How To Star In Your Very Own Luxury Brand Advertising Campaign

Ever wondered how celebrities get those high-end luxury brand campaigns? Is it their name, their face, their box office pulling power, their ability to look good with a little plastic surgery and a lot of Photoshop...?

It's probably all of the above, but as someone who is the same age as Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz (both 41 and both stars of campaigns for perfume and watches), I thought it would be fun to create and star in my very own advert for a luxury brand. I already had the photographic equipment - a DSLR, tripod and flash - and set out to create a mock up of what I thought could be my big advertising campaign - and prove it's not all that difficult to look super expensive!

How to Star in Your Own Campaign in 5 Easy Steps:

1. Get those rollers in your hair (your hair can't be too big for this) and get your make up done (contour like crazy and ensure you have plenty on)
2. Choose your luxury brand product to advertise - I chose the Hermès Arceau watch from The Watch Gallery to match my hair
3. Set up a little studio with your camera and tripod in your kitchen or somewhere with a blank wall
4. Use a ring flash to blast your face with even light and iron out wrinkles and blemishes
5. Superimpose your luxury brand product over your image in Photoshop... voilà!

So it just goes to prove that with the right lighting and make up we can all look polished and worthy of an advertising campaign - believe me I don't look anywhere near this glossy in real life (plus I'd never wear such heavy make up, but you need it for the photos). And if you also had the added benefit of a little nip and tuck and a lot of Photoshop, it's no wonder we see 40-something celebrities as these age-defying creatures of wonder. I did this in my kitchen with my DSLR and a ring flash, plus a bit of Photoshop auto levels adjustment and stray hair minimising just to add a touch of gloss (I won't deny there was a bit of tweaking, but that was the point - to add gloss). I could have gone a lot further with the Photoshop than I actually did.

So - if money were no object, would you consider buying a luxury product as a result of my advert? Have I convinced you this could be a real advertising campaign...?! Let me know what you think in the comments!

P.S. This was in part a response to the Mumsnet thread that mentioned me and got a few of you riled on my Facebook page (thank you my little lammies!). I'll give her "she looks closer to 50 to me", pfft...!

I have written this post in collaboration with The Watch Gallery. All content is original, however, and any opinions are 100% honest. I am also not suggesting that the celebrities mentioned have had plastic surgery, just to be clear(!)