and I can’t live without them. I get a lot of hair damage and it’s very important to me to keep it soft, smooth and touchable. It smells really good too!

Your hair is under a lot of pressure with constant styling for your TV, film and red carpet appearances, how do you keep it so soft and luscious all the time?
LM: As part of my beauty routine I turn to Herbal Essences Intensives products. They really pamper my hair and keep it in amazing condition, and have become an important part of my routine.

What was the most significant event or moment in your life, which has lead to your stardom today?
LM: I can’t second guess anything that’s happened because every aspect of my life while I was growing up, whether good or bad, easy or hard, has lead to the present. I am lucky to have a wonderful, solid family that gave me a lot of love. I give a lot of credit to inspirational films I saw when I was young, like Imitation of Life, Interview with the Vampire, Goodfellas, American Beauty, Dangerous Liasons and East of Eden. Also, being instructed time and time again to follow my gut and believe in myself has been a great help.

Your success today is a shining example. Who or what drives and inspires you to be the success that you are?
LM: My mom, my grandpa and my brothers all inspire me. Actors I love are Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis, Kate Winslet, Diane Keaton, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn. The musicians I love are Dolly Parton, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, and Cyndi Lauper.

Which designer/s outfits make you feel amazing when you wear them?
LM: My favourite designers include Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Calvin Klein, YSL, Chloe, Stella McCartney, Phillip Lim, Balmain, Alaia, Chanel, Emilio de la Morena, Balenciaga, Proenza Schouler, Jason Wu…the list goes on. In my eyes there are no rules in fashion, especially on the red carpet. I just like having fun, expressing myself and experimenting.

Who is in your beauty little black book?
LM: I love the Mandarin Oriental Spas in Miami and New York City, as well as the Great Jones. The spa in le Maurice Hotel Paris is wonderful, too. I enjoy getting pedicures at regular corner places in NYC, but really love Elle for her amazing mani-pedis. For facials, Mario Badescu and Great Jones offer great, relaxing ones. LA has a fantastic Burke Williams day spa in Sherman Oaks that has a cool Jacuzzi. Of course, for anything hair related, I look to Charles (Baker Strahan) who deep conditions, colours and cuts my hair.

Source: H&Bag.com

I have uploaded new scans of Leighton from July issue of Cosmopolitan, Spain.

GALLERY LINK:

• (x008) Scans in 2010: Cosmopolitan [Spain] – July

I have uploaded new photoshoots of Leighton from Seventeen & Grazia UK magazine.

GALLERY LINKS:

• (x003) Photoshoots in 2010: Simon Emmett
• (x002) Photoshoots in 2008: Kenneth Willardt [Seventeen Style Star]
• (x005) Photoshoots in 2009: Kenneth Willardt [Seventeen]

I have uploaded new on the set filming photos of Leighton Meester (left), Selena Gomez (middle) and Katie Cassidy (right) on the set of Fox’s Monte Carlo in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday, June 5, 2010. The trio are currently in Budapest filming the drama which centers on a girl (Gomez) who is mistaken for a British heiress, resulting in herbest friend and her soon-to-be stepsister flying to Monte Carlo for a charity auction. The story kicks into adventure mode when a million-dollar necklace goes missing and the girls must scramble to find it.

GALLERY LINK:

• (x005) Monte Carlo: Filming in Budapest, Hungary – June 5, 2010

‘Gossip Girl’ actress Leighton Meester is inspired by her mother, who she says has always supported her decisions and urged her to follow her dreams.

Leighton Meester’s mother is the biggest inspiration in her life.

The ‘Gossip Girl’ star – who was born in prison and raised by her grandmother while her mother, father and grandfather served a jail term for smuggling marijuana from Jamaica to America – has always had the full backing of her parent, who taught her to stay true to herself.

She explained to Grazia magazine: “My motherConnie inspires me. She’s an amazing woman. When I was a kid I wanted to be an actress and she completely backed me. She is her own person, very eccentric, very individual.”

The 24-year-old star even had Connie’s support when she stopped going to school because she was being bullied.

She said: “I was a bit of a goofball. I wanted to be a counsellor, help people, but then I discovered this other side to people.

“I was easy to pick on because of my acting. I realised that there are a lot of people out there who just aren’t very nice.

“I stopped going to school – I was a bit rebellious and just didn’t go. My mother was fine about it.”

Source: Contact Music

I have uploaded scans of Leighton in June issue of Grazia [UK] magazine. Thanks to ONTD for the scans.

GALLERY LINK:

• (x004) Scans in 2010: Grazia [UK] – June

I recently spent the day holed up in a private suite of London’s Berkley hotel with Leighton Meester – aka Blair Waldorf (check out this week’s Grazia to read all about it).

For those of you that are fans of Gossip Girl, you’ll no doubt have a love/hate thing going on with Blair. On the one hand the uptight upper east sider is so machavelian, she makes Rachel McAdams in Mean Girls look like Mary Poppins. On the other hand there’s her immaculate buttoned-up  fashion, creamy skin, manicured brows, and hair  so shiny and perfect it would take the prize at Crufts. The later is evidently why she’s scored a lucrative deal with Herbal Essences.

According to her hair dresser Charles Baker Strahan, her mother used it on her as a child, he reintroduced her to it (she loves the smell), and the rest is history.

In real life Leighton is more Mary Poppins than Blair Waldorf; polite and agreeable -  accomodating our numerous requests to check out her makeup bag (her go-to buy is Laura Mercier’s tinted moisturiser), go through her London wardrobe (she lives for fierce shoes) and sniff perfumes in search of her new season favourite – Issey Miyake The scent fyi (see the video below).

Whilst Blair is perfectly groomed  Leighton is more tracky bottoms and bed-head hair. Blair is low carb, and low fat, whilst Leighton ordered soup and bread, with a side of chips!

Despite the differences, I did pick up a few Blairisms from my time with Ms Meester. One must wear heels at all times – hence why she says she always fits in time to have regular mani-pedi’s. ‘It makes you feel dressed,’ she tells me. Treat your hair like your skin and give it regular masks (Herbal Hello Hydration), and when it comes to anti-ageing procedures less is more and never say never.

Beauty advice to live by I think.

Glossip Girl x

Shana Feste is writer-director on “Love Don’t Let Me Down,” a Dec. 22 release from Screen Gems. Gwyneth Paltrow sings in this country music drama co-starring Tim McGraw and Leighton Meester. “It’s about love and fame – I don’t think you can have both,” says Feste, who previously wrote and directed indie “The Greatest.” “It’s a throwback to movies like ‘Tender Mercies’ and ‘Nashville.’ They were my inspiration.”

Source: Variety