Laura Gómez (aka Blanca Flores) spills beauty, fitness, and diet solutions so good, they’re almost criminal.
It's hard to believe they're the same person!
Blanca Flores (Laura Gómez) – an inmate known for her out-to-there hair and sporadic outbursts — took a break from filming season three to sit down with Everyday Health to reveal the healthy snacks that keep her energized (seaweed, anyone?), why Citi Bike is her favorite mode of transportation, and how Groupon helps keep her skin clear when she’s not on set.
What it takes to transform into Blanca Flores: Gómez looks nothing like her character Blanca Flores (see above) but a talented team of makeup artists can give her the impressive make-under in very little time, says Gómez. “The change comes from my hair and unibrow,” she explains. “They use a brow pencil to create the unibrow and a little bit of the darker spots on the eyes, just to make her even deeper in terms of how raw this woman is,” she adds.
But what does take a little extra effort is to make her hair big and wild. “Sometimes they make it wet and then they tease it, but they always dry it big and use a lot of spray,” she explains. “I didn’t know I had so much hair until the 'Orange Is the New Black' team made me aware of it.”
She also looks to Sexy Hair products to keep her mane healthy. “I noticed that the shampoo and conditioner – which I’ve never paid that much attention to – is important. I didn’t think the shampoo would be such a big deal, because sometimes we take it for granted, but using the right one makes a difference in the look of my hair,” she says.
When it comes to her skin, she keeps it simple – and affordable. “I use Vaseline when I’m home for the lips, in the morning and at night,” she says. And to remove the thick makeup from the show, she uses liquid Purpose soap. “I absolutely adore [Purpose soap] because it keeps my face soft, and I’ve had very expensive brands that just make your skin feel dry,” she reveals. And like her skin care routine, her strategy for finding the best facials is also refreshingly affordable. “I go to Groupon to find facials. I’ve discovered the most amazing places!”
The healthy snacks that keep her energized through long days: Gómez’s diet couldn’t be further from the prison food that’s placed in front of her while filming. “I’m a fruit eater,” she says. “I love berries in the morning with my cereal or oatmeal, and then I like a banana in the middle of the day because it kind of pumps up the energy.” Gómez also gravitates towards Caribbean fruits like pineapple and papaya when they’re in season.
Her post-workout snack? A Luna bar in Lemon Zest or seaweed from Trader Joe’s. “They’re my favorite. Don’t eat potato chips, eat seaweed for 10 calories!” she raves.
Her earth-friendly workout: Since a recent ACL surgery forced the Dominican-beauty to sit out from running – her favorite form of exercise – she took up biking instead. “I used to have a bike, but I don’t have it anymore because of space right now so I discovered Citi Bikes instead,” she says, adding that she’s afraid of riding in traffic so she goes to central park instead.
Her commitment to safety doesn’t end at her choice of location – Gómez also always wears a helmet. “A very good friend of mine had an accident biking and she told me that the helmet saved her. She said ‘don’t ever go out without a helmet because you just don’t know,’” she cautions.
What she’s learned about being a woman in prison from the show: “The need for love,” Gómez says.
“The idea of prison dehumanizes a person,” she adds, saying that her eyes have been opened to the great injustices in the system. “There are people who make a mistake who are paying a sentence of 15 years in prison for sometimes just using [drugs],” she says. “I don’t mean everybody, but there’s a lot of re-evaluation to be done because we cannot just put people in a box and forget about them. That is just not fair.”
