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Tag: twelve years a slave

  • Lupita Nyong’o: Oscar Winner is New Face of Lancome

    The beautiful Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, 31, is the new face of Lancome, joining Julia Roberts, Penelope Cruz and Kate Winslet in promoting the French company’s beauty products.

    The 12 Years a Slave star is an obvious choice for the gig — she already turns heads wherever she goes with her mesmerizing beauty and style.

    “What appealed to me about Lancome is that they’re not dictating what beauty is,” she told WWD. “What they do supports something that already is — and that was appealing to me, too. It’s what drew me to them. Hopefully it’s a symbiotic relationship — that I benefit from being associated with them, and they benefit from being associated with me, as well. And for the consumer at large, I think Lancome has a range of products for every woman, and I think having me will expand people’s understanding of, hopefully, what Lancome stands for, who Lancome is for.”

    The 31-year-old Kenyan-Mexican actress said in a speech at the Essence Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon in February that her darker complexion made her feel “unbeautiful” growing up.

    “I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned,” she said.

    She has a much different view of beauty today and embraces her own looks. But, more importantly, she says the light that comes from within is the true marker of beauty.

    “I had to give a speech about beauty right before the Oscars,” she said, “and for me, beauty is a compassion for yourself and those around you. And I think that in focusing on that, the light inside illuminates the beauty outside. The idea that Lancôme now has a few actor ambassadors is significant because actors are not just faces, they are spirits that people enjoy and relate to more than in an aesthetic way. We have the privilege of standing for something other than just looks.”

    Looking at tweets of the actress, it’s easy to see how that beautiful face might inspire the people at Lancome.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • 12 Years A Slave: Will It Win Best Picture For 2013?

    “12 Years A Slave” has come with a bang, and is receiving rave reviews online. Indeed, Vulture movies editor Kyle Buchanan has already awarded “12 Years A Slave” this year’s Best Picture trophy in his review. Already, the film has won the top award at the Toronto Film Festival. “Suspend the betting, close the books and notify the engraver,” wrote Kyle Buchanan after the film’s first Toronto screening, on Sept. 7. “I’ve just seen what will surely be this year’s Best Picture winner.”

    However, in September Steve Pond, The Wrap’s  Awards expert, thought that “12 Years A Slave” still had a long way to go because “the Oscar race is a marathon, not a sprint.”

    “It will likely win a number of critics’ awards, and it will be impossible for any serious voter to ignore when Oscar ballots become available in December. But does that make it an automatic winner? Not now. Not yet.” Says Steve Pond.  There are certainly valid points for and against the “12 Years A Slave” winning the grand trophy, but until then, we are better off concentration on the content of the masterpiece.

    Well, it’s now mid November and the film seems more like a shoo-in for The Academy’s Best Picture Award, but of course we have to wait and see.

    “12 Years A Slave” has been heralded as very emotional and a true picture of what it was like to be a slave in pre-civil war America. The film features Chiwetel Ejiofor acting as a free black man from New York who gets abducted and sold into slavery. The story, which moved Oprah Winfrey into tears while discussing it, is based on a true story of a man named Solomon Northup. Northup compiled his autobiography which was published in 1853, although many thought that it was fiction.

    12 Years a Slave was released in the US on October 13th and has been called a must-see by critics.

    (image via Wikipedia)