My thoughts are trained to gravitate toward youth. I imagine up-and-coming models like Karlie Kloss and Cara Delevingne, or 20-something actresses like Blake Lively and Jennifer Lawrence. To me, sadly, beauty is usually defined through stereotypically "fresh" faces — but NARS and Marc Jacobs Beauty are redefining "fresh" this fall, opting for mature faces to front their new campaigns.
NARS has decided to use 68-year-old British actress Charlotte Rampling in press for their Audacious Lipstick fall cosmetics line, while Marc Jacobs just released images of 64-year-old Hollywood darling Jessica Lange.
Charlotte Rampling
You can still see the lines on actresses' faces when the brands could have left those "flaws" on the cutting room floor. The ads speak to what cosmetics should be: a simple enhancement of your experiences in life. Makeup should give you more confidence, but it's not what makes you more beautiful. It's just another reason for those laugh lines.
Jessica Lange
Now that I've seen these images, I'm surprised we haven't seen more mature, natural beauties among the younger crop we always see in magazines — because at the end of the day, youth fades quickly but true beauty never dies out. Both Jessica and Charlotte are stunning examples of aging gracefully, and capture the purest idea of what makes someone beautiful; it's exuding depth and character instead of perfectly toned figures or wrinkle-free faces.
Lines give these images life. And, having really lived (in your makeup or out of it) is all that matters.
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