BRANDING BERRY

Halle Berry, in town a few weeks back to talk up her tricky erotic psychothriller Perfect Stranger, also spoke a bit about her long-running and lucrative contract to promote Revlon products. Work-wise, she says, it requires "very little, if you want to know the truth," saying that at most it involves 10 days out of her year, doing a commercial, a print shoot, or a speaking engagement.

She added: "I do some charity work for them. They’re very involved in women’s health care issues. So, I spend time throughout the year working with charities that they belong to, through that association with them....

"When I first got asked to do it I was getting asked to do lots of things — and I still get asked to endorse certain products. I really have a serious criteria [which is] that if I don’t use the product, then I can’t endorse it, I don’t want to put my name on it. And Revlon was the first brand of cosmetics that I ever bought when I was a young girl, and I still use their products. So it’s something that I feel honestly good about attaching my name to because I really do use it, and that part of it feels good for me. It’s not just about having my face out there or getting a paycheck. I do think it matters — our brand, and what we endorse."