In case you needed a pick-me-up heading into the weekend, Ryan Reynolds and Giorgio Armani Beauty are here with their new Armani Code Absolu fragrance campaign — and it’s all kinds of charming. We had a chance to sit down with the multi-hyphenate actor-writer-producer about his experience collaborating with the Italian fashion and beauty house on the campaign, and he’s also spilling on his go-to scent — and the beauty product he steals from his wife Blake Lively.
Not just a pretty face, Reynolds worked with his director/producer friend Reed Morano to create the secret agent-inspired short film that accompanies the new Code Absolu — the latest adaptation of Armani’s iconic citrus scent.
“I love that Armani was open to trying something different than the typical kind of fragrance ad, which, to me, was very important,” the dad of two tells Us of the campaign. “There’s a lot of it that is new and different than anything I’ve done before with the brand. I like getting to create a great short film with Reed Morano, who’s a friend of mine and someone I greatly respect and admire as an artist.”
The reimagined scent by Givaudan perfumer Antoine Maisondieu has a richer quality than the OG, which is actually what drew Reynolds to it.
“I like that it’s warm. I think nostalgia is the cheapest, most fantastic drug on the planet, and it reminds me of things that I loved when I was a kid,” he says. “There’s something about about it that brings me back to being around my dad when he was getting ready for work. There was something very welcoming about that experience, and this fragrance reminds me of that.”
While the Deadpool star has always kept his daily beauty routine to a minimum, he did pick up wearing cologne from his dad and brothers (he’s got three older ones!).
“I’ve always had some kind of fragrance since I was a teenager,” he recalls. “I was the youngest of four boys, so I watched my brothers and what they did. I was often wearing whatever they wore both in clothing and fragrance because I would get all the hand me downs.”
But he’s not one of those guys you’re going to smell coming from a mile away.
“I usually like something that isn’t overpowering,” he says. “You can wear it throughout an entire day and not feel like it is going to absorb an entire room with it. For me, it’s about being distinct but subtle.”
He may be of the less-is-more mentality when it comes to fashion (“I don’t have a big closet of clothes,” he tells Us) and grooming (“everything is pretty minimal”), but there is one thing he finds himself to stealing — ahem, borrowing — from Lively’s vanity every now and again.
“I don’t really use a ton of beauty products, but on the days that are bone-chillingly dry or cold, I might steal some of my wife’s moisturizer,” he admits — though it never goes according to plan. “I always choose the wrong one,” he jokes. “I use the body one or something, which, to me, I don’t see much of a difference, but she tells me it’s wrong.”
Don’t worry, Ry, we’ve all been there.
