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Kerry Washington Signs On As Creative Ambassador At OPI

Kerry Washington signs on as Creative Ambassador at OPI. Photo: Getty Images

Kerry Washington is cementing her status as big bank in the beauty world with the news that she has signed on as Creative Ambassador with OPI.

The Scandal star will co-design a range of nail polishes alongside OPI cofounder and creative director Suzi Weiss-Fischmann.

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"Suzi’s such a fierce female entrepreneur," Washington told WWD. "This is going to be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to testing out new colours on the red carpet. The fun, for me, is that nail lives in the crossover space between fashion and beauty. I love to play with nail colour on the red carpet and explore new shades."

"When the opportunity came around to have Kerry join OPI as our creative ambassador, the answer was instantly yes," added Weiss-Fischmann.

"She empowers women through her sophisticated style, humour and confidence. Most of all, she has a huge love of nail lacquer and has worn OPI for years and years. I’m looking forward to working with Kerry in 2016 to create some new and fabulous OPI shades.”

The actress, who sites her favourite current shades as Lincoln Park After Dark (deep red-black), Big Apple Red (bright red) and You Don’t Know Jacques (greige), will follow in the footsteps of Gwen Stefani who also has a line for OPI.

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"She has done such a great job having her collection represent her — not just with OPI, but through everything she’s done. If I can do something similar, I will be very happy."

Not only is this a major coup for the actress but it is a major step for diversity in beauty advertising, Kerry is one of only a handful of women of colour including Halle Berry, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Jourdan Dunn and Joan Smalls who have landed major beauty campaigns.

However Kerry is no stranger to being the face of a major beauty brand, having signed with Neutrogena as a creative consultant since 2013.

Since she came on board, Neutrogena have expanded their foundation range to cater for all ethnicities and have plans to expanding their range of lip colours.

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Kerry describes her work with the brand as "something that was especially important to me, so that we’ll be able to have a shade for every ethnicity," she said.

"I want to increase access to beauty to women of all ethnicities," she said. "Nude looks different depending on your skin tone and that’s the fashion and beauty world I want to live in, where everyone has the ability to express the beauty that reflects them. I love being able to be an influencer in the space."