Eva Longoria on What It Means to Be "Worth It"

In 1971, a freelance copywriter at McCann coined L'Oréal's now iconic tagline "because you're worth it" for the brand's Préférence hair color. At the time, 23-year-old Ilon Specht's words were revolutionary, since most television ads featured male narrators — even if the products were for women.

This month, L'Oréal is celebrating the 50th anniversary of "because you're worth it," which has become a mantra of female empowerment throughout the past five decades. Especially for the brand's various spokeswomen, like Eva Longoria.

"It's a battle cry to women; a reminder to evaluate yourself and what you bring to every situation, whether it's your job, relationships, marriage, friendships or family," Longoria says of the L'Oréal's empowering tagline. "It's important that we stop and go, 'Wait a minute, my worth is important here.' It's important to know what you bring to everything in your life, and to have respect and honor that."

The tagline's milestone couldn't come at more fitting time, when women's lives have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19, from taking on more roles at home, to losing their jobs due to pandemic-related budget cuts in many industries.

Longoria says it's the women closest to her who help remind her of her worthiness during challenging times. Whether that's family or people she admires through their work, such as Oprah and Hillary Clinton.

"For me, it's been women in my life that have shown me or held up the mirror for me," she shares. "To tell me, 'Look at how great you are. Look at what you can accomplish.'"

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The actress and director also has some game-changing advice for anyone experiencing self-doubt and feeling overwhelmed during these times.

"Something I learned from Jay Shetty, another mentor of mine, is to stop saying you're 'busy' when someone asks how your day was," she says. "You should say it was productive because don't you want to be busy? Then your day is spent fulfilling your dreams, whether it's having a meeting or having that phone call, driving across town...Words matter, and how you talk to yourself and how you talk to others about yourself matters. That's why a slogan like 'because you're worth it' is so powerful."