Since her retirement from acting soon after welcoming her two daughters with Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes has diversified her portfolio tremendously.
The former actress, 51, now can call herself a "lifestyle entrepreneur," thanks to her venture into the home cleaning space, through her collaboration with Skura sponges, a brand she now co-owns.
In a rare interview with New Beauty, the Hitch star opened up about imbibing the homecare practices she'd seen over the years from her own mother, and incorporating those into her own life as a mom to daughters Esmeralda, 10, and Amada, who turned nine in late April.
© Instagram"I always thought it was a Cuban thing that we love to clean, and we love a clean kitchen," she shared. "Some of my best memories from when I was little are of my mom cleaning the house over the weekend."
"She'd be playing a record super loudly, and it would wake me up. There was the smell of Pine-Sol and the sounds of her singing to El Puma, which was my first concert. You have to look him up! The Puma. The memories!"
Calling it a "family" experience, she added: "I always kind of thought it was a cultural thing…my friends would be over, and then I started dating Ryan, and he would come over. He just loved it. When my family was around, we would literally take over the kitchen. It had to be clean. It was a bonding experience."
© Dave Allocca/Starpix/ShutterstockOf course, being a mom-of-two, organization also lives in her blood, although not always. "I'm not going to say everything is always organized all the time, because it's not."
"The other night, I just couldn't do the dishes after a long day, and it was a full sink," Eva recalled. "I knew I was going to hate it in the morning, and I did. But, with two kids, there are times you have to let it go."
© Getty ImagesConfessing to desiring control when it comes to her cleaning routine, she admitted: "I like everyone out of the kitchen while I'm cleaning. That's why cleaning after hours works well for me. I'll put the kids down and just come back and listen to a podcast or some salsa music and do it."
With all the different business ventures she's juggling, between Skura and her different endorsements, and being a dog mom too, when it comes to the summer months, the Training Day star admitted she was unsure of where that time will go, but wants to cherish them.
© Instagram"We just go with the flow," she remarked, sharing rare insight into vacation plans (or lack thereof) with the family. "I'm not blaming my kids, but summer is their time to be kids, and I'm really taking it in."
"Our little one turned nine [earlier this year], and our oldest one is 10," Eva continued. "I know these moments are fleeting. I just want to be with them. Whatever I'm doing, as long as I'm with them and Ryan, of course, that's where I'm happiest."
