Here she is now, still radiant as she was when she first entered the business. Heart Evangelista is growing up, defining her style and discovering what real relationships are like. No more cute image—and she likes it that way.
“Lately, I've become more free,” she begins. “Tomorrow I'm leaving for San Francisco to see my sister and brother.” It's been a while since the young beauty took a break and this particular trip is a treat of sorts for her. A shopping spree at X Generation, a store along Haight Street , is on top of her to-do list. “With my lifestyle, it's not wise to buy very expensive clothes. I wear an outfit once and that's it. So I prefer to buy a lot of really nice clothes that I can keep. My closet is a whole room,” she declares.
Back when she was all Little Miss Bubblegum on shows like Berks and Gmik, Heart was the quintessential teen princess who happily overdosed on accessories and makeup. A forgivable act now, as she's become Philippine entertainment's sweetheart precisely because of her penchant for frou-frou. “Looking back, I'd say that was pretty terrible,” recalls Heart. “I was putting on too much accessories and my lipliner was way outside my lips. It was just all over my small face. I do admit that when I was young, I was so maarte. I went to auditions and got really dressed up. Of course, I've already mellowed own. In a way I'm pretty thankful for all those things because people saw me. I gained fans through that.”
Having outgrown those signature bright pinks, Heart is now a picture of understated elegance. There is a becalmed quality about her that manifests as maturity. “I think my style has become more elegant but still rugged. I'd want to wear a dress, slippers and a nice bag. I like vintage stuff, diamond rings and lately I've become a fan of jeans from Penshoppe. I'm starting to become a jeans person. Before, I had issues about being short but now I realize that it's not about height. It's how you carry yourself. Take Jessica Simpson for example. She's 5'3” and she looks fabulous,” enthuses Heart. Apparently, style has always been an essential role to the person that Heart was and has become in recent years. Her reel and real life boyfriend, matinee idol Jericho Rosales, who starred with her in the recently concluded hit soap opera Panday, has proven to be a breeze of fresh air. “Before I met Echo, I wore five-inch heels all the time,” she shares of her magnet-for-controversy relationship with the young actor. “Any thing to look tall. He put all my heels away and wanted to store them in a box. He wanted me to become comfortable with my height, and it's a big factor because he's my boyfriend and it was him who insisted that it was okay to wear flats. Now I'm wearing flats and I'm comfortable with it.” Heart adds that Jericho and her “both love to dress up. We coordinate. Yesterday, he took me shopping and chose my outfit—a colorful skirt, a checkered top, a tie and a striped shirt inside. And it was different. I've also influenced him. Like when it comes to buying things like a Louis Vuitton bag he now understands why I buy these things. They are timeless.”
Independent living is also new territory for the young lady, but she is nevertheless excited at the prospect of having to engage in mundane errands such as paying for her bills, issuing checks, cooking dinners and doing the grocery. “I've grown up a lot. Just a year ago, when I was still living with my parents, I [still] had the mentality of a 16-year-old. I was so sheltered. Things are different when you start to live on your own,” Heart observes. With renewed passion for her craft, personal life and singing, she shares with us the kind of wisdom that most twentysomethings will easily relate to “There comes a time in your life when everything is stripped off of you. Then you realize what you really want and the things that really matter to you. Now that I'm not so busy, I have a life and a career. If you have a life you have time to think about what you want, and cherish what you do more.”
With soaps like Hiram and Panday on her acting resume, Heart realizes that, “soaps don't really make one into a superstar. I used to think that without a soap wala ka na. It's actually about the roles you chose and how you portray it.” Now she's off to work on her second album. “It's going to be much bigger than the first because I'm really concentrating on it this time. My sound will still be pop with a bit of rock-sort of like Michelle Branch or Ashlee Simpson,” she describes.
Of course, there still are her numerous endorsements. Heart is currently seen on the billboards for Penshoppe, Smart, Ink for Less, MKNY, Monami, Palmolive and Creamsilk among others. Beyond showbiz, she imagines herself going back to school to finish high school, then study hotel and restaurant management, or something design-related. But life as a regular young lady is what currently fuels Heart's happiness. “I am happy with the person that I have become,” she says. “I am what experience and my parents have molded me to become. I love life and I like having a life. It's a normal life. It's about who you are and being accepted for it.”
source : Dyaryoboy
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