At 59, Brooke Shields Says She’s “More Youthful” Than Ever
Declared by Time Magazine in 1981 as the “face of the decade,” thinking of Brooke Shields as an aging woman doesn’t come naturally. But time happens to the best of us. During an interview with Allure, the model-turned-actress shared that she doesn’t mind aging. In fact, she feels more youthful today than in her earlier years.
Shields has come to accept that aging is a normal part of life; however, she’s learned to resent a few words where getting old is concerned. “We’ve been relegated to words like ‘aging’ and ‘dry’ and ‘menopause. And then there’s this word: ‘still,” she told the news outlet.
“People will say, ‘Oh, you’re still beautiful!’ What do you mean still? Or, to my kids, ‘Your mother used to be so beautiful. Excuse me?,” she said spiritedly.
Shields suggested that she hasn’t been allowed to age because it makes her contemporaries feel that much older. “It’s about them,” she explained. “It’s 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.”
A model since she was 11 months old, the New Yorker looks as beautiful as ever. Those piercing unforgettable blue eyes, clear skin, and luscious locks remain extraordinary. Though her hair is “all gray” now, she admits to having it dyed at three-week intervals.
“I’m not going to let my hair go gray,” she told her interviewer. But I’m not going to let my roots grow in because I’m not ready for that yet. I don’t like what it does to my face,” Shields admitted.
The 1980 lead of The Blue Lagoon admitted noticing other age-related issues. “Yeah, things ache,” she said. “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 don’t get to have it both ways,” Shields concluded.
During the interview, the Pretty Baby star criticized how menopause is generally perceived. “Listen, I think it’s great that people are talking about menopause and it’s in the forefront. What’s not progressive in the way we’re thinking about it, though, is that that’s not all we are. With this era of our lives comes a vitality—experience, 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,” she pointed out.
“More Youthful” Now
Amid physical changes, the mom of two says that she is enjoying this stage in her life.
“I am more youthful now than I was in my youth,” she began. “My energy, my confidence, my lack of self-judgment. The negative tapes that I played [in my mind]… they don’t play anymore. They’re all stretched out,” she elaborated, comparing the ribbons of cassette tapes to the dialogues in her mind.
Shields admitted to having Botox but she’s careful to add that she doesn’t want to undergo too many aesthetic procedures. It doesn’t really benefit people all that much she rationalized. “My mother got her first full facelift when she was 40,” Shields recalled. “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?”
