Daniella Midenge
Jennifer Lopez has some big news to share. Well, some more big news. A week after her surprise Las Vegas wedding to Ben Affleck, 49, on July 16, the newlywed and birthday girl (she turns 53 today, July 24) is expanding her business empire with the launch of JLo Body by JLo Beauty, and she’s celebrating with a campaign featuring a photo of her in the nude, as well as a shot focused on one of her most famous assets.
Video: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck kiss in Paris after wedding
“We already have some amazing products targeting tightening and firming for the face, so a product for the body that addressed those same issues was a natural next step for us,” Lopez tells PEOPLE of the line’s debut product: JLo Body by JLo Beauty Firm + Flaunt Targeted Booty Balm, $65, in an interview one day before she became Mrs. Affleck. “It was also the body part that our consumers wanted a targeted treatment for, and they couldn’t find it on the market.”
Lopez says this product is something she’s been thinking about her “whole life,” having grown up watching her mother’s struggle with cellulite and feeling frustrated by the lack of solutions. “I remember her wishing that there was some magic formula that was just going to make it disappear,” she says. “And the truth is, we know that doesn’t exist.”
Daniella Midenge
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But what does exist is the JLo Beauty team of scientists and chemists who were able to create a product that delivers noticeable results, she says. “Working with scientists, we have found that it really does improve the appearance of the skin,” she says of the formula which contains pink pepperslim to fade the look of stretch marks, guarana seed extract to smooth, caffeine to tighten, peptides to boost collagen production and powerful hydrators like squalene, shea butter and hyaluronic acid. “We’re not just taking a random cream and slapping my name on it,” she says. “It works.”
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Lopez says the Booty Balm can give you a more toned-looking derriere (you can also use it on your arms, waist and thighs). She hopes that her foray into body products will help make taking care of your skin from the neck down an essential part of your daily beauty and wellness routine.
“A lot of people invest in skincare for their face, but they don’t invest in self-care and skincare for their body,” she says. “I don’t necessarily mean spending money, but instead taking time to cleanse, moisturize, use serums and masks. I want to normalize taking care of yourself. It’s not a selfish thing. It’s a nourishing thing. If you can’t take care of yourself, you certainly cannot take care of anybody else.”
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According to Lopez, self-care leads to confidence. “I feel most confident when I’m getting my sleep, practicing my affirmations and doing my skincare, fitness and eating routines. When I’m out of rhythm, I’m not myself.” She says it’s comparable to prepping for a performance. “The more rehearsal I get, the more consistent I’m in rehearsal, the more confident I am when I get on stage.”
Whether that confidence is on display during the halftime show at the Super Bowl or while walking the Versace runway in a version of the dress (an experience she says was “a really confident body beauty moment”), Lopez continues to wow the world with her ageless beauty.
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“‘Beauty has no expiration date’ was always my personal mantra because I’m in a business where youth is glorified and people try to write, especially women, off at a certain time,” she says. “It’s like, ‘Oh, you’re done no more movies for you. We don’t want your music anymore.’ Growing up, I looked up to people like Diana Ross and Cher and Tina Turner, and they were in their 50s and they were beautiful and almost coming into their own at that time.”
She would also like to get rid of a certain phrase. “I believe you can look and feel amazing and sexy at any age. I really dislike the phrase, ‘You look good for 40, or you look good for 30, you look good for 50.’ How about you just ‘you look good?’
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Someone who thinks she looks good then and now is Affleck. “He is like, ‘I like you when you have nothing on. No hair on, no makeup on, just you in your own skin,” she says.
“He really appreciates that. And that makes me feel really confident and beautiful. Someone can see the essence of who you are and just the skin that you’re in and that I take care of that and that he appreciates that. That makes me feel really beautiful too.”
Between her new husband and her latest beauty venture, it’s no surprise the 53-year-old is leaning into this birthday: “I am the age I am, but I feel amazing and happier than ever. I feel like I’m just at my halftime right now and just getting started.”
