If one was going to be cynical and think that Madonna’s foray into the skin care realm was a passing fancy in the vein of her Truth or Dare shoe-turned-lingerie line, her present intensity in both promoting existing products and creating new ones for her luxury brand MDNA Skin might turn him into a believer of her devotion. But because Madonna is Madonna and to do anything cliche in a conventional way would be something she equates with death, she is somewhat turning the industry of celebrity beauty on its ear by creating unforgettable ads both comical and “esoteric” in touting the benefits of her various wares (the latest of which is a high-density carbon roller called Onyx Black).
After a series of promos with, unfortunately, The Fat Jewish that explored the girls’ day of beauty angle in a humorous tone, it seems Madonna is once more ready to get serious–contemplative–in time for the generally macabre fall season. Enter her longtime collaborator, Steven Klein, who famously helped her turn a W Magazine fashion spread in April of 2003 (entitled “Madonna Unbound”) into an art exhibit/according coffee table book called X-STaTIC PRO-CeSS, highlighting all the benefits of those years of ashtanga yoga classes. As one of the many projects that have proven the duo’s dynamism together (ranging from short films like #secretprojectrevolution to bondage-inspired photoshoots with Katy Perry), it’s only right that Madonna should turn once more to the sole being who could help her create concepts centered around skin care as a means toward abstract advertising potential.
As she recently told Women’s Wear Daily, “Usually what Steven and I do is connected to my music or something artistic that I’ve done. I wanted to work with him because I wanted to present the skin care line and the beauty roller as a work of art, not just a gadget.” So it is that Madonna revisits a visual we’ve always associated with her since the beginning of her career: the bride. “Like A Virgin” once more, Madonna walks down a hallway holding her vibrator-like beauty roller while narrating, “Who do you spend your entire life with? Your skin. So marry it. Be good to it. Take care of it. Love yourself. Love your skin.”
Like a cross between Twin Peaks and a parody of 90s perfume ads, Madonna’s intensity in turning skin care pimpage into something more akin to a video installation you would see at the Centre Pompidou becomes even more grandiose as she offers us one of her go-to favorites for commentary on decadence, inhibition and narcissism (as she puts in her original read-along to an F. Scott Fitzgerald favorite): The Beautiful and the Damned. Using one of the most famous quotes from the novel, repackaged for the convenient use of her own beauty products, Madonna distortedly recites while overdressed in a “seedy” hotel room, “She was beautiful, but not like those girls in the magazines. She was beautiful, for the way she thought. She was beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn’t beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul. She is beautiful.”
In keeping with the idea of using lines from a, let’s face it, misogynistic oppressor who got all his material from his wife, Madonna flips the script on people always accusing her of being some sort of mainstream misandrist (a perception further solidified at the Women’s March that took place in January 2017) by insisting that, for once, she feels men are discriminated against when it comes to the beauty industry and who it caters to, musing, “I’ve considered this skin care line to be not gender-specific. I think men like it just as much as women. I would like to create some very specific products for men in the future. I do see that happening ‘cause I know a lot of men like the skin care line, so that’s definitely in the future.” Madonna went on to add, “In my opinion, it’s just sexist to say only women should take care of themselves. Men need to look good, too.” Of course, this could merely be coming from Madonna’s tireless sense of business acumen, knowing full well that the bulk of her most die-hard fan base consists primarily of aging “queens on the rag.” And yeah, gay men have all the income and spending power when they know well enough not to bother emulating the heteronormative path by adopting kids and therefore having to spend the majority of their income on said beasts.
https://youtu.be/uAaSnBGcqc4
The mantra of MDNA Skin is a fitting one for the childless, after all, espousing, “Love yourself”–and yes, Madonna’s entire oeuvre has always promoted autonomy and self-love as the only way to be truly empowered. And even back then, she was saturating the public with this message in a recondite way (e.g. “Open Your Heart” and essentially every other music video she ever made).
Madonna’s intentionally fragmented, arcane approach to publicizing her product speaks, once more, to a rare and inimitable stage in one’s career–one that affords the marvelousness of being able to take risks at a time when no one else seems to be willing to (neither in skin care, nor music). What’s more, rich people–the demographic M is targeting with this brand–love to be spoken to in riddles of a Mad Hatter variety. It makes them feel like they would be dumb not to buy something, wanting so badly to believe they understand the art behind the product.
Her timely emphasis on inserting a theme of “inner beauty” in many of these ads is also a strong indicator of how she has not forgotten the importance of capitalizing on a zeitgeist, therefore reading from the intro to Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey, “I want to apologize to all the women I have called beautiful before I’ve called them intelligent or brave. I am sorry I made it sound as though something as simple as what you’re born with is all you have to be proud of when you have broken mountains with your wit. From now on I will say things like, ‘You are resilient,’ or ‘You are extraordinary.’ Not because I don’t think you’re beautiful but because I need you to know you are more than that.” Yes, that Midwestern girl sure knows how to hawk a product with more creativity and incorporation of high art (not that Rupi Kaur is that, but probably seems to be to those who enjoy Instagram poetry) than anyone. And, in the end, Madonna is not interested in skin care, so much as the many conceptual ideas that can be used to sell it (making money is an art too, you see–just ask the man sleeping in the cardboard box who has no talent in it).
For those still concerned she might have given up the very profession that made her a star, Madonna assured, “I’m finishing my record, which I’m going to release next year. In between rose mist spray and serums, I’m actually making music. Can’t quit my day job.”
