How Angelina Jolie Honors Her Late Mother With Guerlain Perfume Campaign: 'It Was a Brand She Loved'
Angelina Jolie has signed on to be the face of Mon Guerlain, her first international beauty campaign in a decade, and her decision to do so was done in part to honor her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand.
“It was a brand my mother loved, so I knew it from my childhood,” Jolie, 41, told Marie Claire about her new perfume campaign. “It spoke to her, as it does to me, of beauty, history, and quality; one of the oldest perfume houses in the world, from France, a country I love and feel connected to.”
Bertrand died in January 2007 at age 56 after battling cancer for over seven-and-a-half years. Bertrand, who had small roles in movies - including 1983’s The Man Who Loved Women - raised Jolie and brother Haven by herself after divorcing their father, Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, when Jolie was a toddler.
“She was a very natural woman who never spoiled herself, never wore makeup, and wore modest jewelry, but she always had a few special items for when she wanted to feel like a lady,” Jolie said of her mother’s style.
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“One of those - and I remember it because it seemed so elegant- was her Guerlain powder. I think all women have those few special things that make them feel feminine,” the mother of six added.
Jolie has previously opened up about how she keeps her mother’s memory alive, including how she honored Bertrand at her August 2014 wedding to Brad Pitt. In addition, Jolie shared how motherhood brought her closer to learning about her mother’s legacy.
“She was very soft but could move mountains for her kids,” Jolie told French Marie Claire in October 2014. “That’s something I always admire in women: that mix of softness and strength ... She always tried to understand the complexity of the world. She had a great heart which was sensitive to the world’s violence.”
Adding, “I feel in contact with my mother when I look at my children. I can feel her influence over me then. I see that my way of raising them resembles the way she raised my brother and I. It’s more apparent with my daughters Shiloh and Vivienne. Therefore, yes, my mother is there, present in this influence, all the time.”
Jolie and Pitt, 53, have been weathering their difficult split since September 2016 after 12 years together. The former couple has been working with a private judge to resolve the divorce and custody.
