Real talk? While I’m a longtime lover of Olay, it’s not a brand I automatically associate with the younger set. My Gen-X self inherited a love for the brand (then more commonly known as Oil of Olay) from my mother, who was taught by her mother and...well, you get it. But while it’s an enduring and much-beloved legacy brand, Olay obviously wants us to know they’ve got the millennial demographic in mind, too, casting Keke Palmer, one of the realest twentysomethings in the game (with her own GIF to prove it), as the flawless new face of Olay Body.
If I’m honest, growing up, I never saw myself in the towel-turbaned visage of the Olay models (though Lord knows I tried to mimic it), which makes Olay’s recent brand ambassadors all the more exciting. Palmer’s partnership with the skincare brand follows in the well-heeled footsteps of recent brand ambassadors Taraji P. Henson, Pose’s Mj Rodriguez, and Laverne Cox, a diverse representation of black womanhood that is not at all lost on its newest ambassador, who wrote on Instagram:
I used to watch these kinds of commercials on television when I was a little girl and very rarely, if ever, did I see a girl in them that looked like me. I always thought there was a special kind of beauty, or hair texture or complexion that you had to have to be considered for an actual beauty ad. Not to be mellow dramatic [sic] or whatever, but REPRESENTATION MATTERS. It truly does!!! I am just an American black girl, both my parents are extremely normal, I’m from a small and what would be considered “a nothing town”. Till this day, my best accomplishment will always be showing all the girls like me that there is NOTHING THEY CAN’T DO. NOTHING THAT CAN’T BE. NOTHING THEY CAN’T ACHIEVE!!! Whatever I have done, you can double. If you come from nothing and think there is something you’re missing, I’m here to tell you you’re not. The only thing you ever could be missing, is the belief that what God has for you IS ALREADY YOURS! Take it. Love you #OmgImInABeautyCampaign #OLAYBODY ❤️🙏🏾
As for the products, Palmer joins Rodriguez and Cox in taking the 14-day Olay Body Wash Challenge, which Palmer promotes in her recent spot for the brand. Seeing as we are at the height of Cuffing Ash Season, the timing couldn’t be better, as Olay promises “better skin in a body wash.” (And while I heavily apply trusted emollients like shea butter and coconut oil, I’ve also known the benefits of ingredients like Hyaluronic acid, which Palmer also touts in the ad, so I’m game.)
Will it work? Well, I’ll find out soon, as Palmer’s gleaming skin compelled me to dig my own Olay body wash out of The Glow Up’s beauty closet. I may not end up with a hosting gig on a morning show or my own GIF, but if I end up with softer skin, I’ll consider it a winter win.