In the beauty world, JLo’s skin-care line is one of the most, if not the most, highly anticipated launches ever. At 51 years old, the singer, actress, entrepreneur, beauty guru, mother and wife continues to break the internet with every photo she posts, and her signature “JLo Glow” continues to be the envy of women of all ages. In a recent Zoom meeting, JLo spilled all the juicy details about the collection we’ve all been waiting for—launching January 1—including her family beauty secrets, advice she was given by a dermatologist at 20 years old that has stuck with her every day since, and the mask she calls a “mini facelift.”
On the inspiration behind JLo Beauty…
“This has been a long time coming for me—a real passion project. I’ve been talking with Benny—who’s my manager Benny Medina—for about 20 years. We’ve been talking about doing a skin-care line, but also creating JLo Beauty, which would be a whole beauty company.
When it comes to skin care, I think I’ve tried everything out there, and what I’ve come to realize is that I have my own little secrets. I think the number-one question I’ve ever been asked when people meet me isn’t about movies or music or anything like that, it’s ‘What do you do for your skin? Where do you get that glow?’ and it’s always very flattering. I have lived my life in a certain way and have learned and practiced certain things that were kind of secrets. Even my closest friends are like, ‘Come on b***, what are doing with your skin?’ [laughs]. That’s a direct quote from one of my closest friends.
So, we’ve taken all of the little secrets and put it in a very succinct, beautiful, luxurious skin-care line that is also accessible. It was really important to me that it be luxurious and something that you’d think would cost tons of money, like the top, top skin-care brands, but it didn’t—it was actually accessible. Another reason is that one of the problems I’d always run into with skin care is that if I’d find a product I liked, after a certain amount of time, it would end up building up on my skin and I’d get milia and different things on my skin. There was always kind of a ‘buildup,’ which is something I wanted to eliminate with our skin-care line.”
On her “Five S’s”…
“The foundation of the brand is based on my secrets, which I call ‘The Five S’s,’ and they are my formula for great skin (in no particular order, but all very important):
- Sleep
- Sunscreen, which I’ve been using since I was about 18 years old as a moisturizer.
- Serum
- Supplements
- To live a healthy life, which in Spanish we say ‘Sano.’
These are the different tenets of JLo Beauty that I feel are a very simple routine, and if you follow it, you will have great, glowing skin. We really wanted a total sensorial experience and we landed on eight products addressing everything from hydration to plumpness and tightness, including products that offer instant and long-term, clinically proven results. The tagline for the company is ‘Beauty Has No Expiration Date,’ because to me, being ageless and youthful and timeless is not just a mindset. You can look great, not just ‘great at 50.’ The products are designed to keep you glowing inside and out, which means taking care of yourself inside and out.”
On the hero ingredient…
“Our hero ingredient and the basis of the line was kind of a secret that my mom and aunt had that I learned about when I was very young is olive oil. Very basic, it’s kind of like nature’s secret ingredient that we just don’t use enough of. But also, we don’t want to smell like a salad so you don’t want to be using just straight olive on yourself, so we did a combination of olive-derived squalane, fermented oil, olive leaf extract, and extra virgin olive oil. It’s a modernized version of a secret beauty ingredient and it was a favorite of everyone in my family for delivering glow. It delivers a weightless, all-day hydration and antioxidant protection. It’s not heavy—I don’t like stuff that’s too heavy. I like stuff that just goes into the skin, soaks in and really does what it says it’s going to do, which is hydrate and tighten and plump, and all that stuff.”
On what makes each product special…
That Hit Single in a Gel Cream Cleanser ($38)
“We call it that because it’s like a one-stop-shop. It removes everything without stripping. Obviously I wear tons of makeup, as you can see [laughs], and I like to be able to wash it off at the end of the day. Honestly, my favorite face is my face with no makeup. I love to discover her at the end of the day again. This one is rich and creamy and gentle enough to use on fresh skin in the morning and strong enough to take off all your makeup at the end of the day. And I love the way it smells—it was super important to me that the scent be pleasant and not overwhelming. I love how it leaves my skin clean and clear and radiant.”
That JLo Glow in a Multitasking Serum ($79)
“This is a very special product, and people are very into serums right now. We see people all over the internet and Instagram dripping these oily serums all over their face. To me it looks like they’ve just been cooking with grease [laughs]. That’s not really the desired effect for me. I took me two years to create this—26 versions—because I just wanted it to really really work. You put it on and felt something happen instantly, but also be like vitamins for your skin. It just took time to get it right. It’s packed and potent and visibly firms and tightens. I put it in my hand and then slap it right on my face so my face gets the entire thing, and then I also do my neck. As it seeps in, you’ll feel it begin to tighten and you’ll see a glow. It takes about 30 to 45 seconds for it to really dry before you put on moisturizer. I use it twice a day.”
That Big Screen in a Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Moisturizer ($54)
“This one is an SPF 30 moisturizer—we kind of call it our day cream. It’s like whipped cream—it looks like it tastes good. It’s super light in texture and it’s one of my favorite products. A dermatologist advised me when I was about 20 years old to use sunscreen daily. I went to one on my own, and he said I should use sunscreen as a moisturizer every day to protect my skin and keep me from getting lines and wrinkles as I get older. I asked him if I needed a separate moisturizer too and he said no. I did it from the day he told me, and it’s been one of the best things I ever did. I said, ‘We will not have JLo Beauty skin care without the sunscreen.’ That’s one of the biggest secrets I tell everybody that they do not take seriously enough.
Every day our skin goes through not just sun damage, but also environmental damage. Just having a sunscreen on every day will make all the difference in 20, 25 years. If kids started at 15 years old when they spend so much time outside with their friends, it will make a huge difference in how they look when they get older.”
That Blockbuster in a Nonstop Wonder Cream ($58)
“This is a night cream. It’s not that heavy, but it’s rich and luxurious and I put this on top of the serum most days. It plumps, it hydrates, it nourishes, it’s continuous hydration all day, and it visibly smooths and reduces fine lines and wrinkles.”
That Star Filter in an Instant Complexion Booster ($39)
“We did four different shades of this—Warm Bronze, Pink Champagne, Rich Bronze and Rose Gold—so something should work for every single person. It’s really about being bronzed. I think when people think ‘JLo Glow,’ they think of a more tanned complexion, so it was important for us to have a versatile, blendable, instant glow. This would be your last step if you didn’t want to put on a ton of makeup for a little bit of highlight on your nose, cheeks, eyes—blend it out. You can use to highlight, bronze, diffuse, and it can be worn alone or under makeup. It also has skin-care ingredients in it like vitamin E.”
That Limitless Glow in a Multitasking Mask ($18; $48 for three)
“I’m going to release this video of the first time I tried this mask. It’s so funny and crazy because I flipped out after I used it. I put it on me, I put it on Alex, we both tried it. It’s infused with an ounce of our serum and penetrates extra deeply to visibly plump and firm. It also has these straps that go up and around your ears, so you get this pulling and tightening—it’s like a little little mini facelift in a mask. I’ve tried every mask; I love masks. I love them before I’m going to be a big event—it makes me feel like I’ve just had a facial—but they’re always very gooey and they kind of slide off your face and you kind of have to be still. With this one, you can walk about the cabin; it stays on. And when you take it off, honestly you have baby face. I like to call it baby face. It’s tightening, it’s glowy, it’s the most intense kind of hydration you can get from the line.”
That Fresh Take in a Fierce Eye Cream ($48)
“This eye cream is light and made to hydrate and brighten—it has a blurring complex that masks the appearance of dark circles. You can use this twice a day before moisturizer, gently patting it around your eyes. It also has peptides to help smooth your skin and reduce fine lines.”
That Inner Love in a Skin-Nutritious Dietary Supplement ($36)
“These are dietary supplements. When I first started really investigating skin care and learning about it from different doctors, one of the things I learned is that inflammation and dehydration are what causes aging. And these supplements attack inflammation from the inside out. We die from inflammation eventually, so the idea is to try to keep it down by having a healthy diet and taking supplements that can help with that part of your digestive system. I want these to be a big part of people’s skin-care routines, and general routines overall.”
On her thoughts about adding an exfoliator to the line…
“We thought about a face scrub, but I’m not a huge fan of face scrubs. When I was about 28 years old, they gave me a scrub and I developed a kind of rash around my mouth because of it. A lot of these apricot scrubs and different kinds of scrubs on the market are super damaging for the skin, and you can overdo that type of stuff and really cause different skin conditions. If we’re going to do an exfoliator, it’s going to take time so we can find something that doesn’t contain those harmful agents for a deeper clean. But, we are coming out with a body scrub soon. We have body lotions, oils, scrubs, creams coming. We’re going to take care of the skin everywhere, all over.”
On what Alex [JLo’s husband, Alex Rodriguez] thinks of the products…
“It’s funny because we only had a certain amount of samples for a while, so I had to share mine. Sometimes I’d say, ‘Have you seen my little tester?’ and it’s in his toiletry bag. He’s definitely into it and loves it.”
On what her daughters think of the products…
“The girls, it’s funny. I think about everything that they would like because this is a generation that’s so into skin care. Whereas when I was 12, 13, 14, I wasn’t. I guess because of the internet they have so much more access to so many things and they see all the older girls and what they’re doing and they want that to. I have a video with them trying some of the first samples as well. Maybe I’ll release that one day. We had little moments over the past year where Alex and I were trying all of the products as they came in and then sending them back with notes, like ‘No this smells funny, the kids are not going to like this.” But I really believe this skin-care line is for people from 12 to 72 and beyond. It really is for everyone and it’s really about having the most simple, effective products—having a great skin-care routine that won’t build up on your face over time. You can use them forever and ever. That’s our goal with every product we’ve developed.”
JLo Beauty will launch on jlobeauty.com on January 1, 2021, and at Sephora, sephora.com and Amazon on January 14, 2021.
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