Youth doesn’t have to be wasted on the young—take it from these gorgeous 40-plus stars! We reveal the hair, makeup, and fitness routines they use to extend their radiance.
Look around Hollywood these days and you might think you’ve entered a sci-fi movie scene where the older a celebrity gets, the younger she appears. We’re not talking about the overly injected, pulled-so-tight-it-hurts-to-look clichés. These fresh-faced beauties either stepped into a time machine and emerged more radiant than they were in their twenties…or they know something we don’t.
We’re onto them! We pressed the experts who have worked with Halle, Salma, and the Jennifers (Aniston and Lopez)—plus scored a few tips straight from the A-listers themselves!—for their hair, skin, makeup, fitness, and nutrition secrets.
They choose dewy makeup.
As we age, skin gets drier…and piling powder makeup on top of dead cells ain’t pretty. That’s where creamy foundations come in. Cate Blanchett’s makeup artist, Dotti, says, “We focus on making Cate’s skin look polished and elegant.” She blends Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation and Nars Sheer Glow “to get the right shade and create a radiant finish. To remove excess shine, I use a little powder, then blot with a tissue.” Too much powder can settle into lines and make you look older.
They stick to the real deal.
Any nutritionist worth her kale chips will tell you to minimize your intake of processed foods…and preternaturally youthful women listen. To keep her whole body feeling and looking young, Jennifer Aniston says the key is “just eating fruits and vegetables and healthy lean proteins and water—less fried food.” Her natural fix to keep her skin and hair healthy? “Royal jelly. It’s from a beehive. If you take a spoonful a day, it [can] help.” If you think you might be allergic, talk to your doctor first.
They add a few inches.
These women are giving “mom ‘dos” a new meaning and busting the myth that as you get older, your hair should get shorter. Of Jennifer Lopez, hairstylist Oribe says, “Back when Jennifer was on In Living Color, her hair was short—but she has never really gone that short since then. As you grow older, it’s important to keep the softness in your hair and have some length to frame the face.”
They get aggressive.
Good skin genes help…but so does a good facial exfoliator. “Do a scrub three times a week to really clean your skin,” says Jennifer Aniston, a spokesperson for Aveeno, who uses theirPositively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub ($7, at drugstores). For Sandra Bullock, aesthetician Scott-Vincent Borba relies on an alpha and beta hydroxy scrub. “The gentle exfoliation removes dead cells, revealing smooth skin,” he says.
They strength train.
Pumping iron keeps your bod strong, and it might help do the same for your skin: “Strength training keeps skin firm,” says personal trainer Ramona Braganza, who has worked with Halle Berry. “Halle’s favorite move is the sprawl [similar to a burpee], which is a full-body workout that targets the back, chest, arms, and legs. To do it, stand with your feet hip-width apart, then squat down. Hop your feet back into a plank. Lower your chest to the ground, then push up to plank. Hop your feet back into a squat, then stand to finish.”
They lighten up (their hair).
None of these women are sporting an Elvira shade. There’s a reason. New York City salon owner and colorist Rita Hazan, who has worked with Jennifer Lopez, explains that lightening naturally dark hair makes your skin appear to have more pigment, so you don’t look washed out. “When I first met Jen, her hair was very dark. I wanted to give her hair edge, so I highlighted it in honey tones,” Hazan says.
Colorist Michael Canale applied the same go-lighter strategy to Jennifer Aniston. “We took Jennifer’s hair baby blonde, so it’s bright. As all of us get older, our skin becomes more sallow and our hair grows darker. What makes you look younger is going back to the color you had as a kid. It warms up the skin and is instantly youthful.”
They hide under a mask.
Cate Blanchett has milky-smooth skin naturally, but makeup artist Dotti has a trick to make it look even more amazing before a big event. “We apply the SK-II Facial Treatment Mask while she’s getting her hair done and leave it on for about 10 to 15 minutes,” says Dotti. “The mask increases circulation and plumps the skin. It’s her go-to when she’s been working a lot.” Cate is now a spokesperson for SK-II, but she’s been using the product for years.
They go for a simple hairstyle.
“Jen [Aniston] loves easy hair and often lets hers air-dry. Overstyled hair can make women look older, since it’s harsher around the face,” says hairstylist Chris McMillan, who says Jennifer sometimes uses only shampoo and conditioner and no styling products. “If I’m blow-drying her hair with a round brush, I’ll use a small amount of Living Proof Prime on wet hair. Her style will last twice as long.” (Jen’s a spokesperson for Living Proof.)
They aren’t afraid of fake lashes.
An aging lash line’s best friends are a few falsies. “I use individual brown fake lashes on Cate [Blanchett], which are more natural than black. Then I curl her lashes and apply black mascara on the top lashes only, which creates a wide-eyed, youthful look,” says Dotti.
They take breaks.
To access the fountain of youth, you don’t have to live at the gym. “If you’re overdoing the exercise without resting, it can make you look run-down and stress your immune system—and that shows up on your skin and body over time,” says Braganza. “Halle [Berry] tries to get eight hours of sleep each night. Your body needs this time to rest and recover, so you don’t look older than you are.”
They fill in their brows.
Hair volume is a sign of youth…whether it’s at your crown or just above your eyes. “Brows thin as we age; but it’s more youthful to have a thicker, darker brow,” says makeup artist Sandy Linter, who works with Christie Brinkley (she’s 59—if you can believe that!). “Christie uses Lancôme Le Crayon Poudre in Taupe. “She’s smart to keep her brows at their natural fullness.”
They cleanse from the inside out.
Some proof that beauty truly does come from within: “Whenever Salma [Hayek] has a red-carpet event coming up, she does a three- or five-day nutritional juice cleanse, which entails drinking six juices a day for 1,200 calories,” says Eric Helms, cofounder of Cooler Cleanse with Salma and author ofThe Juice Generation. “Her favorite is the Red Essential, which is two carrots, one apple, half of a small beet, and a quarter of a lemon. It reduces bloating and makes her skin glow.”
They’re careful with concealer.
When Salma couldn’t find a concealer that really masked her undereye circles, she made one! “I used to use a lighter skin-tone shade under my eyes to take away the dark circles and bags, [which seem to get] more prominent with age, but it didn’t work,” Salma says. “[My] dark circles are dark because they are blue-based. The base of my concealer is orange, because it compensates for the tonality of blue.”
Placement is also key. “When I make up Christie [Brinkley], I put concealer only on the inner corners of the eyes to counteract darkness,” says Linter. “And since Christie is always smiling, I don’t drag it out to the end of the eye where it could settle into laugh lines, making fine lines more pronounced.”