With her flawless skin and to-die for body, Gigi Hadid is our girl crush, fitspo and style icon all rolled into one. Channelling her inner showgirl with her custom pink Alex Perry dress and sparkly star covered Hatmaker headpiece at today’s Melbourne Cup, Hadid is in town as a guest of Emirates. This is Hadid’s first time in Melbourne and she is certainly getting into the Aussie spirit, sharing pictures of her with kangaroos at Healesville Sanctuary yesterday. Ahead of her appearance at today’s race that stops a Nation, we caught up with Hadid to get the low down on the secret to her glowing skin and her race day essentials.

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Turns our Hadid is the perfect guest for the carnival given her history with horses. “I’m mostly looking forward to getting to meet the horses and jockeys. I grew up with horses and I always feel at home around them.” She’s also comfortable around the sometimes temperamental creatures shooting with some of the favourites for the Herald Sun.

Fresh from walking the runways at Paris Fashion Week, Hadid told us what women and men should be wearing to stand out trackside. “I think a great pair of sunglasses can really make an outfit. I’ll be bringing out my new favourites if the sun gets too bright.” So what beauty secrets could Hadid share with us to help us achieve her luminous skin? “My Spring Race Carnival day beauty routine will stay as normal. I use Neutrogena pink grapefruit wipes to get dirt and makeup off, St.Ives apricot face scrub to keep my skin soft and give it a deeper clean, and Chanel face lotion to keep it moisturised.”

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Matching her Alex Perry dress with a lust-worthy, perspex Chanel clutch, Hadid let us in on her raceday handbag essentials. “I’ll definitely have my favourite pair of sunglasses, sunscreen, lip balm, and something to take pictures with – probably my phone.” Hadid will not be short of admirers on raceday, particularly after confirming she is single despite rumours linking her to ex, Australian singer Cody Simpson who Hadid admits she is still in contact with. “He’s one of my best friends and I still love him.” she said.

Despite her well-off up bringing (her mum is Yoland Foster of The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills fame and her dad is millionaire property developer Mohamed Hadid), Hadid isn’t a trust fund baby, regularly sharing her modelling shoots on her ever-growing social media platforms. “They never gave us the choice that if we didn’t work hard, we would be fine. We’ve all had to work in our family.”

So does she have any tips on picking a winner? “I grew up riding hunter/jumpers, so I’ll be learning a lot about racing during my time at the Melbourne Cup. Hopefully I’ll have some luck in taking my pick.” Somehow, with her modelling career on the rise and one of the world’s most enviable bods, even if Gigi’s race picks don’t come through today, something tells us she’s already a winner.

Images courtesy of Getty and Sports Illustrated

About The Author

Lisa Teh

Lisa Teh is the Editor-in-chief of Couturing.com, one of Australia's top fashion, beauty and lifestyle resources. She has worked on campaigns with brands including David Jones, Myer, Mecca Cosmetica, Simone Perele, Lenovo and L'Oreal. She recently appeared in Couturing's exclusive Australian Fashion Week reality web series, The Frow, alongside top industry names including Toni Maticevski and Maybelline Creative Director Nigel Stanislaus.