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After a self-imposed hiatus, beloved actress MICHELLE PFEIFFER is decidedly back, both in films and with her new fragrance.

- Robert Haskell

On a cold, miserable January day, Michelle Pfeiffer is at home in Northern California preparing to post on Instagram for the very first time. For an actress who has guarded a nearly Garboesque privacy, this is a big moment.

“It’s been terrifying for me, honestly,” she says of the rise of social media. “I’ve spent my entire life avoiding, doing as little as possible, in terms of exposure—literally the least that I could get away with as an actress.” Last May, when it was announced that Pfeiffer would be joining Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning in the cast of Maleficent 2, Fanning posted a welcome message. “It was so sweet, and I wanted to respond, but I couldn’t,” Pfeiffer recalls. “I had no format. I didn’t tweet. I didn’t have Instagram. I had nothing. But I’ve started paying more attention. And I’ve been following other celebrities who I think are as private as I am, and even they are venturing into the Instagram world. So I’m dipping my toe in. I’ll be very tentative in the beginning. But in a weird way, I’m kind of excited about it.”

And actually, Pfeiffer has something to trumpet: She is about to launch a collection of fine fragrances called Henry Rose. The idea reaches back decades. “When the kids were young, I began to look at the world in a different way,” she explains. “I started reading labels and looking at ingredients lists in a way I hadn’t done before. That opened my eyes. I found myself looking for a fragrance I could feel good about putting on my body and that smelled amazing. Those two things were difficult to find. So I decided I was going to see if I could develop a fragrance that would raise the bar on both quality and safety. I didn’t realize what a challenge I had set out for myself,” she says, laughing. “Which is typical of me.”