The Best Beauty Ads EVER.

By BR Kellie

Every day we are exposed to hundreds upon hundreds, even thousands of advertisements. From brand labels, to radio commercials, to ads on bus shelters, to product placement in the movies we watch, everywhere we turn someone is trying to sell us something. It can be tough to stand out, and in recent years we see people going to extremes to make their product that much more interesting, that much more desirable, that much more extra.

Even the beauty industry is no stranger to creating interesting and catchy advertisements. Most recently this particular ad – or as it’s being called, a music video for Kenzo World has caught our eye.

Directed and written by the incredibly talented Spike Jonze, KENZO World features actress Margaret Qualley pulling out some amazing and sometimes vaguely terrifying shapes and facials to a song called “Mutant Brain” by Sam Spiegel and Ape Drums and featuring Assassin. Does it show you the perfume? Yeah, not so much. But according to Kenzo’s artistic directors it’s more representative of today’s Kenzo girl, a girl who isn’t nostalgic, likes movement and speed and stands out from the crowd. Take a look and judge for yourself.

Kenzo’s music video caused a bit of nostalgia in the Beauty Review office, as we got to thinking about our favourite beauty ads, which we then tracked them down for you to watch.

First up, this was one of the first jingles to stick in this Pixie’s brain. I wanted to be a Wella Woman, with my hair all bouncy and shiny and pretty, and fun, and suitably angry when I got a run in my pantyhose. But then Pantene came along at the time I could afford to buy my own shampoo and conditioner, and Rach won me over. Sorry, Wella… but I still know how to sing your jingle!

Dove’s Real Beauty campaigns are wonderful things to watch. Even the most cynical of people who would say they’re only taking their stance to sell products (which, yes, because it’s a business, but still…) would surely agree it’s good to see a beauty company using women we’d pass on the street and relate to, to promote their brand, rather than a gorgeous model who’s probably been photoshopped to within an inch of her life in order to promote some unattainable beauty ideal. Our favourite? The Real Beauty Sketches campaign. Seeing women describe themselves to a sketch artist, then comparing those pictures to the pictures of how other saw them, and coming to the realisation they’re more beautiful than they realise is a tear jerker. Heck, I’m all damp cheeked after rewatching it just now.

Covergirl has long had amazing spokeswomen, ranging from Christie and Tyra, to Drew and Zooey, to Queen Latifah, Pink and Zendaya, but our favourite? Well she might have been more whoopsydaisy than easy breezy, but she sure was beautiful. Ellen Degeneres, come on down!!

It was a three-minute film that it also said to be the most expensive ad ever made. With a budget of US$42 million, it was directed by Baz Luhrmann and starred Nicole Kidman and Rodrigo Santoro. A film about a love affair that if anything only enforces our love affair with Chanel. Elegant, fun, alluring, No. 5 The Film is one of those advertisements that once seen is hard to forget. (Although we’d quite like to forget the sequel…)

Never has Old Spice looked so good. Never have we laughed so much. Never have we thought a man stating he was riding on a horse was so darn hilarious. Previously Old Spice was the domain of our dads, this advertising campaign brought its sexy back.

Of course if we could be so bold as to have one uber favourite ad campaign of all time, it would be ours. Have you checked out the Beauty Pixies in action?

So do tell… which beauty campaigns have stayed with you over the ages? What are your favourites, and why? Chat away…