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Brooke Shields wants to rewrite the beauty dictionary.
Photography by Elliston Lutz
At least for women over 40.
Weve been relegated to words like aging and dry and menopause, she says.
And then theres this word: still.
People will say, Oh, you’re still beautiful!
What do you meanstill?
Although she really doesnt take it personally.
Its about them, she says.
Its about when they were younger and they experienced me.
It’s a very interesting psychological thing that happens to people.
I’m not allowed to age, because what does that do to them?
It makes them exponentially that much older.
All of Gen X experiencedBrooke Shields.
In 1981, Time magazine declared hers the face of the decade.
And then we judged ourselves in relation to that appearance.
Here is what Brooke Shields looks like today in a New York City hotel suite:Tall.
At 510, Im looking up to meet her gaze.
Her eyes are sparkly, her skin is clear, hereyebrowsare still magnificent.
(Now thereIgo with still.)
Thick hair falls far below her shoulders.
Its all hers.)
(Thank you, Brooke Shields.)
But I’m not going to let myrootsgrow in because I’m not ready for that yet.
I don’t like what it does to my face.
(She does like what it does to my face, though, for the record.)
Other than the grays and the long, tedious hair-color appointments, Shields sounds like agings biggest fan.
I am more youthful now than I was in my youth, says Shields.
My energy, my confidence, my lack of self-judgment.
The negative tapes that I played [in my mind]… they dont play anymore.
Theyre all stretched out.
As she talks about nearing 60, Shields uses the word buoyancy more than once.
Yeah, things ache.
And I wish I could sleep more.
I wish everything was higher.
I wish I didn’t need kinesiology tape to bring my knees up to where they should be.
But I dont get to have it both ways, she says.
My daughters walk in in a bikini and I’m like, hey, I made them!
[Shields has two daughters, who are 20 and 18.]
As I see [my own] butt hit my calves.
But Im not trying to look like my daughters.
Which may involve kinesiology tape when knee-baring.
I am more youthful now than I was in my youth.
Sure, menopause is a thing that happens and it can have its challenges.
But you go through phases throughout your life that you navigate to get to the next one.
This is just another one of them, says Shields.
Listen, I think it’s great that people are talking about menopause and it’s in the forefront.
With this era of our lives comes a vitalityexperience, diversity, versatility, strength, humor, confidence.
All of these are words that I would choose to associate with being this age.
And that’s not really the narrative that you hear.
Shields says she has a better idea.
I want a kit that says, Congratulations, you have done an incredible job.
You’ve made it this far.
What do you want to do next?
For Shields, the answer is: Be a CEO.
We want to be known as experts in this field, not just a celebrity-stick-your-face-on-something."
So thats where Commence will commence: with three products designed to soothe the scalp and protect the hair.
Every formula has notes of lily and peony, mixed with white sandalwood and a transparent musk.
We want to be known as experts in this field, not just a celebrity-stick-your-face-on-something.
I’m simply the conduit to the best products, to the best formulators.
I’m the ringleader, says Shields.
It’s not about me, but it is for me.
That’s different than the egocentricity of youth.
What would it have been like if social media had existed then, I wonder?
Her response is swift and unwavering: I wouldnt have survived.
I was too vulnerable and too naive.
Ive seen it do damage to young people, mine included, she says.
However, I can’t be a hypocrite.
I was part of that narrative.
Well, you’ve never done runway, Brooke, because you’re athleticthats a euphemism for not skinny.
As a model in your younger days, those are the messages you getall about what you’re not.
Then you get to this age and you start going through this list of all the things youare.
And it’s so much more empowering than the chipping away of yourself that I did.
And I watch my girls do it, and I have to nip it in the bud.
Excuse me, but fuck you, she says.
Aging is not a graceful process.
The way you interpret those changes is another story, though.
If you don’t like what’s happening to your stomach, do sit-ups.
Maybe stop drinking as much.
Those things to me are graceful.
How about a gracefulfacelift, I ask?
I have three friends who did the half thingshe lifts the lower part of her face up.
Ive seen it change their lives.
For Shields, though, the facelift ship has sailed.
I’m afraid at this point to do it, she says.
But I can’t say don’t, because that’s not fair if it’s available.
I think when it starts too young, thats different.
When my girls say, Oh, mom, what do you think aboutlip filler?
I’m like, I will divorce you.
Because the slope does get very slippery very fast.
I hate this little frown part.
Well, then you get used to the no-frown, right?
And then you’re like, oh, what aboutthis?she runs a finger over her crows feet.
And then you go, oh, that’s how it happens.
You just go down the rabbit hole.
And who knows if youll find anything worthwhile at the bottom.
My mother got her first full facelift when she was 40, says Shields.
And when she was on her deathbed [at 79], she did look 65, 70.
Now I don’t know what good that does her because she died.
Maybe she felt better?
I don’t have judgment.
Next time I might walk in here in a full kinesthesiology tape suit.
Hi Allure, how are you?
she mumbles as though her mouth is taped over, waving her arms as if theyre mummified.
Dont I look great?
Like the woman said: Humor, confidence, experience, strength.
Those are the words in the over-40 dictionary.
Additional reporting by Dianna Mazzone.
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