EZ Beauty: Grey Days Ahead

The beauty industry is wising up to the spending power of 50-plus women.

Witness the recent announcement that 69-year-old Helen Mirren, the unofficial spokeswoman for living fabulously after 50, will be the new UK ambassador for L’Oreal Paris.

And she’s in good company. Tilda Swinton (53) will head up NARS’ spring 2015 campaign (a baton she was handed by fall 2014’s face Charlotte Rampling), while Jessica Lange fronts the Marc Jacobs beauty line.

Actress Tilda Swinton. Photo: François Nars

It’s refreshing to see older women assigned to products outside of the anti-aging category. There’s no reason why a 50-something consumer would not still be interested in the latest cheekbone sculpting bronzer (because really, who wouldn’t want that kind of pain-free enhancement?).

In the paint and powder world that is the beauty industry — one where women never seem to age above the age of 29 — this new inclusive wave is a welcomed change, but it’s not a surprise.

The cosmetics giants are still more inclined to cast young beauties with line-free faces to star in their adverts, but these companies can’t ignore the massive 50-plus demographic and the spending power older adults bring with them. The luxury brands are especially attuned to this as older women are the consumers who have the money to buy their pricey, prestige products.

And if you want their dollars, it just makes sense: you have to market to them. Put faces like theirs in magazine adverts, on TV screens, and across billboards.

Get ready for the grey days ahead.