Julianna Margulies to be the Face of L'Oreal RevitaLift

WWD reported today that Julianna Margulies has become the newest face of RevitaLift, the $100 million-plus anti-aging brand under L’Oréal Paris. Margulies, 44, said joining a beauty brand, especially one whose tag line she grew up reciting, seemed a natural fit.

I think it's a significant nod from L’Oréal Paris to the growing over-40 demographic and spending power! Margulies joins actress Andie MacDowell, 52, as a face of RevitaLift. Perhaps Margulies can help lift sagging sales for the brand, which WWD reports are down.

Marguilies told WWD, “I remember the first time I heard “Because you’re worth it." I was young, and I said to myself, ‘When I have money, I will buy beautiful products and feel I’m worth it.’”

Margulies, who lives in New York City, is a wife, mom, and working actress. Like many women, she is on the go 13 hours per day and don’t have the time to shop for skin care in department stores. The drug store, she said, plays an important role in meeting her beauty needs “as long as I can get excellent quality and affordable prices.” Her favorite L’Oréal items include Kérastase and EverStrong hair care, Revitalift Complete SPF 30 Day Lotion, and Preference hair color, which she said she has been using since 1996. When she has the time to indulge, Margulies said she treats herself to Tracie Martyn facials (which average $400 each) and massages at Soho Sanctuary. “They are my two biggest indulgences. It’s like putting money back into the product,” she said. I think, given what she has to have earned from ER to The Good Wife, those $400 facials are perfectly affordable!

The RevitaLift print and TV ads in which Margulies is slated to appear next year were shot in New York. They will focus on her skin, which she said hasn’t been cosmetically enhanced or subjected to needles or fillers, such as Botox, which freezes facial muscles, making it difficult to show expression. “I always have considered my skin [my best beauty asset] because I got lucky; I have small pores. I am also very pale, so I have stayed out of the sun most of my life.”

What I find interesting is that either Margulies or WWD felt it necessary to delve into her medical history and make it clear that she has not been "cosmetically enhanced." She's a gorgeous woman, and it shouldn't be anyone's business whether she has or hasn't had a little help.

I don't know whether celebrity faces lift sales or simply attract potential customers. Getting us to the counter is a critical step. What I do know is that I like the trend. Let's see more women over 40 showing that life and appearance can be beautiful!

You can read the full article with a subscription to WWD, a necessity for any fashion and beauty addict.

Photo courtesy of infocuts.com

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base

Here's a bargain-priced makeup primer that delivers on its promises! Want your foundation to stick around, despite your skin's tendencies to lose it after a few hours? What to maintain a matte, almost air-brushed look? You need this.

L'Oreal's Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base ($10.99 at Target, $12.99 regular price) promises instant smoothing results for perfect skin texture - instantly and all day. The silky, lightweight formula glides onto the skin and minimizes the look of pores and fine lines. Use it before your foundation, and your skin will have a unified, matte, and flawless finish. You may even find your favorite foundation suddenly has a new soft-focus finish!

Magic Perfecting Base boasts a high elastomer content, which gives the primer its unique, cushiony texture. The unique, creamy formula smoothes on fairly easily to disguise fine lines, wrinkles, and pores, while a combination of soft, light powders gives the skin a matte look and silky finish. A little bit of product from this little pot goes a long way. It's pretty easy to apply with fingers or a foundation brush. I use my fingers.

It works. For me, that's not necessarily good. It works a bit too well, delivering a matte finish that's not my personal best look. It takes the "luminous" out of my luminous foundation (I just need a little glow, please!). It does hold my foundation longer than it would last without a primer. I'm an odd case, though.

There are far too many women whose foundation slides off mid-morning, who break through with shine in their T-zone within a hour of two of leaving the house, and who will adore this primer. It was made for you! If you have combination or oily skin or just like a matte skin finish, you need to check out this primer. The formula is 100% oil- and fragrance-free, non-comedogenic, and non-acnegenic.

You can find Magic Perfecting Base at mass market stores and drugstores - wherever you find L'Oreal Paris products. I bought mine at CVS.

Photo courtesy of L'Oreal

Best Drugstore Beauty: L'Oreal Go 360 Clean Facial Cleanser with Scrublet

What a catchy idea! L'Oreal's new Go 360 Clean Facial Cleanser with Scrublet ($5.98 to 6.99) is a deep facial cleanser that has its own little scubbing pad that pops right into the front of the container - you won't misplace the little devil! This product should appeal to women and men.

The Scrublet is a super-soft, flexible cleansing disc that applies the cleanser with 500 extra-supple touch points that gently glide across the skin, activating the cleanser formula on contact, creating a high-foaming lather. This rich lather gives the pores a good workout, unclogging them, and gently removes traces of everything that doesn't belong there - oil, dirt, and makeup. L'Oreal says the new cleanser is clinically proven to clean better than traditional cleansers, resulting in more beautiful skin.

• Smaller pores: Go 360 Clean shrinks the appearance of pore size and refinishes the skins surface to reveal skin with more clarity.
• Deeper cleansing: Unique formulas reach down deeper to every last pore.
• Softer skin: Sweeps away dead skin cells for an extraordinary softening and smoothing effect.
• Easy to use: The Scrublet is fuss-free.

There are formulas available for every skin type. The Deep Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin (my choice) is a soap-free lotion that treats sensitive skin with extra-gentle care. The fragrance-free formula features glycerin and shea butter to condition skin while gently and effectively cleansing.

The Deep Facial Lotion Cleanser and Deep Cream Cleanser, both oil-free, have notes of naranji, orange flower, and mint for a refreshing fragrance and feel on skin. The formulas help reduce oily areas, dry skin patches, and blemishes with their deep cleaning, pore-by-pore action.

The Deep Exfoliating Scrub is a gentle, but effective scrub that exfoliates skin with natural apricot seed powder and salicylic acid to reveal perfectly clean, smoother skin. With a fruity apricot fragrance, this exfoliating scrub is gentle enough for daily use.

This is the perfect time of year to introduce scrubs that remove dead skin cells, which make you look and feel dry. The Go 360 Clean Facial Cleansers are pretty cool and deserving of the "Best Drugstore Beauty" label.

You can purchase these right now at CVS and Walgreens. By January, you should be able to buy them at all stores carrying L'Oreal products.

Photo courtesy of CVS

L'Oreal Paris Lipsticks - High Fashion at Drugstore Prices

I wish L'Oreal wouldn't put so much perfume in their L'Oreal Paris lipsticks! They are available in an incredible range of colors, with fabulous moisturizing properties, and I can't wear them. All because of the fragrance. L'Oreal Paris, can you hear me? Lose the fragrance, gain customers.

For you gals who are not troubled by heavily perfumed lipsticks or the scent of these lipsticks, however, L'Oreal Paris offers beautiful lip colors in their Colour Riche Lipcolour (you can find these at your local drugstore, drugstore.com, or Ulta). Available in every shade of the lip color spectrum, and featuring the latest in lip looks for Fall, Colour Riche Lipcolor has been made richer, creamier, and even more moisturizing. L'Oreal Paris has added Omega 3, Vitamin E, and Argon Oil to condition and hydrate your lips. The latest Colour Riche Anti-Aging Serum formula contains an anti-aging serum in the middle, loaded with ProXalyne and collagen to fill in any lines and make the lips look a bit more plump.

The Colour Riche Star Secrets colors feature various beautiful celebrities and show you how to create their lipstick looks. It's fun to follow the looks, even when they become shopping challenges. For some reason, the Diane Keaton look was one that was almost impossible to find. Fortunately, most of them can be found on featured displays at your drugstore.

How I would love to wear Berry Exciting (#203) or Blushing Bouquet (#201), beautiful colors for me and perfect for the season! CVS has a BOGO offer now. At drugstore.com, these are $9.99 and if you buy one, you can get the second at a 50% discount. As always, there will be other local drugstores with a BOGO offer - if not now, soon.

"Drugstore lipsticks" are the perfect way to test out the new Fall colors without breaking the bank.

Photo courtesy of drugstore.com.