Chrissy Teigen is a lot of things. For starters, she and husband John Legend are the literal creators of one of Hollywood’s most adorable toddlers, Luna. Now she's pregnant with their second child, a boy. She's also a supermodel, television host, chef, and knower of #WhoBitBeyonce. Now, she can update her LinkedIn profile with yet another credential: diaper expert and designer. Teigen is the new Creative Consultant for Pampers Pure, a collection of wipes and diapers that are free of fragrances, parabens, and lotions. It’s basically better for babies’ butts; and apparently so are llamas.
I recently had the pleasure of talking to Teigen over the phone, and she explained to me why #llamabutt is one of her new favourite things. But we also talked about how she manages her hectic schedule with her the responsibilities as a (famous) parent, the most frustrating part of being a mum, and what it means to put your baby in the same diapers you wore as a kid. Her daughter even made an appearance during our chat. Check out our conversation below. Meanwhile, I’ll be bragging to anyone who will listen that I basically spoke to Luna.
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Refinery29: So you are a nappy designer now. That's exciting!
Chrissy Teigen: “I am! I know. I have a new title. One that I never thought I'd have. I'm always wondering what I'm going to get myself into next. Then we just added another exciting thing, and it's so much fun! They’re so much fun to work with, and we've been a Pampers family for so long, dating back to when I was in nappies.”
Chrissy Teigen: “I am! I know. I have a new title. One that I never thought I'd have. I'm always wondering what I'm going to get myself into next. Then we just added another exciting thing, and it's so much fun! They’re so much fun to work with, and we've been a Pampers family for so long, dating back to when I was in nappies.”
Has being a part of this campaign created a new kind of bond with Luna?
“Oh yeah, definitely! There are certain things that every baby needs in their lives. Diapers may be number one. It's been really nice to go to work with her. There's nothing that she really loves more at this point than discovering new little animals and colouring. It's really fun picking them out, seeing where her head goes, and seeing the things that she likes and the things about her personality that make things special to Luna. So to be able to have this and work with Pampers and get to do something fun that she genuinely likes doing... [Luna coos in the background, and Teigen says: “Are you trying to get on the phone? Sorry, she's crawling all over me.” My ovaries explode.]... is really cool. Our shoot was in New York, and she had so much fun at it. There were llamas everywhere, bubbles everywhere. If anybody knows how to do a shoot with children or babies, it's Pampers.”
“Oh yeah, definitely! There are certain things that every baby needs in their lives. Diapers may be number one. It's been really nice to go to work with her. There's nothing that she really loves more at this point than discovering new little animals and colouring. It's really fun picking them out, seeing where her head goes, and seeing the things that she likes and the things about her personality that make things special to Luna. So to be able to have this and work with Pampers and get to do something fun that she genuinely likes doing... [Luna coos in the background, and Teigen says: “Are you trying to get on the phone? Sorry, she's crawling all over me.” My ovaries explode.]... is really cool. Our shoot was in New York, and she had so much fun at it. There were llamas everywhere, bubbles everywhere. If anybody knows how to do a shoot with children or babies, it's Pampers.”
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And you have the cutest little collaborator.
“I know! It's really fun because kids are so funny. Before I was a mom I would have never known the fascination with llamas and giraffes and anything with floppy ears or anything with a squishy nose. There are just certain things that they take to and really love. If anything is going to make the whole diaper changing experience better, it's nice for it to be as cute and chic as possible.”
“I know! It's really fun because kids are so funny. Before I was a mom I would have never known the fascination with llamas and giraffes and anything with floppy ears or anything with a squishy nose. There are just certain things that they take to and really love. If anything is going to make the whole diaper changing experience better, it's nice for it to be as cute and chic as possible.”
I'm glad you brought up changing nappies. One of the things everyone loves about you is that you don't take yourself too seriously, and you are always so willing to talk about those days when Luna may have just peed on you, for example. What are some of the really frustrating moments that you have as a mom?
“Oh gosh! That one is so easy. Honestly, the kid stuff is really fun. She'll be 2 on Saturday, and the actual moments of her showing her personality, even when it's difficult and even when she's super sassy, it is interesting because you see so much of yourself in them. So that stuff to me isn't frustrating. What's hard for me are the times where you have spent your entire day with her: truly, from wake up to bed time or 10 minutes before bed time, you were there. You're thinking about them the entire time, you're rolling on the floor with them, you're cooking their meals, you're taking them to the grocery store, you're dealing with the meltdowns, you're dealing with everything, and you're getting the tantrums and the random hits to the face that you have to just deal with. And then daddy comes home, and they just completely melt in their arms. And all of a sudden you're like, ‘Oh my gosh. I have just spent the entire day with you, and you have just used and abused me all day.' But dad comes home at the end of the day, and they just absolutely love on them. That can definitely be frustrating. You spend so much time with them, and you just realise that as a mum you're going to take a lot of emotions from them. There's nothing like a mother/daughter bond. There's nothing more unique than it; there's nothing more special. You see this different side that daddy will never get to see ever. It's amazing and frustrating, but really great all at the same time.”
“Oh gosh! That one is so easy. Honestly, the kid stuff is really fun. She'll be 2 on Saturday, and the actual moments of her showing her personality, even when it's difficult and even when she's super sassy, it is interesting because you see so much of yourself in them. So that stuff to me isn't frustrating. What's hard for me are the times where you have spent your entire day with her: truly, from wake up to bed time or 10 minutes before bed time, you were there. You're thinking about them the entire time, you're rolling on the floor with them, you're cooking their meals, you're taking them to the grocery store, you're dealing with the meltdowns, you're dealing with everything, and you're getting the tantrums and the random hits to the face that you have to just deal with. And then daddy comes home, and they just completely melt in their arms. And all of a sudden you're like, ‘Oh my gosh. I have just spent the entire day with you, and you have just used and abused me all day.' But dad comes home at the end of the day, and they just absolutely love on them. That can definitely be frustrating. You spend so much time with them, and you just realise that as a mum you're going to take a lot of emotions from them. There's nothing like a mother/daughter bond. There's nothing more unique than it; there's nothing more special. You see this different side that daddy will never get to see ever. It's amazing and frustrating, but really great all at the same time.”
You mentioned John coming home, but you're also a really busy lady, too. You do Lip Sync Battle, you are now a creative consultant with Pampers, you have another cookbook coming out...
“What's been really nice about doing all this is that it came later in life for me. I always had dreams of having a child younger. I always for some reason thought I'd be 26 and have kids. I realise now that I could have never handled it then. The benefit of being a little older and more seasoned in the industry is that I kind of get to set my own schedules, and I get to create environments where they're very child friendly. The Lip Sync Battle set is so much fun for a child. My dressing room is amazing. Our producers have gone above and beyond. The dressing room and nursery area on that set is nicer than [Luna’s] bedroom at home. It's beautiful. Doing the cookbook, I'm at home the whole time. So it's actually nice to get her to try things, and then have those little behind-the-scenes moments of when a recipe is created and how she helped with it is really fun. And then working with Pampers with her is really great, too. So a lot of it gets to involve her. There's not much that takes us away from her, even on tour. We just brought her to Asia, and we kind of all flourish as a family when we're working together and away together. We actually end up doing more. We do more exciting things. We go to the aquariums and zoos. We see all the sights from wherever we are in the world. We really take advantage of it. We're most boring when we're at home. But when we all get to work together it's really fun.
“What's been really nice about doing all this is that it came later in life for me. I always had dreams of having a child younger. I always for some reason thought I'd be 26 and have kids. I realise now that I could have never handled it then. The benefit of being a little older and more seasoned in the industry is that I kind of get to set my own schedules, and I get to create environments where they're very child friendly. The Lip Sync Battle set is so much fun for a child. My dressing room is amazing. Our producers have gone above and beyond. The dressing room and nursery area on that set is nicer than [Luna’s] bedroom at home. It's beautiful. Doing the cookbook, I'm at home the whole time. So it's actually nice to get her to try things, and then have those little behind-the-scenes moments of when a recipe is created and how she helped with it is really fun. And then working with Pampers with her is really great, too. So a lot of it gets to involve her. There's not much that takes us away from her, even on tour. We just brought her to Asia, and we kind of all flourish as a family when we're working together and away together. We actually end up doing more. We do more exciting things. We go to the aquariums and zoos. We see all the sights from wherever we are in the world. We really take advantage of it. We're most boring when we're at home. But when we all get to work together it's really fun.