Mexican-born Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o has been unveiled as the new face of beauty brand Maison Lancôme on Friday, Apr. 4. Given the actress' success on the red carpet this past award season, it should come as no surprise that the French beauty brand chose her to represent their beauty line.
"Her instinctive and sophisticated talent and one of a kind beauty, both delicate and strength-exuding, has taken the world by storm," said Lancôme in a statement regarding their decision to make the 31-year-old actress their brand ambassadress, reports Daily Mail UK. "She is an outstanding example of a natural beauty; confident and simply true to herself, she embraces life with freshness, citing happiness as the most attractive form of radiance."
Nyong'o, who recently won an Academy Award for her performance in "12 Years A Slave," will be joining Lancôme's current brand ambassadress': Kate Winslet, Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, and Penélope Cruz. Her campaign will be launched in the summer of 2014 and will be shot by shot by star photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
Latin Times believes Lupita Nyong'o is an excellent choice and here three reasons why:
1. Nyong'o is a role model for women of color who are struggling to accept their skin color. In many parts of the world--Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia--the skin lightening and skin bleaching market is booming from consumers who want one thing: lighter skin. A 2012 report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that 77 percent of women in Nigeria skin-lightening products--and that's Nigeria alone.
Nyong'o has been vocal about her struggles accepting her skin color and talking about "dark beauty," which is something that can benefit society and the self-esteem of young girls around the world. While accepting the Best Breakthrough Performance Award at Essence magazine’s annual Black Women in Hollywood luncheon, Nyong'o addressed these very issues.
“I want to take this opportunity to talk about beauty, black beauty, dark beauty," said Nyong'o, while adding that she used to pray about waking up to lighter skin. "But around me the preference for light skin prevailed, to the beholders that I thought mattered I was still unbeautiful. And my mother again would say to me you can’t eat beauty, it doesn’t feed you and these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be. And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you."
2. Nyong'o has a fresh take on beauty and its significance.
"I am truly honored to join the Maison Lancôme, a brand with such a prestigious history and that I have always loved," said Nyong'o, graduate of the Yale School of Drama, in a statement, reports US magazine. "I am particularly proud to represent its unique vision for women and the idea that beauty should not be dictated, but should instead be an expression of a woman's freedom to be herself."
3. Nyong'o is a beauty and fashion icon. If the red carpet of the past award season has proven anything about Nyong'o, it is that the actress is a sartorial sensation and a beauty icon. Nyong'o came dressed and styled to perfection at every red carpet, boasting bright colors and simple, but eye-catching, beauty looks. Taking into consideration that makeup brands are notorious for having limited options for women of color--yes, this is slowly changing--Nyong'o's new beauty deal comes at the perfect time. Women around the world want to emulate her red carpet looks and now they will know exactly which products to consider.
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