Beauty Is All About Energy, According to SI Swimsuit Model Emily DiDonato

The six-time brand star reveals her outlook on true inner beauty.

Emily DiDonato was photographed by Anne Menke in Sacramento, Calif. / Anne Menke/Sports Illustrated

National Inner Beauty Day, an occasion that reminds us that our inner radiance is much more important than our external appearance, falls on Monday, Oct. 7. And in a sit-down interview with SI Swimsuit, six-time brand model Emily DiDonato shared her own personal take on beauty, which she says all starts with one’s energy.

“When I think about beauty, I think because I’ve been so exposed to like the ‘ideal beauty’ in our industry, like beauty doesn’t mean anything external at this point,” DiDonato explains. “Beauty to me is like all in someone’s energy, like what they bring to the table, whether it be like really positive or really kind or really outgoing, caring. Those are the things that stand out to me when I walk away from someone. I’m like, ‘Wow, that was an amazing person, a beautiful person.’ That’s what I think about.”

DiDonato, 33, first posed for the SI Swimsuit Issue in 2013, when she traveled to Namibia with photographer Kayt Jones. Since then, the New York native has collaborated with the magazine in exotic locations like Switzerland, Hawai’i and Turks and Caicos. She’s also participated in a few stateside SI Swimsuit photo shoots, which have taken place in Wyoming and Sacramento, Calif.

Outside of her work with the brand, DiDonato is known for her longstanding collaboration with Maybelline, as well as being the cofounder of skincare brand Covey and the host of her podcast, ReModeling With Emily DiDonato. The proud mom of two’s stance on beauty should come as no surprise to her fans, as DiDonato uses her platforms to stress the importance of embracing life at every stage, and the beauty that comes along with it.

Covey was created in 2021, alongside friend Christina Garcia Uribe, and the two set out to create a simplified skincare brand that embraced “skin minimalism.” As much as they developed the brand to streamline a morning and evening skincare routine, DiDonato and Uribe set out to help women feel beautiful from the inside out.

“I ... think in terms of [physical] beauty and taking care of yourself, try to take that as an inward experience for you,” DiDonato told L’Oréal of her philosophy shortly after Covey’s launch in 2021. “I think when you’re trying to be beautiful, or do your beauty routines purely to look good for others, it makes them slightly less satisfying. When you feel really good is when you feel beautiful.”