Scarlett Johansson has a new “clean” skincare line out called The Outset. The packaging features an all caps font in blue and the promotional materials are so bad they could pass for a parody. The line is out now and it’s overpriced compared to similar lines like The Ordinary, Tree of Life and Eva Naturals. There are only five products and the serums and creams are all over $40. Scarlett did an interview with InStyle and she was just as pretentious as she always is.
The decision to start a skincare brand of her own came at the same time that Johansson decided to stop doing beauty endorsements, which she had been doing for years with brands such as L’Oréal Paris and Dolce & Gabbana. “It just no longer felt desirable to represent other people’s beauty ideals,” she said. “I had a better sense of self and confident in my point of view in this space. [The decision] mirrored my acting career in the sense that I wanted to take charge of my own career in a way…”
And while Johansson’s pick is the night cream, her husband, SNL comedian Colin Jost, is particularly fond of the eye cream. “He’s the first partner I’ve ever had that uses an eye cream,” she says, adding that it fills all his needs and jokes that it’s why he looks so good on Saturday nights. However, as her partner, he helped her test a few formulas, and it wasn’t always smooth sailing.
She explains that at one point, she had thought about adding a face mask to the skincare collection and was testing a formula. “I forgot to tell Colin it was self-warming, and he thought he was having a really crazy allergic reaction to it,” she shares while laughing. “He was like, ‘it’s spread and it’s melting off my face!’ He was completely freaking out…”
Her daughter, Rose, is seven-years-old, an age when kids are curious about everything. Johansson shares that it’s funny because Rose questions everything she does. “‘Why are you tweezing your eyebrows? Why are you curling your lashes? What’s a tampon? What’s it for?'” she laughs.
“She asked me why my underwear went up my butt crack, and I had to try to explain what a panty line was. I was like, “’cause you don’t want a line in your pants,” and she was like “Why?” And I was like, “’cause then you could see my underwear,” and she was like “But you are wearing underwear.” Like I know, it’s weird.”
I understand what she’s saying about wanting to go in her own direction, but she could have framed that better. Imagine getting paid four million dollars to represent a beauty brand, one that has other celebrity faces like Helen Mirren and Viola Davis, and then saying you were representing “other people’s beauty ideals.” (Four million is just what L’oreal paid her, I couldn’t find an amount for Dolce & Gabbana, but it was surely millions.) Scarlett was being well compensated to represent brands. She has a skincare line that’s different than those brands offer, because they have different priorities. She could have said “I wanted to move away from working with other companies and focus on clean ingredients instead of cosmetics” but instead she subtly shaded brands that paid her millions of dollars.
Also, was this the most revealing story she’s told about her daughter? I think it was.
so interesting that she mentions VPL – avoiding it was such an early 00s obsession! not sure she realizes she is dating herself lol
i love that VPL is not really a worry anymore for gen z
re: her products, looks like they contain some solid skincare ingredients but who is going to spend so much when you can get the same or better for less $$ through other skincare brands like the ordinary, inkey list etc
I live for The Ordinary-I have gone from a 26 makeup product full beat on the daily to wearing balmyard’s lip/cheek tint because their products make my skin look so good. ScarJo is pricing herself out of the range…
I love small label “clean” ‘beauty lines. I buy what my esthetician recommends so it tends to change when I’ve had to change estheticians but they all have similarly desirable properties: identifiable vegan ingredients and no animal testing.
No animal testing should always be a must across the whole brand. Not just the individual products. I’ve noticed some brands do this.
Unfortunately that’s true for all corporate brands because China requires animal testing and they don’t want to lose that market.
Thanks for mentioning Eva Naturals. I really love this company. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to makeup and skincare – committed to pricier brands and enjoy feeling like a rich French girl with my fancy products lined up in my bathroom. But lately (cuz of YouTube probably) I’ve branched out to smaller lines likes Eva, which is women owned and makes products that are super affordable and actually make a difference in my skin. I think they’re from Georgia, USA.
Eva Naturals is being sued for faulty advertising. Also the name implies it is a woman owned business, but if you look into it, it is owned and managed by men. Intentionally trying to deceive is pretty gross.
Those are some very basic skin care products you can easily get for a couple of pounds each elsewhere. Micellar water? Squalene? So you’re paying for packaging.
Squalane can be animal derived sometimes, too, so you have to research that one.
This is an easy pass. Most celebrity cosmetics/beauty brands feel like a cash grab and her brand is no different on top of being entirely too expensive. It’s giving me big Goop vibes
The blue text on the last image is making my eye twitch. I would love to know who signed off on that going to press.
That font AND that color of blue, on a white background no less! just doesn’t work for me. Plus in the ad, Scarjo has major bags under her eyes & looks like she has a mustache. Just not very good packaging/branding all around. And unless those jars/bottles are reusable, I don’t see how they’re going to be good for the planet. They’re awfully small for single-use items.
I use e.l.f cosmetics skincare products. They are vegan, cruelty free, and affordable so I will stick with that.
I use the Elf Poreless Face Primer (the pink one) and it is AMAZING for just a few dollars. It makes my foundation lay down like butter. It’s the best steal of a product I’ve ever found.
Lmao, everything about this is so try-hard, show-offy woke. Sure, we see how above it all you are.
She doesn’t actually look good in those photos. No glow, nothing.The PR photos don’t make me want to buy the products.
Haha It makes me wonder if her husband is playing a joke on her. I get definite SNL Vibes from that photo
There’s so many new skincare lines everyday. Personally i dont think i would ever buy celebrity owned skincare line, it just feels like a cash grab. ( And yes i get that obviously every company wants to make money.)
It is. It’s an easy stream of income she never has to do more than promote.
I normally avoid celeb beauty / skincare lines like the plague, but I have to say I made an exception for Rihanna’s Fenty products. I fell in love with her lip glosses and so I became curious about her skincare line…the Fat Water toner is excellent. It’s not cheap compared to drugstore toners, but IMHO it’s worth it.
These prices are pretty in line with most of what you’d find from smaller brands at Sephora or ULTA, so not cheap, but certainly not luxury prices either.
Milliemollie, yes. Where’s the glow? Dead eyes, too.
To make a solid skin care product imo can’t be done in mass quantities with ingredients for shelf life and stabilizing.
They will tell you the ingredient names, but not true active ingredients or percentages.
You mostly have to work from within your own body too.
I’m a graphic designer, and this looks so much to me like the Malin + Goetz branding. Which is nice, but not super original…
I physically can’t buy anything a celebrity told me to buy. I’ve tried. My brain, on its own, sends electrical currents throughout my body if I even simply THINK about celebrity shills. **OUCH** See?
I feel that too. But I got hooked on Fabletics during the pandemic, and I’m still working at home, so I’m still wearing them daily. It wasn’t about the celebrity as much as the requires very little thinking or effort on my part. I used to love picking out my daily outfit for work. It made the whole going to the office deal worth it, but something really changed in me during the shutdown.
Same. Well I haven’t tried, I simply will not.
what is she even talking about? Feeling self confident in her own point of view in this space – this space being dermatology? I don’t get celebrity skincare lines. I guess we are supposed to want to emulate that celebrity’s beautiful skin but I’d rather know the products they have been regularly using to avoid lines and marks than try something they just created a month ago for funsies because they are pretty
What they use for lines and marks is called a Plastic Surgeon. Or maybe Plastic Surgeon’s assistant, Facial Laser. 😉
She’s famous for being a beauty ideal. Wtf is she talking about.
Oh ScarJo, no. Should have stuck to making the man pay for digital streaming.
Being Goop Lite isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
I cannot believe that’s the promo pic they went with. I saw it earlier on twitter and thought it was a joke.
The picture is like she’s being punished in the Greek underworld or something. Sisyphus had to keep rolling that boulder, Tantalus could never reach his food, and Scarjohus was damned to sit in a white void until she sold all her skincare products.
The Body Shop, Derm-E, and Andalou Naturals for skincare.
Urban Decay for all things cosmetics – foundation, powder, lips, and eyes. Urban Decay colors are filthy overly dramatic. Loves it!!!
And Scarlett dear, don’t worry. I am one person who never looks to you as representing my beauty ideals.
I would never purchase a celebrity product . I know I’m paying for them to shill and I’ll get low quality product.
Ordinary and CorsX products are affordable and effective.
I don’t mind paying a bit for skincare (within reason) but there’s definitely nothing special about this line. Same with Jlo’s ~olive oil skincare.
I do use Fenty foundation and tinted moisturizer and I have a Rare Beauty lip product so I’m not totally opposed to celebs in beauty.
I’m commenting here to thank this website for introducing me to Eva naturals. My face LOVES the Vitamin C serum from then! The other stuff makes my face feel kinda meh, but that vitamin C thing makes my face really really happy. Thank you!
I guess I’m not in agreement with most of commentators here. I like the clean packaging, color and font. 🤷♀️