Seems like you can’t turn around these days without another celebrity announcing they’ve gotten into the beauty or fashion biz. But if there’s one celebrity brand the beauty world has been clamoring for for years, it’s one from singer/entertainer/producer Pharrell Williams. And it’s finally coming.
On November 12th, Williams announced via a cover story in Allure magazine that he will be launching his own skin-care line — a three-step regime he is calling, Humanrace. The genderless, vegan, fragrance-free and “clean” brand comprises a trio of products intended by Williams to create the effect of a “three-minute facial”: Rice Powder Cleanser, Lotus Enzyme Exfoliator and Humidifying Cream.
The legendary music producer and recording artist’s decades-long career has been punctuated by his passion for skin care and wellness. Back in 2013, Williams made waves among beauty circles when he shared his Top Self with Into the Gloss, mainly because, well, he knew his stuff. Since his mid-20s, he’s been focused on maintaining his complexion — and to look at how little the intervening years have done to shift his appearance (he’s now 47), those efforts haven’t gone unrewarded.
With a wink and a nod to his ageless appearance, Pharrell once made a joke in an interview that he’s not, in fact, a vampire. Williams acknowledges he began seeing dermatologist Dr. Elena Jones more than two decades ago, and it’s her expertise he sought when creating Humanrace, tapping her as a consultant. “This routine is formulated from Pharrell’s skin-care experience,” said Dr. Jones of the line, in a press release. “We adhered to the European standard of 1,300 banned ingredients as an important starting point and then we went further to develop our own restrictions. We worked to create products that had no rocks, nuts, seeds or plastic particles in our formulas to ensure no microtears occur which can result in damaging your skin.” Williams also sought to highlight sustainability in choosing the product packaging; Each component is refillable and reusable, as well as made from more than 50% post-consumer recycled landfill plastic.
A main focus of Humanrace — and Pharrell’s own skin-care routine — is hydration. Some of his descriptions of the Humanrace line seem to be paraphrased from “Zoolander” as Williams tells Allure, “Water makes me feel free. Water is very inspiring to me… I’ve always been obsessed with the idea that water falls [from] the sky as evaporation.” It’s fitting, then, that Williams’s Allure photo shoot, lensed by Ben Hassett, appropriately depicts Williams in a watery, glowy, reflective setting.
It’s also clear that Williams is philosophical about his approach to skin. In his Allure interview, he tells writer Brennan Kilbane, “Sometimes you need to cleanse your spirit… Sometimes you need to cleanse your mind. Sometimes you’ve just got to get rid of some dead skin.” There is perhaps no more apt beauty philosophy for these tough times of 2020.
Humanrace launches on Nov. 25 exclusively online at humanrace.com.
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Photo Credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com