Dua Lipa Talks YSL Beauty and Her Upcoming World Tour
The year has been good to Dua Lipa. In February, she was announced as the global ambassador for YSL Beauty, and in May, she released her second studio album, Radical Optimism.
For the former, it’s a pinch-me, 360-degree accomplishment for the pop star. “When I was younger, a friend of mine and her mom took me to Paris for a weekend,” she says. “I went to Sephora, and the first thing that I bought was YSL [Beauty] lipstick. I was like, I feel so chic. It was my first designer thing. I was very excited about it. Now getting to be able to be the face of the fragrance is such a big dream come true.”
Next month, she kicks off her world tour in Asia before jet-setting across the rest of the world in March. “The show is longer than anything else I’ve done, so I want to make it exciting for everyone coming to see the shows, and everyone on tour as well,” she says. “It’s not the same thing night after night, and we want to just keep it really flowing and have fun with it. I’m ready to get back on tour.”
Below, PAPER chatted with Dua Lipa about YSL Beauty, what to expect from her upcoming tour and her favorite scent memories.
What does it mean for you to be the new face of YSL Beauty?
It’s a big honor, and actually a 360 dream that kind of happened. When I was younger, a friend of mine and her mom took me to Paris for a weekend, and they were going to all these shops and buying all these fancy things. I felt a little bit left out, so I went to Sephora, and the first thing that I bought was YSL [Beauty] lipstick. I was like, I feel so chic. It was my first designer thing. I was very excited about it. Now getting to be able to be the face of the fragrance is such a big dream come true, especially because it was just started. I was starting fresh with the team, and then to join into the makeup side of things, I felt like was a big, full circle moment.
It’s crazy to have those moments of being like, “Oh my god! This is where I am now.”
I have pincher moments very often. And working with YSL Beauty is definitely one of those.
Are you excited for your upcoming tour?
I start in Asia in November, and then I go full out from March next year. I’m really excited. It’s gonna keep evolving and changing, and the show is longer than anything else I’ve done, so I want to make it exciting for everyone coming to see the shows, and everyone on tour as well. It’s not the same thing night after night, and we want to just keep it really flowing and have fun with it. I’m ready to get back on tour.
Is there anything you’re specifically looking forward to showing the world live?
Definitely the choreo. I love the building of the show and how it evolves and the kind of story that we want to tell. For me, it’s just how much fun can we have in two hours, you know? How many things can we fill it up with that just keeps you dancing all the way through? I’m a big high energy person, and that’s how I want everyone to experience the show. I’m ready to go nuts, basically.
If you’re having fun and your whole team’s having fun, then the whole audience will see that and have fun, too, right?
Definitely. It’s such a back and forth of energy. What we give, we also get back, and then that hypes us up even more and amps us to high levels of energy. By the end of it, we all look like drowned rats. That’s when you know you’ve had a really good show, when you’re just completely drenched.
What did Radical Optimism mean to you both personally and in terms of your career as a whole?
This album opened a lot of doors for me. It also taught me how to be a better songwriter, how to dig deeper. I really felt like I knew exactly what I wanted from myself as an artist, and I’m really proud of all the opportunities that I’ve had with this album and what I’ve been able to do with it. The opportunity to be able to experiment and explore and try something new has been really special. So I’m excited to give it some new life on the road.
It seems like an album that’ll be a completely different experience to hear it in real life, just because it’s so joyful and celebratory.
Musically and sonically, it’s crafted in a way that is actually quite complex, and bringing all those sounds to to life, you’ll feel the record in a different way, in the way that it’s actually intended to be. My whole idea for Radical Optimism was the organic-ness of it and the live instrumentation, so it’s going to lend itself really well to the tour.
Since you’re the face of the new YSL Beauty Libre Flowers & Flames fragrance, let’s do some fun, rapid fire questions about your scent memories. First, what does Radical Optimism smell like?
When I think about what it smells like, I think back to when we shot the cover. That was in Ibiza. So I want to say it’s hot and citrusy and light and summery. Those are the tones, the scents of it.
What does heartbreak smell like?
Tequila.
What does happiness smell like?
The smell of clean bedsheets. That’s very joyful to me.
What does your home smell like?
It’s cozy. It has woody, lemony, kind of earthy smells.
Photo courtesy of YSL Beauty
The year has been good to Dua Lipa. In February, she was announced as the global ambassador for YSL Beauty, and in May, she released her second studio album, Radical Optimism. For the former, it’s a pinch-me, 360-degree accomplishment for the pop star. “When I was younger, a friend of mine and her mom took…