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Mariska Hargitay is writing her own beauty rules.
On Sept. 18, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actress and executive producer, 61, is starring in her first-ever beauty campaign as she partners with Cetaphil to launch the brand’s new Skin Activator Hydrating & Firming collection.
The opportunity drew a response of “absolutely” from the mom of three, who’s been using Cetaphil since her youth.
“This is a brand I actually have an authentic, historical connection with,” Hargitay tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I have been offered other [partnership opportunities], and I have thought, ‘I don’t know if I want to tell people to use that product because I don’t know that I want to use it,’” she shares.
This was different.
“It’s organic — the brand has always meant something to me. When I was a little girl, we grew up with basic soap and a simple shampoo from the drugstore and supermarket. And, I remember going over to my best friend’s house, and she had sensitive skin. Her mom would say, ‘Wash your face,’ and would pull out the Cetaphil.”
“As a kid, it got programmed in me that this was a special product for special skin, and was like, ‘I want to be special.’ So I always had an emotional connection to the brand, and now I have a daughter [Amaya] who actually does have sensitive skin, so of course I started buying Cetaphil for her.”
Carin Backoff
Hargitay’s youth also shaped her outlook on beauty.
“I grew up with a dad [Mickey Hargitay] who loved a natural look. I remember when I would wear makeup, he would be like, ‘Hey, you didn’t wash your face.’ Growing up with a family that loved a makeup-free, natural face was one of the foundational keys of my self-esteem with how I look.”
Hargitay’s interest in her skin began “when I started working consistently and having so much makeup on,” she says. “I said, ‘I’ve got to get all this stuff off my skin. I want to preserve what’s under this.’”
That doesn’t mean Hargitay doesn’t like makeup — she jumped at the chance to rock a red lip for Cetaphil’s campaign — the actress just wants to look and feel her best as her authentic self.
That’s where this fragrance-free, non-comedogenic and hypoallergenic collection — which was designed for all skin types — comes in.
The trio of formulas, which were co-created with dermatologists, are powered by microdosed alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) and encapsulated centella asiatica (CICA) to jump-start surface skin cells that stop performing as we age, causing in fine lines, dehydration and looser skin, according to a press release.
For someone who doesn’t have a consistent routine, incorporating the Cetaphil Hydrating & Firming Cream for Neck, Chest, and Face, as well as the Hydrating & Firming Cream for Body and Hydrating & Firming Lotion has stuck.
“I fell in love with the products because I saw results so quickly and that surprised me,” she says, adding, “And I love how they feel.”
“I trust the brand, it’s come through on its promises,” Hargitay continues, adding that the rejuvenating innovation “is exciting also for me, who is [filming] in the elements, and who sometimes I don’t get a chance to drink enough water.”
Carin Backoff
When it came time to shoot the campaign, after using this new collection, putting her skin front and center was a must.
“It was beautiful, cool, sexy, current,” Hargitay says of the creative. “I thought, ‘Cetaphil is evolving.’ But it also speaks to how women evolve and what they can be and what we can grow into. I do feel that I get better and cooler and clearer and more authentic and raw and pure, and I feel that this product represents that for me. So it was very empowering in a way that surprised me,” she said of the experience.
It also served as an opportunity to reset, Hargitay shares. “I’m so focused on my children, on my foundation [she launched her nonprofit in 2004], my film [her documentary about her mother Jayne Mansfield came out on HBO in June], SVU and all my responsibilities, so it was exciting to have this moment to remind myself about self-care.”
While the campaign is red-hot, Hargitay says she feels hot in real life when she’s “comfortable, relaxed, and authentic — and I don’t care,” she says, clarifying, “When I care more about what I think than what others think. That’s happening more and more. It’s an exciting place to be because as women so many times, we are programmed to please, to accommodate. And that is one of the gifts of getting older. I love it.”
Hargitay isn’t just taking aging in stride, she’s embracing it. “I love getting older,” she says. “I love the peace that’s come with it. I love the internal space that I have back. I love the ideas that come into my head. I like being able to say, ‘no.’ It’s hard, [but] every year it comes a little bit easier. But it’s not angry no, it’s no with love.”
With the tagline, “wake up your skin,” Hargitay isn’t just championing an outer boost but an inner one as well. “Wake up your skin, wake up yourself. Let’s open ourselves up to all of it in such a beautiful way,” she says.
Carin Backoff
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Hargitay admits there was maybe one person better suited for this campaign: her mother.
“She had five children and all the kids were dressed perfectly. I think about the work that went into that. And I think about how fresh and natural, but also how elegant and classic she always looked. She should have done the Cetaphil campaign. She was so beautiful and glamorous that I am in awe of all the things that she managed. I do feel she was so ahead of her time. She was an iconic beauty that valued and put such care into all of it. And I now, from making the movie, appreciate it so much more in a new way.”
Mansfield died in 1967 at age 34. At 61, Hargitay says she’s come to “embrace” her beauty journey.
“There’s so much wisdom in it. For me, I do feel more beautiful than I ever have because I feel more integrated with all the different parts of myself. Again, this idea of owning all the powers instead of one thing: our vulnerability, our sensitivity, our badassery, our beautiful brains and our compassion and our empathy. These are the most beautiful qualities. And so I think that beauty is an affair of the heart. Beauty is in a smile — and hydration.”
