Mariska Hargitay, recent off a directorial debut for her current “My Mother Jayne” documentary, is including yet one more title beneath her belt.
The actress has joined Cetaphil because the face of the model’s three-piece Pores and skin Activator Hydrating & Firming line, which debuts Wednesday. Priced from $10 for the Hydrating & Firming Neck, Chest and Face Cream to $17 for an allover cream and a separate lotion formulation, the vary goals to deal with the looks of nice traces and crepey pores and skin.
“I’ve all the time been a fundamentals type of lady,” mentioned Hargitay, who’s greatest recognized for her function as Olivia Benson within the long-running TV drama “Legislation and Order: SVU,” of her skincare routine. “I’ve delicate pores and skin, and Cetaphil has all the time been a model and a product that makes me really feel taken care of.”
Past her private connection to Cetaphil, what’s “most enjoyable” to Hargitay concerning the assortment is the expertise behind the merchandise. Developed by Alan Widgerow, chief science officer at Cetaphil guardian firm Galderma, the road faucets micro-doses of mandelic acid and centella asiatica in an intention to “get up” senescent, or dormant, cells, which proliferate throughout the getting older course of.
“We discovered that if we mix these two recognized lively constituents however in micro-doses, they’d a really surprising mixed impact,” mentioned Widgerow, including that whereas mandelic acid is named an exfoliator, in decrease doses it could “reenergize and reactivate cells.”
Mariska Hargitay for Cetaphil.
Courtesy of Cetaphil/Carin Backoff
The launch is a significant one for Cetaphil, for whom Millennial and Gen X-plus customers comprise roughly 50 p.c of its client base. “We’re seeing Gen X ladies drive a serious cultural dialog proper now, and it’s not about antiaging, it’s about reclaiming what getting older means,” mentioned Tara Loftis, international president of skincare and Cetaphil at Galderma.
In tapping Hargitay, who Loftis described as a “nationwide treasure,” Cetaphil is trying to drive that dialog additional.
“I’m rocking a pink lip, an attractive trench — it’s totally surprising,” Hargitay mentioned of the marketing campaign. “However that’s additionally what I’m about, is, don’t put me in a field, proper? As a result of you don’t have any concept what I’m able to.”
The launch marks the primary for Cetaphil, a minimum of post-2024 rebrand, which targets a demographic apart from Gen Z. Final yr the model tapped TikTok influencer Katie Fang to spice up its profile with its Mild Exfoliating assortment launch, which was Cetaphil’s “highest-performing launch of the final 5 years,” Loftis mentioned.
With the Pores and skin Activator assortment, Cetaphil appears to lean additional into the science-driven M.O. of Galderma, which grew 9.8 p.c in internet revenues in 2024 to an estimated $1.3 billion, per the 2024 WWD Magnificence Inc Prime 100 checklist.
“Skincare has by no means been extra aggressive or extra saturated than it’s now, and whereas it’s pretty straightforward to create a model that appears cool and present it to the fitting influencers, what’s extra scarce is highly effective science, and in order that’s what we’re tripling down on,” Loftis mentioned. “Our focus is on amplifying our science throughout our product, throughout our digital campaigns, and throughout each tenet of our advertising and marketing.”
Added Hargitay: “It’s thrilling to be this age and be unapologetic and to ask different ladies into that area — to step into our magnificence, into our energy.”
The actress-turned-director has felt this energy of late in additional methods than one. “My Mother Jayne,” which explored the lifetime of Hargitay’s late mom, Jayne Mansfield, was the second documentary movie she’s developed (she additionally coproduced the 2017 HBO Max documentary “I’m Proof”), and he or she has extra up her sleeve.
“I’ve fairly an urge for food,” Hargitay mentioned of what she’s envisioning when it comes to future tasks. “It’s form of fascinating since you do one venture and it sparks this bubbling-up of creativity, as a result of it’s virtually like now you might have extra space. New issues are coming that, earlier than, I’ll have been too afraid to sort out, however now I am going, ‘effectively, let me simply attempt to see what occurs.’”
