L'Oreal's new Asian face has beauty and brains

At 18, she has become the first non-celebrity model ambassador from Singapore to represent global beauty brand L'Oreal Paris in Asia.

Fiona Fussi, winner of Elite Model Look Singapore 2011, has come a long way in the last three years.

The stunning 1.76m-tall United World College graduate and part-time model with Basic Models Managementjoins the ranks of L'Oreal's famous Asian faces - local actress Rui En, Chinese actresses Fan Bingbing and Li Bingbing, and Indian actresses Aishwarya Rai and Sonam Kapoor.

Fussi has already done her parents proud by scoring As for all her six International Baccalaureate subjects -psychology, business, biology, English, maths and Chinese.

So clinching her first major endorsement deal is simply the icing on the cake.

Fussi, whose father is Austrian and whose mum Hong Kong-Chinese, has an Austrian passport, but is a Singapore permanent resident who has lived here her whole life.

SECRET

She told The New Paper: "I had to keep the news a secret since January so I'm so excited and happy to be able to finally share it with everyone.

"This is such a big opportunity and I think it hasn't sunk in fully yet.

"The people from L'Oreal Paris who interviewed me weren't too explicit about it, but they said they liked the vibe I was giving."

Last December, Fussi said, a representative of L'Oreal Paris had contacted her agent and that the cosmetic giant's bosses had expressed interest in meeting her in person.

Fussi flew to Shanghai with her mum, 53-year-old businesswoman Mona Fussi, where they were both interviewed by a panel of VIPs who had flown in from Europe.

Mrs Fussi said she was asked to describe her daughter and they were impressed by what she said.

"I told them that (Fiona) has a positive, good image and that she has straddled both her studies and modelling well.

"Not only can she dance and sing, she also has many friends and she does charity work at hospitals and old folks' homes.

"From what I gather, I think they liked her personality very much."

Soon after the meeting, Fussi, who has modelled for eyebrow grooming salon Browhaus,was informed in January that she had scored the coveted gig.

But one of the conditions was that she had to film the TV and print advertisements for L'Oreal's Deeply White Sleeping Jelly Maskin the midst of her 
exams.

Not one to shy away from challenges, Fussi did so without complaint.

Fussi, who intends to attend university in the UK or US after travelling for a year as a freshly-minted ambassador, said: "I remember sitting two exams on a Friday, then I flew to Hong Kong and shot the advertisements for 22 hours straight.

"After that, I flew back (to Singapore) to sit another two exams on Monday.

"The hardest part about the shoot was that there were a lot of retakes. And there was no time to sleep during the shoot, but I liked it as it has made me better at my job.

"I'm grateful and thankful and excited for future opportunities."

I remember sitting two exams on a Friday, then I flew to Hong Kong and shot the advertisements for 22 hours straight. After that, I flew back (to Singapore) to sit another two exams on Monday.

- Fiona Fussi