You do not get much luckier in the genetic lottery than Elettra Wiedemann.

Her mother is model and actress Isabella Rossellini and her maternal grandmother is Ingrid Bergman, a three-time Oscar winner and famous beauty.

Dad is Jon Wiedemann, a Calvin Klein model turned Microsoft executive.

Her name may not be as famous, but you have probably noticed her traffic-stopping face fronting Lancome’s advertising campaigns since 2006.

This month, she became the face of Lancome’s newest perfume, Tresor In Love. It is a modern floral-fruity take on the French brand’s iconic Tresor fragrance.

Ironically, her mother was the face and inspiration for Tresor, but was infamously dropped in 1996 at the age of 44, reportedly for being too old.

But Wiedemann, 26, seems circumspect about this – she was quoted in Britain-based You magazine saying

“Happiness in life comes from accepting things you can’t change, and the fashion industry is about youth, energy and fantasy – that’s the reality... I don’t think it’s any personal attack, I just think it’s the way it is”.

Which is why this model believes in not letting her brains go to waste – she is completing a master’s degree in biomedicine at the London School of Economics.

“I hope to keep modelling because I love this job. However, if the phone stops ringing, I will have two degrees in my back pocket to help me find work,”

she tells Urban in an e-mail interview. She got her bachelor’s degree in international relations at The New School in New York City. And if that’s not enough reason to love to hate her, she has a heart of gold too.

Last September, she co-founded a charity, www.justonefrickinday.com, with her boyfriend, who works for a global IT firm. It raised money to put solar panels on a health clinic in southern Burundi, Africa, which had no electricity.

“We wanted to encourage people to think about larger problems in smaller steps, or in terms of what could be achieved collectively. Hence the name ‘just one frickin day’,” she says.

The solar-powered clinic in Burundi is now up and running. The stunning jet-setter sheds some light on what makes her tick, beauty wise.

How would you describe your personal relationship with fragrances?

I do not like scents that smell too sweet (like vanilla-based scents, for example)
and are overtly pungent. I have always gravitated towards perfumes that have wood notes and are more seductive and light.

How does it feel to be fronting a scent so closely linked to the perfume that your mother was famously associated with?

Of course, it is an honour to be associated with Tresor and it was a big part of my mother’s story with Lancome, as well as an iconic campaign.

But while my mother was, and always will be, closely associated with the fragrance, her campaign was shot almost 20 years ago. Since then, there have also been amazing, strong and charismatic women who represented the fragrance – Ines Sastre, Kate Winslet, and Penelope Cruz – and I am honoured to be associated with that group.

Do you feel that the modelling industry places an unnecessary focus on being thin and young?

Yes and no.

Of course, there is pressure in the industry to be thin and sometimes it can be taken too far with tragic results. However, a model’s job is to have a certain body type which is being slim and in shape.

Ultimately, working out and eating well are what we are paid to do. The secret that everyone knows is if you work out two hours a day, five days a week, and eat very clean and healthy food, a lower weight is the automatic result.

How do you keep yourself in tip-top condition?

I work out about 90 to 120 minutes a day, five days a week.

It not only improves my shape and fitness level but also forces me to drink more water, which is great for one’s skin.

I am also vegetarian, so a lot of unhealthy food is automatically off the table. But I am not a carb-phobe, I eat pasta when I want – I just make sure it is wholewheat pasta and mixed with lots of different delicious vegetables. I love a martini after a long day, but reserve drinking for special occasions.

What are your beauty must-haves?

I hydrate obsessively, the HydraZen Day and Night creams are my favourite and I am incredibly careful in the sun, always wearing hats and applying sunscreen of at least 50 SPF – Lancome’s UV Expert GN Shield SPF 50 is the best.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.