Beauty,  Beauty News,  Beauty Product Launches,  Nuance,  Salma Hayek,  WWD

Beauty News: Salma Hayek Launches Nuance Beauty Line

Salma Hayek couldn’t keep her hands off guests Thursday during a luncheon to unveil her 100-stockkeeping-unit Nuance Salma Hayek line that will bow in August exclusively in 7,000 CVS Pharmacy stores and online. In the sun-basked dining room of The Mondrian Hotel, Hayek dabbed her secret potions on CVS executives and beauty editors. “You have to try this,” said the petite Hayek as she held the hand of Lori Bloom, wife of CVS’ Mike Bloom, executive vice president, merchandising, supply chain, marketing and advertising. “It will get rid of my wrinkles,” smiled Lori Bloom.

To say that Hayek is passionate about her new beauty endeavor with CVS, would indeed be putting it mildly. The project, which she said has been on her mind for almost 10 years, in the works for six years and under development for the past three, had the actress literally in tears and on the edge of her cushioned chair. To the crowd, the Mexican beauty convincingly discussed how she sought to create a line to honor her grandmother’s beauty secrets, a cosmetologist who studied at Vichy Labs in Paris, and who also combined Native American and Mayan remedies into her potions. Ingredients used by her family, some not even known to top chemists, are cornerstones of the collection and range from familiar rosewater to the more obscure tepezcohuite.

Nuance Makeup by Salma Hayek to Launch at CVS Photo courtesy of WWD.com

 

“I took three years off my [acting] career to work on this,” she said in an exclusive interview with WWD. “This is not something that required 14 hours. Nooo, baby. This has been a full-time job.”

CVS executives couldn’t ask for a more honest and compelling spokeswoman and co-developer of the brand, which the company hopes will elevate the retailer above the rest of the mass market. “This is another first in our evolution of the beauty business,” proclaimed Bloom. “We’ve been committed to leadership in beauty.” According to industry experts, Nuance is the first drugstore, full-line assortment supported by a celebrity.

“It is important for us to be first,” said Cheryl Mahoney, vice president merchandise manager beauty care, personal care.

Nuance, Hayek divulged, “was not her first choice of brand name” but everything happens for a reason, as it aptly explains a point of difference of the line.

“Beauty is about subtle differences and the celebration of what you have,” said Hayek, who paused to apply Nuance lipstick in a shade called Playful, topped off with a gloss called Berry. The bit of color gave her a polished look, without detracting from her colorful printed YSL blouse and YSL black trousers.

While most are intrigued with the idea of a celebrity-backed line at mass, the burning question with Nuance is that Hayek is not most celebrities. With her status (she is an Oscar-nominated actress and Golden Globe winner) her connections (her husband is PPR chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault) and overall clout (she is a producer, director and philanthropist) why partner with a drug store chain?

On cue, Hayek delivered an answer most would expect. “It is possible to create extraordinary product for a low price. Everyone should have the right product at the right price. A lot of products don’t even cost a lot to make. I wanted to make simply the best product and give everyone access to the good stuff.”

Price points range from $7.99 to $19.99 for an antiaging supercream. It is estimated Nuance Salma Hayek will generate $35 million in first-year sales.

Ingredients that Hayek is most proud she brought to the table include prickly pear, which is in the body cleansing gel for moisture; mamey, which is in the volumizing hair sku to strengthen and thicken locks; and tepezcohuite, which is in the AM/PM Anti-Aging Super Cream, and is typically used on burn victims and has been 100 percent proven to generate red blood cells, she said.

There are also nontraditional beauty items in the line, such as a Correcting Spot Treatment 10% Sulfur Acne Treatment, which she said contains licorice to address the after effect of a blemish.

“It’s easy to address the pimple. That goes away in one day. It’s the red spot that drives you crazy.”

Read the entire report at WWD.com.
Report and photos  from WWD.com

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