L'Oreal has signed sixty year-old Diane Keaton to represent the Age Perfect Pro-Calcium skin care line, set to be launched this July in the US. The deal will see Keaton promoting the line's restorative Hydrating Cream and Age Perfect Skin Supporting and Hydrating Make-up.
The move comes just weeks after the Paris-based cosmetics giant signed Jane Fonda, 68, to promote its Pro-Calcium's sister product Age Re-Perfect Pro-Calcium, in Europe.
L'Oreal's Perfect Pro-Calcium range targets women in the 60-plus age category, as does the Re-Perfect line. Both target older women's specific skin care needs.
L'Oreal is no stranger to working with mature women to promote its products. It has also worked with 62-year old French actress Catherine Deneuve back in 2002 when she was chosen as one of the faces for the company's advertising programme.
However, the recruitment of both Fonda and Keaton, who are both older than Deneuve when she worked with L'Oreal, reflect the growing importance of older woman to cosmetics companies.
A recent market report from Datamonitor suggests that woman over 50 years of age are now the primary targets for the fast-growing cosmeceuticals market, while, growth in the fast-developing anti-aging market is largely being driven by women aged 40-plus.
As the first of the baby boom generation begins to reach retirement age, many individuals are looking to ways of maintaining a youthful and healthy appearance. And they also have the financial means to do so, having a far greater disposable income than previous generations.
It is for this very reason that L'Oreal has big competition too, with all of the major cosmetics players following suit with mass market anti-aging and make-up lines being launched to target older women.
One of the biggest launches on the market in recent months has been Revlon's Vital Radiance range. This is a hydrating make-up line that has been specifically developed to meet with the requirements of women aged 50-plus and is currently being represented by 59 year-old American actress Susan Sarandon.
But a plethora of high profile women of all ages are being recruited by L'Oreal at the moment. So far this year L'Oreal has signed Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria and Beyoncé Knowles to promote specific cosmetics lines according to age groups.