A natural in front of the camera thanks to modelling since she was 13 years old and with a passion for eccentric clothing, @GemmaCarlotta_‘s Gemma Surgo was almost destined to be a successful social media influencer. A self-confessed creative soul with a love for posing, the Italian content creator isn’t afraid to have a little fun with the camera. Mix that with an undeniably stylish sartorial wardrobe, and her little corner of the Gram will have you continuously scrolling for more.
On Husskie, we pull Gemma aside to take part in our latest Fast 50 – to give a snapshot into the life of this burgeoning fashion influencer. Here, she chats to us about everything from how singing makes her feel free to being scared of not enough time to her thoughts on fake followers.
Missed the last articles in the 50 Questions series? Click the links to read interviews with Marie Jedig, Jordan Simek, and Allison Soro.
1. Age? 28 y/o
2. Height? 1,76
3. Best beauty product of all time? I personally love Korean skincare and my fave brand at the moment is Oh K!
4. Five beauty products you can’t live without? First is a jade roll for facial massages – you can find them everywhere, I bought mine on Amazon; second one is Farsáli Rose Gold Oil – it’s a 24k gold oil for a perfect glowing skin; third is an instant glow day mask by the Löwengrip brand; fourth is the Bee Pollen Renew Ampouler by Missha; and the last one is the Oh K! Chok Chok Glowing Moisturiser
5. Hair “done” or messy? Both of them – I love to change my style frequently 😉
6. Favourite fragrance? I don’t have one. I actually use 6 different fragrances – one per day: Gucci Flora, Girl of Now by Elie Saab, Girls Can Do Anything by Zadig et Voltaire, Narciso Red by Narciso Rodriguez, and Black Opium by YSL
7. Favourite item of clothing? Mmm… that’s very difficult for me to choose just one, but I think shoes are on the top of my list (all shoes I mean, sneakers, heels, boots)
8. Favourite fashion brand? Prada (classy, chic, so feminine and never obvious! Just love it)
9. Gym or exercising outdoors? I’m a bad, bad “workouter” girl, lol, but since I need someone to follow for my workout, anywhere with a personal trainer 😉
10. Healthy eating or treating yourself? Both! I love eating and I really like omg EVERYTHING eatable… I personally love eating carbs, pasta, pizza, panzerotti… I’m Italian, c’mon :-)))
11. Can you cook? Can I have another question, haha! Not properly. I like to eat but not cooking. I mean, I try at least. I can cook a very good tomato pasta with a lot of parmesan
12. Favourite food to indulge in? I’m all for salty food, I don’t like sweets so my choice is French fries
13. First thing you pick from the mini-bar? It depends on what kind of mini bar I find 🙂 Chips almost every time (Fonzies are my faves)
14. Favourite hobby? I have many, but my fave is to sing. This sets me free
15. A strange fact about you that followers might not know? I try to share almost everything funny or not about myself. A really fun fact (that just happened), I told in my Stories about a night during a dinner I was eating pizza with my bestie and my boyfriend. A friend of his came and sat with us and stole mine then one slice of pizza from all of our dishes. He then left without saying anything (faking an incoming call) without paying… well a bit rude – not very friendly behaviour (sorry for my English, I hope to explain it in the right way for you to understand!). But the fan fact is that then he threatened to denounce me, LOL :-))). What a story!!!
16. Biggest fear? Not having enough time to do everything I want in my life: meet new people, travel more, taste new food, live and share love with my family… I’m not scared about death, I’m scared about time. Life’s too short!! I would have seven lives as cats do
17. Blog or YouTube? Neither! I don’t consider myself as an influencer or a blogger (since I don’t have a blog). I am just a girl with a passion for photography and video making and Instagram is the only way to share my work!!
18. Iphone or camera? I always did everything with my phone. Maybe one day I’m going to use the camera also, but for now the phone is my actual choice
19. Type of camera? I don’t have experience enough to reply to this question!
20. Lightroom or VSCO? OMG, Lightroom of course! I have my own preset there. This app is saving my life
21. Favourite filter? I have my own one on Lightroom but I used to use M5 on VSCO when I didn’t have my own one yet
22. Favourite way to edit pics? I like warm tones. My whole feed is like a mix of yellow, orange, pinkish gold tones. I love lights with a bit of shadow, and the grain can not be missed!
23. 9-5 job or full-time influencer? Full-time “what I like to do”. As I told you before, life’s too short to be bored about work – so transform your passions into work! DONE.
24. How did you first get your start in Instablogging? It was a very slow start and also casual! I have entertained my passion for pictures day by day playing with my phone and matching my love for posing (I am a model since 13 y/o) with eccentric clothing and accessories! Et voila… it came naturally. The hard part is when it became paid work!! It’s not simple at all to satisfy all customer’s requests 🙂
25. How much time goes into a normal picture found on your Instagram account? Mmh I really don’t know – it depends on the day, time and the kind of pic I post!
26. What’s your top Instagram tip? I have to honestly say I don’t think Instagram is for everyone. Everybody wants to be an influencer! NO. It’s not simple, it’s not easy at all and you must have good taste. I sincerely believe some people have really bad taste in photography, way to dress up themselves, and in editing pictures also. A high number of people boost their profiles with fake followers and likes and views and this is so frustrating for those who don’t act like this and work on it for YEARS. It’s like someone wanting to be a doctor without doing the books or without any kind of degree
27. Who takes your pics? My boyfriend almost every time! He’s an angel… I am really hard to handle while I’m working – I am pretty serious! But of course everything comes out of my head – spots, angles, everything. I take aim then he takes the shot!
28. Career highlight since being an influencer? The best parts of being an influencer are several: travel for free is the first, travel a lot is the second, and mountains of free clothing and beauty stuff is the last 😉
29. Career lowlight since being an influencer? Having NO TIME to do ANYTHING!! We are in a hurry forever, lol 🙂 Too many things to do. Our days are very FULL when we have to work for a customer!! The worst part is to fail (it can happen)
30. Best campaign you’ve ever worked on? I’ve worked for a lot of popular brands but my fave campaign is not about how popular the brand, but the way and how much I feel and relate to it. My best one for now was a campaign for wet’n wild makeup brand. It was very fun to shoot it!
31. Worst thing that’s happened to you on a photo shoot? Nothing so far!
32. The best gift you’ve ever received as an influencer? A lil skateboard by Zadig et Voltaire. Really cute and unusual gift
33. Last thing you googled? Let me check… I don’t remember… A clothing website of course, hahaha! As a REVOLVE ambassador, I was checking for new goodies 😉
34. Favourite film? ‘The Notebook’! ( I have several favourites…)
35. Favourite book? The Bible is the only book I love to read. It’s educational, not obvious and really hard to understand. I am a Christian, so it is very interesting for me 🙂
36. Living in the city or living by the beach? I choose both also here – I need to change often! I was born by the sea (still living here) but I like big cities too! A big city by the sea would be my choice
37. Favourite travel destination? Bali was the best experience for now. Feeling the nature around was AMAZING,.and let’s talk about the food, omg… just delicious. People always smile and pray. I could live there for a period! Next would be Japan, Bahamas, Cuba
38. Most Instagram-worthy spot? If you have never been in PUGLIA (south of Italy), you should definitely get a ticket! We have many amazing places to shoot at. But Italy in general is the best place to shoot. Sicily is one of my fave. I love ITALIA!
39. Top three essentials to pack when traveling? Highlighter for a perfect glowing skin, phone to shoot pics, a good pair of shoes
40. Going out clubbing or quiet dinner with friends? I need to do both of them… I like both of them…
41. Partner or single? PARTNER FOR LIFE!!! I constantly need to share my things!
42. Siblings? A sister
43. What city are you currently living in? I actually live in Bari but I’m going to move to Milan again very soon with my dog and my beautiful lover
44. Celebrity/influencer crush? Officiallyquigley, I just love her
45. Pets? Oh yes!! My labrador chocolate Fill. My son, best friend and full-time kisser boy!!! Another lil brother will come soon 😉
46. What is your best asset? My honesty. I can be rude, but hey, I will always say the truth. This is better!
47. Biggest misconception about you and your job? People judge Instagrammers’ lives constantly saying: ‘Go and search for REAL work’. Omg. this is a real, well paid, and also HARD work, people! Stop talking about things you don’t even know!
48. Top five Instagram accounts to follow? @officiallyquigley @tezza @fabmusediana @fabmusealina @evaacatherine
49. Favourite quote you live by? If you hardly believe it, you will gain it
50. Top career tip? I don’t feel myself the right person to give any tips about top careers because I don’t have one yet! But my dream about a top career is a secret 😉 sorry.
All images: Gemma Carlotta
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