Q&A with Mariah Carey

You look phenomenal! What's your secret to staying in shape and looking so fabulous?
My secret is diets. No, really... I have a very wonderful trainer. Her name is Patricia. She lives in St. Barts - poor her. So people are like "only you would fly someone from to St. Barts to New York to work out! What are you doing?" But the thing is that she's so great. Even if we're not working out, she monitors my diet and. It makes things easier.
And I still feel like I have a ways to go, but you know it is what it is. You know, when I first stated singing I was tiny - I didn't have much money to buy food, so let's face it I was skinner. But I don't think that people feel like you have to be a size zero, you know. And it does feel good when you get into a size three and you're like "it's a little big right in here". But it is what it is. I think we should all embrace who we are.
But my thing is it's about discipline. And I have a lot of discipline when it's time to get it together, I what I have to do. I didn't feel like I had gained weight, and then when I realized that you know "ooo look at those shorts I've had them for how many years, they fit now and they're actually kinda big!" It feels good. But to me it's about embracing everyone at the weight they're supposed to be. I'm not supposed to be a stick-figure girl. That's just not me.

What can you tell me about your upcoming album? Or what can't you tell me?
There's nothing that I can't tell you. The title I can't tell you because we're in-between a lot of titles. But the thing is: this is such an extension of me. I feel like I put everything - I put so much into it. I worked on it all over the world. I took a summer to travel to different places and work on it. I worked with a lot of great co-writers, co-producers because obviously I'm intricately involved in every aspect of the process of making an album. And I think this is a very fun record - probably the most fun record I've ever made. And that's tough to say after the Emancipation of Mimi. It's just one of those things. I really can't express it.

What collaborations with other artists can look forward to on the album?
I can't give 'em away cause then the next thing you know so-and-so will have 'em on their album.

Tell me about your collaboration with Elizabeth Arden and your new fragrance?
I gave them [Estee Lauder] a list of things that I like, and so basically we worked backwards from that. I mean, I guess it's working forwards. And they allowed me to have so much freedom in the process. I would say to them if this is wrong, tell me! And they were like you have the most commercial nose we've ever experienced. And I think it's because I don't wear perfume and people were always like "what are you wearing?" and I'm like "nothing. It's just me."

So what's the perfume like?
To me it's light, it's sexy, it's not overwhelming. It's more than sexy - it's sensual. It's something when you don't want to be over-powering, but you will be noticed.

(GlamScene)