Lessons from the stylish: Jasmine Hemsley, 30, chef

"I can tell when I'm needing a steak," says Jasmine Hemsley. "And when I need a steak, I just need the fat. I have to have a rib-eye - lean meat doesn't do anything for me." I know what you're thinking. This girl looks like she hasn't encountered a piece of fat since 1997. But that's the great thing about Hemsley's cooking methods: fat isn't off the menu - it's positively encouraged.

Jasmine set up her business, Hemsley + Hemsley, with her 28-year-old, equally gorgeous sister Melissa in 2010. They make and deliver healthy, hearty meals to clients (read: pop stars on tour, actors on a health kick), all adjusted to their personal requirements. Their focus is on organic, nutrient-dense ingredients - lamb chops with tangy watercress salsa verde, or chestnut pancakes with orange blossom coconut yogurt. Recipes on their website are photographed in delicious detail. Next month, their cookbook will no doubt cement the notion that buckwheat is sexy.

READ: Nut milk, an It-blender and a recipe for Vogue's new Nigellas

Their biggest challenge, however, is to shift perceptions about fat. "We've always been taught to have low-fat things, but often low-fat equals added sugar and added chemicals," Hemsley tells me over mint tea and a Paradise bar - a chocolate-covered square of desiccated coconut she has made for me to try. "People think that butter, bone marrow, the skin on the chicken, is bad for you, but that's the real stuff. It's only when you eat butter with artificial, over-processed refined breads, for instance, that you can't stop."

The daughters of a Filipino mother and an English Army officer father, Jasmine and Melissa were always taught that eating was the remedy for everything. "The famous Filipino phrase is 'Did you eat yet?'" says Hemsley. "Even if you've just eaten, you eat more. If you have a headache, a cold, you're tired - eat something." In small-town America, say, this mentality would likely have engendered obesity. In Surbiton, where the sisters grew up, it merely had the effect of converting Jasmine into a swimwear model.

"Until a year ago, I had been modelling since I was 19," says Hemsley, who has featured in campaigns for Marks & Spencer, Olay and The Body Shop, and appeared in commercials for Mercedes. "I spent most of my time thinking, 'I've really got to get a proper job.' Somehow, 10 years went by."

Jasmine loves: Pop jeans, £190, Acne, matchesfashion.com ; RMS Beauty Lip2Cheek, £28; beingcontent.com ; Kure Bazaar polish in Stiletto, £14.95; s elfridges.com

It was modelling that got her thinking about diet. "I was doing lots of lingerie shoots and I could really feel the difference between foods that made me bloated and others that didn't. It's a horrid feeling, having to suck your stomach in." I make a blithe remark about eating disorders, and she rejoins: "You'll meet every kind of eating idea from full-blown disorders to people totally ahead of the curve. Modelling is quite a holistic game; everyone's quite well read." In short: if you want to look like the girl next door, you've got to eat healthily.

In 2010, after copious amounts of reading - she mentions Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon - Jasmine began offering cooking lessons to friends. Word of mouth secured her first Hollywood client, a high-profile male actor whom she refuses to name. "I went to his house and cooked all his food for a week," she recalls. "The recipes were based on bone broth. I started by making vegetable and chicken soups and then introducing more raw food. It helps improve digestion, so you lose weight as a result." The actor gave a stellar endorsement, more clients followed. After roping in her sister and boyfriend of 11 years, Nick Hopper, a photographer and model, she quit modelling, set up a blog, and scored a food column in British Vogue.

It undoubtedly helps that the Hemsleys have the looks, and the wardrobe, to go with the mantras. Jasmine describes herself as a shopaholic in remission. As a model she was unable to resist the lure of a sample sale. "There's a lot of hanging around between castings, so I was always popping into H&M or a sale and buying something that didn't quite fit which I never wore."

Today she's wearing a typical outfit of Proenza Schouler flats, Rag & Bone skinny jeans and a Sonia Rykiel sweater, pilfered from her neighbour and best friend, Emma. "I don't have the time to shop now," Hemsley says, looking sheepish, "so I borrow clothes from Emma. Every now and again she gives me a bag of second-hand bits. She's moving house soon and I am going to be so bereft." She adores coats - "my favourite is an asymmetric navy-blue mac from Preen that cost a fortune" - and knitwear. "Last weekend I picked up a Lurex sweater at a car boot sale for £3 and I've been wearing it non-stop," she grins.

Swapping commercials for kitchens has given her greater freedom with her look. "The first thing I did when I left modelling was to cut my hair and paint my nails. Before, I always had to look the same." She's become an expert on organic beauty products, regularly popping in to Content Beauty, a shop in Marylebone, to pick up treats. "I used to spend money on a lipstick, wear it for two days, then never wear it again. Organic products are more expensive but I am more mindful now. I save lots of money using coconut and sesame oil on my body, the same stuff I would eat."

Back on the subject of food, I ask what would constitute a blowout meal. She looks stricken. "A burger? A steak? Definitely not pizza …" A week later she calls and leaves a rambling voicemail message. "I was thinking about your question, and I think it would have to be chips," she says, before launching into a description of how exactly they should be cooked. "In beef fat rather than refined vegetable oil. Delicious."

The Art of Eating Well by Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley is out on June 19 (Ebury Press, RRP £25). To order from Telegraph Books at £23 + £1.35 p&p, call 0844 871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk

***
Questions & Answers

How can you choose healthily when eating out for dinner?
Fill up on vegetables. At restaurants, always ask for a vegetable side where you can and don't be afraid to swap things in and out of your order to maximise on veg and cut down on refined carbs.

Your favourite organic beauty products?
I love RMS cheek pots and nail polish from Kure Bazaar. They're all chemical‑free, in beautiful colours, and they don't smell.

A simple way to update a tired wardrobe?
My neighbour told me she was sick of seeing me in skinny jeans, so I went to Liberty and bought some Acne Pop jeans. They're a looser cut and look great with heels - plus, they're not too constricting. I like to feel I can move or be active.

How do you fit exercise into your schedule?
YouTube is a saviour. I do yoga videos with American yoga gurus Tara Stiles and Sadie Nardini. I used to go on long runs and do aerobics. Now I just do yoga and I'm more toned and stable than I've ever felt.

You love body oil. How is it made?
For 100ml of body oil, I pour roughly 40 per cent sesame oil, 40 per cent sweet almond oil and 20 per cent jojoba oil from my local health-food shop into a pump-top bottle and then add 25 to 30 drops of essential oil. I use lavender and mandarin essential oils to make a night-time oil and rosemary and eucalyptus for a refreshing morning one. I apply after a shower when my skin is only patted dry and still has a few water droplets on to help spread it.

Via: Lessons from the stylish: Jasmine Hemsley, 30, chef