Cate Blanchett was tapped (I would totally tap that) as the “face” of a new perfume by Armani earlier this year. These are the first images from the campaign. Lovely, right? The perfume is called Si, and if you couldn’t tell, this isn’t some Taylor Swift perfume. This is a perfume for women. Cate apparently scored a major payday for this campaign too – $10 million, one of the highest endorsement deals ever. Giorgio Armani said in a press release, “Si is my tribute to modern femininity, an irresistible combination of grace, strength and independent spirit.”
The perfume is being sold in England right now (at Harrods) and will be in stores worldwide later this year. According to The Telegraph, Si is a “big heady Italian scent, bursting with cassis and rich vanilla. But just as Blanchett adds a subtlety to the campaign, so do the notes of warm musky wood, rose de Mai, freesia and patchouli tone down the juice to turn its final form into a floral chypre.” I usually don’t like “rich vanilla” scents, but I do want to smell this. And I would like to smell like La Blanchett.
Incidentally, many, many people believe that Cate is a “lock” for a Best Actress Oscar nomination this year for her role in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, where she plays the wife of a Bernie Madoff-type who loses everything and goes to live with her sister in San Francisco. If the contest is between Cate and Julia Roberts? Um. Yeah, Cate. But what if Emma Thompson gets nominated for Saving Mr. Banks? WHAT IF I HAVE TO CHOOSE?!! Between Cate and Emma… oh God, I don’t even know. Also, do you know how I will FREAK OUT so much if this awards season ends up with Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, Emma Thompson and Cate Blanchett getting nominated for all of the big awards? OMG. It’s like the Academy read my dream journal.
Photos courtesy of Armani.
I bow down to my Goddess
+1
She is just class.. pure and simply put. Love her.
Unspeakably lovely. She could sell me anything and I would buy it just for the momentary suggestion that I could be somewhat like her in the smallest way.
Did they not even touch up her face? The little bags under her eyes, slight smile wrinkles. Good Grief she pulls it all off so well!
I don’t know how anyone can not like this woman or think as far as looks go she’s anything less than ageless perfection.
Amen.
She doesnt look like that in real life, kids. Too bad they didnt go with what she really looks like – because she looks wonderful. But not 30.
She does look closely like this in real life. I just saw her on stage last month & there are parts where she didn’t have her make-up on.
Very, very few cosmetic/fashion/fragrancee ads reflect how any real woman looks.
The fact that they go with a 40+ woman itself is sadly refreshing. But I love her regardless–airbrushed or not! 😉
I love her face, all of it, so beautiful and talented.
And if you have to choose between Emma and Cate I say flip a coin, cause they’re both great.
I freaking love Kate. She is a stunning woman. I wanted her to play Pepper Potts in IM. I know she doesn’t do those types of films but it would have been a nice change.
@Kaiser
“OMG. It’s like the Academy read my dream journal.”
or they just read your C/B site. 🙂
Definitely Cate over everyone else on that list. I feel like Emma plays very similar [=mildly shrill] characters in most of her movies.
Also, the campaign is gorgeous but 10 FREAKING MILLION DOLLARS?!?!?
that is a lot of money but if Dior(?) can pay Rob $12 mil, then they kind of got her at a steal right? I’ll at least give it a shot (smell a card) to see if I like it.
@ V4 I would love to have seen her as Pepper Potts, although do you think the chemistry would have been as good between her and RDJ?
@ blue marie
Probably not but then again Cate wouldn’t be trying to shove gluten free waffles down his throat. 🙂
Oh I think the Dior RPatz deal is just as ridic. I would love to see their financial projections that justify this sort of investment.
Love her. I saw her in a play a couple of years ago, and she’s actually more beautiful in person than she is in photographs and her films.
i named my daughter Cate because I love her so much
She is the goddess of all the goddesses. And I want this Italian perfume. Now.
Amazing! I want to buy that perfume, but only if it comes with a La Blanchett poster.
This!Her face makes me want to buy it!
Classic beauty!
Her elegance pours through every photo. And I would like to smell like rich vanilla.
I like freesia, but too much vanilla can make me feel a little queasy, particularly if it’s a warm day.
. . . Aw hell, it’s The Blanchett. I’m buying it (contents of my wallet depending).
I love this! She is so beautiful and classy…I love the ad.
Great pictures, I love it!
Now THAT is a celebrity endorsement done right. She’s classy, stunning, and elegant – what more do you need?
I can’t stand any perfumes though, especially powdery smelling ones. Most give me a headache or bother my nose & throat, so I’ll just have to take their word for it that it’s a “floral chypre”.
Goodness she’s so gorgeous. I know her skin is mostly genetics but does anybody have any idea if she shills for or uses a certain skin care line?
She does, in fact. It’s called SKII, you can buy it at Sephora. I think it’s Japanese. It’s great stuff. I use a few of their moisturizing products, and they get all of the red out, which I like. It’s pricey, but I tend to splurge on skincare and makeup. I will wear a $15 dollar t-shirt if my face looks on point.
Thanks. If anyone finds an article with her beauty regime, skin are choices past present or future, be sure to send my way!
SK-II
She was the face of SKII but their site now seems to have Kate Bosworth as their ambassador (their term, not mine).
Is that a bun bun in your avatar? !
Cate makes me want to be a better woman.
She has one of the most interesting faces I have ever seen. She has that Tilda Swinton thing going on without being Tilda Swinton. I am always excited to see what she is wearing.
She wears her outfits in the same manner in which she inhabits her roles. They do not wear or inhabit her. She rocks.
She looks beautiful of course, but I don’t know why they’ve made her up in make-up darker than her skin coloring and dyed her hair a darker shade of blonde. Her exceedingly pale skin is so striking, and her almost but not quite platinum blonde locks complement that beautifully. And she naturally has the most glowy, perfect skin, but they’ve put a ton of powder on her, with the result being that the ad looks dated. She still looks great, because how could she not, but it’s a pretty poor effort from Armani.
Simple, classy, elegant…something most of Hollywood woman aren’t. But then…she isn’t “Hollywood”.
Cate Blanchett is actually one of the few people on the planet which actually tempt me to try the stuff she’s selling. Because she is not only one of the most gorgeous people but also has such elegance and grace, is very stylish, and on top of all this, also is a wonderfull actress and very intelligent.
+1
Agree with everything you just said
Very well said. Love her.
+ 1000
I love Cate B.; she is an excellent actress and i love her fashion sense, def. one of my style icon. Can’t wait to smell it.
Cate is amazing. Hollywood needs more classy and elegant women like her. ( but don’t be a try hard like Ann Hathaway)
Cate is a godess of acting and should be covered daily on this site instead of the likes of C-list Johnny Depp Dating bimbos with faux rebel attitude.
Agreed; but trainwrecks = hits and hits = money. I saw her for the first time when she played Elizabeth I. She owned that role. And she deserved that Oscar for playing Katherine Hepburn in “The Aviator”. This is the caliber of actor young Hollywood should strive for, not being a tabloid magnet.
She is just so gorgeous!
Love her, she’s beautiful & talented, I’m hoping we get Blue Jasmine at our local theater soon.
She’s always a class act. Not surprised her fragrance campaign is classy too. Those are beautiful promotional photographs. So tired of seeing sex implied images in fragrance campaigns these days. Now this is how a high end designer brand effectively promotes their product…with class.
Love the campaign. She really looks like Live Tyler here. Is she related? I’m not really familiar with her, so it’s an honest question. Liv is pretty, too. 🙂
Yes, she’s awesome. I may have told this story before on here, but I know a guy who has a very lucrative business and sometimes deals with celebrities. Related to home decor, but super expensive stuff. Anyway, he worked with Cate Blanchett and her husband, and the first day he met them, he confused her with Kate Winslet. Neither CB nor her husband corrected him, too polite lol. And he said she’s very nice, too.
Oh, I couldn’t choose between Emma and Cate. Both. I want both.
She is a stunning woman and stunning actress. She looks like a classic movie star in this shoot, very Marlene Dietrich.
This ad reminds me of a 90’s supermodel – beautiful hair, beautiful skin, classic white oxford shirt. stunning.
For $10M, can’t you get her in a couture gown? Some jewels? Yes, she is incomparable, but a white button down and fresh-face?
Armani style is minimalism at his best.
I’m sorry to be negative, but I don’t like her doing perfume ads. It lessens my interest in her as an actor/actress. But it’s just me. And I get that 10 millions is very hard to resist.
The ad itself is 90’s not-in-good-way.
These photos are over-the-top gorgeous. They got their money’s worth and then some.
But about the scent: patchouli used to TONE DOWN the fragrance? Yikes. Add patchouli and I can’t smell anything ELSE. This sounds like one strong, heady fragrance…the kind that give innocent people nearby insta-migraines. At least there’s no gardenia in it.
She is just so freaking beautiful! I would love to see Cate win an armload of awards this season.
I just popped in my “the talented mr Ripley” dvd over this past weekend and as always she captivated me she is truly a goddess & she wears the hell out of that wardrobe.
Si sounds like a scent I would choose I’m not allowed to wear perfume at work & it’s kind of become something I don’t indulge in anymore but after reading about this I kinda want to be rebellious & spritz today before heading off to my 8-5 life.
I don’t care that she shills perfume, but she is so airbrushed, it’s ridiculous. So whenever headlines of ‘beautiful’ are linked with photoshopped actresses, I just roll my eyes. Real beauty shouldn’t be photoshopped.
I chanced a photo spread of her that was probably mistakingly published in a weekend newspaper liftout/magazine in Australia a few years ago and her skin had the characteristic premature ageing of White Australian/Anglo women who spend too much time in the sun. I was surprised but put it down to an editor who forgot to order the right retouched prints, because those images weren’t photoshopped.
She is definitely not that pristine.
I think she did a cover a while back that was intentionally not touched up.
This is a perfume ad, though…I don’t think people expect it to be untouched. A big part of her beauty is the character that shines through her eyes, and I don’t think that is the result of photoshop, so it doesn’t bother me a bit.
http://www.styleite.com/media/cate-blanchett-intelligent-life/
Here is the cover. I wouldn’t call that “premature aging”, it looks more like 40something skin to me. The coloring is very even.
(Should be noted I am not in my 40s, so I am not speaking from experience, just estimation! 🙂 )
I did mention that the images I saw were a few years ago. She would have been in her later thirties.
This image below is not from them, but is sufficient:
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17f7gkhgyt2vkjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg
Goddess indeed.
She is beautiful and I love her. That is all.
This ad is perfection.
And I am totally going to try the new Armani, over the years I’ve changed a lot of parfums, but I’ve enjoyed Elle/lei/she ,I am using Code right now and I’m in love with both of them.
Ditto to everything. I would love to see Cate and Meryl Streep in a movie.
She should give lessons to some of the other idjits on HOW TO BE A CELEBRITY WITH GRACE.
She can do NO wrong in my book, I love her!!!!
This scenet sounds like something I’d like, I will have to check it out.
OHH MY GOOD!!! SHE IS SOO BEAUTIFUL!!!
Damn. She is so freakishly stunning.
That is all.
Cate always looks amazingly beautiful and this campaign is not the exception.
Also she was utterly great in Blue Jasmine (well everything about that movie was perfect) even thought you feel depressed afterwards, but that on,y shows how committed she was in making her character come to life.
She’s perfectly fine in the perfume ad. Nothing special. *slowly backs away*
Ah lovely! Have loved her ever since “Oscar and Lucinda” days.
Nice job Mr Armani. Very photoshopped but very beautiful. This will sell bucketloads.
My sister named her daughter after her, too! How funny.
Y’all have to rent Bandits, with her, Billy Bob Thornton and Bruce Willis. Oh, man. She was fantastic in it, and looked AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING in every new haircolor and outfit. My GOD, woman.
Yes, yes, yes. Everything this woman does is perfection.
Good Lord! This is lovely! I am a fragrance luddite…only Chanel No.5 and Shalimar for me. But if the development of this scent is echoed in the ad campaign!!! Then I have to smell it!
#Perfection
She look absolutely beautiful and perfect in those pictures. What a goddess she is.
Cate is my forever crush since I saw her in the first Elizabeth movie back in 1998. I remenbered saying how lovely she looked and what a great actress she was.
That confirms it once again for me: Cate Blanchett IS the most beautiful woman in the world (at least for me and my boyfriend). Completely loving it
I adore this woman. That is all.
I LOVE Cate but in the ad she looks like she’s doing that stupid “smize” thing that Tyra Banks patented.
Photoshop is ah-mazing.
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