A photo posted by lorealparisuk (@lorealparisuk) onOct 10, 2014 at 2:41am PDT
Dame Helen Mirren is the new L’Oreal Paris Ambassador — but unlike nearly every other beauty campaign, you won’t be seeing her image retouched. The Telegraph UK reports that the 69-year-old Oscar winner signed only after agreeing to a campaign celebrating mature womanhood as opposed to your standard anti-aging approach. Mirren told the Telegraph, “I am not gorgeous, I never was, but I am OK-looking and I’m keen to stay that way.” (Well, what else is she going to say – I’m perfect and I’ll never be your grandmother no matter how hard you try?) As an ambassador, which is akin to being a brand figurehead, Dame Helen joins the ranks of lifetime beauties Julianne Moore and Jane Fonda.
Clearly celebrations of mature womanhood are having a well-deserved moment. Remember when American Apparel used a 62-year-old lingerie model earlier this year? That felt like a PR stunt, while this feels more sincere. But maybe that’s just because I trust anything Dame Helen does. If we have any chance of turning the corner on ageism, I trust her to lead the charge.
