Behind the Famous Name: Our Chat With Vanessa Bryant

Starting a new chapter in their lives, and staying out of the spotlight, Vanessa Bryant is seriously down-to-earth a very sweet LA gal. We were thrilled to have the chance to sit down + catch-up.

The very famous, and in the public eye, Kobe Bryant + Vanessa have a foundation called the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation. It’s a non profit organization that focuses on youth homelessness in L.A. It’s pretty amazing what they are doing and we couldn’t wait to get the details + get-to-know Vanessa a little more {she’s more than just a pretty face} – she even tells us a little bit about her make-up routine. Read on to get to know this FABulous momma!

cupcakeMAG: You + Kobe formed a non profit organization that focuses on youth homelessness in L.A – can you tell us about how that got started?

Vanessa: Kobe and I formed our Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation because we saw the need to provide awareness to the fact that Los Angeles is the homeless capital of America. 75% of homeless people in Los Angeles are between the ages of  18-25 yrs. old. and it’s a solvable issue we wanted to bring awareness to.

CM: Your relationship with Kobe has been headlined quite often as his wife. How do you deal with being in the spotlight?

Vanessa:  I actually prefer to be out of the spotlight. I’m not necessarily a shy person but I’ve chosen to protect our privacy and establish a sense of normalcy away from the spotlight for my children. Living in Orange County has definitely enabled me to do so. If you’ve noticed, I’m always in the tunnel after the game instead of being in the view of the cameras inside the arena. I prefer not to be recognized as his wife so that people have a chance to meet me for me and not have a preconceived opinion of who they think I am.

CM: You are gorgeous! Please, tell us about your make-up routine and your must-have products!

Vanessa:  Thank you! I’m pretty low maintenance when it comes to makeup. Over the years I’ve discovered that the less makeup you wear, the more youthful you look. I usually take about 5 minutes to do my makeup everyday. I start with Cle’ de Peau concealer in honey since I have olive skin, Mac face and body foundation since its pretty light and not cakey for the face, Nars blush in Orgasm,  Loreal black mascara, Laura Mercier lip pencil in Potpourri and my favorite Rouge Dior lip gloss #231 which is now unfortunately discontinued.

CM: What is your daily go-to outfit?

Vanessa: My go to daily ensemble consists of a Maxi dress, wedges, oversized sunglasses, oversized bag or a simple workout outfit. Maxi dresses are easy to throw on in a hurry to take my girls to any of their extra curricular activities and an oversized bag holds any of their sweaters, water bottles, batting gloves and any other misc. sports or dance accessory they need help carrying.

1. I was born Vanessa Cornejo(no middle name)- although I’ve been stereotypically linked to every family maiden name under the sun.

2. My father is of Mexican and Italian decent and my mother is of Mexican and Filipino decent.

3. I have an older sister named Sophie whom is 10 years older than I am.

4.  I was raised Catholic but my mom wanted me to be exposed to Judaism when I was younger. I still remember how to pray in Hebrew.

5. I have a very boisterous laugh. I love to laugh and I laugh hard. I recently had a 30th birthday party and one of the pictures that Kobe picked as one of his favs for my invitation was a photograph of me laughing. I personally dislike the picture but when I asked him why he chose it as one of his favorites he simply said it was because he could hear me laughing by looking at the photograph and it made him happy and made him want to laugh too. I try my best not to sweat the small stuff. You can’t please everyone and unfortunately I’ve been linked to some of the most ridiculous rumors. Sometimes you just have to laugh.

6. I was ahead in credits my senior year in high school so I went to school for 2 mandatory classes and 2 electives and was out of school by noon. This allowed me to complete my homework, get dressed and go out on a date with Kobe since my curfew was 10p.m.

7. I wanted to study criminal law.

8. I’m 5’4″.

9. I’m extremely competitive.

10. When I was 11 years old I saved my friends little sister from drowning at the bottom of the deep end.

Make sure you check out Vanessa + Kobe’s foundation online for more info + see how you can get involved!

Image: K. Alagband