‘This is what 70 looks like’: the new generation of beauty influencers

For years, the beauty blogging scene has been dominated by 20-something women in their bedrooms
sharing their favourite products and techniques. Now, a new crop of beauty bloggers in their 60s and
70s are getting behind their laptop cameras to share the beauty hacks that work for them. Fighting the
stereotypes of being seen as “old ladies”, they’re demanding the attention that the beauty industry has
denied them.

Tricia Cusden, 70, London

I decided to take on the beauty industry as a political act. It might sound grandiose but I’ve always loved
make-up and in my 60s I felt angry with the industry and wanted to disrupt it. Casual ageism is rife. I was
gob smacked when Dior announced that Cara Delevingne was going to be the face of their new anti-
ageing products. She’s 25. The outrage should have been loud but hardly anyone batted an eyelid. The
industry language of “anti-ageing” is profoundly insulting. Adding that phrase to any product tells me, as
a woman who is 70, that I must do everything in my power to stop this natural process.

I’ve written a beauty blog every week since 2013 and I must have made 50 videos. For me, beauty
vlogging [video-blogging] is an extension of what I used to do in my career as a management trainer,
standing in front of groups of people talking to them. My viewers feel like I’m a friend, and leave lots of
feedback. I love the ease and immediacy that you get with social media.

I started getting involved in beauty in my 60s when I noticed a lot of changes happening to my face.
Take my eyes. Because bones shrink as you age, my eye sockets got deeper; the skin on my eyelids
became crêpe-y; and my eyebrows became less prominent. I kept trying different products to adapt to
the changes and spent money on good stuff because I thought it would be better, but so much turned
out to be a waste. At no point was anyone from the beauty industry telling me what would work better
on my older skin. They don’t want to show their products on a face that’s less than perfect.

I realised that other women must be facing the same problems, so I decided to find a cosmetics
manufacturer to produce a range for me. My idea was to put it all under one umbrella and say, “If you’re
over 55, post-menopausal, this will work better on your older face.” With my two daughters, we
launched Look Fabulous Forever at the end of 2013.

My most popular video is about eye and lip make-up for older women, and it has had more than 2m
views. The products and techniques younger bloggers use just don’t work the same for older women.
The beauty industry, like the fashion industry, designs for the perfect form – young skin. With older skin,
you’ve got a loss of melanin that makes features fade, skin becomes dryer and make-up bleeds and
doesn’t last as long. There’s a fashion at the moment for a feline flick with a dark, heavy line. If you tried
a strong, straight line using a gel eyeliner on my eyelids, it would look ragged and messy.

But as older women, we don’t have to follow what the young ones are doing. In my videos and with my
products I suggest not trying to get a perfect black line. Instead, use a dark powder eyeshadow and push
it into the base of the eyelashes with a tiny wedge brush, making it slightly smudgy. It looks lovely and is
a real solution to the problem.

Wearing make-up, for me, is about feeling able to face the day, not about looking younger. I like to wear
nice clothes, do my hair, put my face on and feel the very best version of me that I can create. I love the
transformation that make-up creates and I’m not ashamed to say it.

Makrye Park, 72, Yong-In, South Korea

Make-up is so much better quality and more fun than it used to be. When I was young, we didn’t have
highlighters, bronzers and contouring. There was just lipstick and powder. I love to mix my make-up and
browse the beauty shops that young people go to. I hate feeling forced to be old-lady like.

A year ago, my granddaughter started to worry about me getting dementia because most of my older
friends had started to. She wanted to keep me busy. So she quit her job and took me to Australia and we
started making videos and posting them on YouTube as .

The most popular videos have been my make-up tutorials. The first one was me getting ready for a visit
to the dentist. I used a cheap lipstick that cost 1,000 won (about 70p) and a very old technique to curl
my eyelashes where you heat a toothpick with a lighter and press it against the hairs. It’s very different
to what young women do these days. The video has had more than 2m views and it made me well
known online in Korea.

In Korea, old women perm their hair, wear old people’s clothes and limit make-up to the basics. But it’s
other old people that demand we stay that way, not young people.

Because of YouTube, my life has turned around completely. I’ve seen so much of the world, been
kayaking, eaten the most expensive food in Korea. Unfortunately my friends don’t even know how to
get on YouTube so they don’t watch my videos. I like to watch younger people’s YouTube channels and
get inspired. Sometimes I miss my younger days. I’ve continued making the videos because they make
me happy. It’s just me being myself and having fun. People have stereotypes of how “old people” should
do their make-up, but my make-up is far from that. And what I’m doing is giving other women courage
to do what they want.

Melissa Gilbert, 63, Tennessee

Back in 2013, I was watching some younger people’s vlogs on YouTube and when they talked about
beauty I thought, “Well, gosh, I’ve been wearing make-up for 50 years, I’ve got a lot of experience, too. I
wonder if I could do that.” I sat down in my son’s old bedroom and filmed myself. Then I researched
how to upload a video. Two people watched it. But I didn’t care – I just kept going. I’ve now got 70,000
subscribers to Melissa55.

Melissa Gilbert: ‘It really bothered me when Estée Lauder used Kendall Jenner to advertise wrinkle
cream when she doesn’t have a wrinkle on her.’

I didn’t necessarily feel I had anything to offer anyone else. I’m an average person. Like so many other
women in America, I got married, raised children, haven’t had a big career – but I did want to show that
you can still feel good about yourself when you’re elderly. My generation’s not ageing like our mothers
did – we wear jeans with holes in them and keep our hair long or go grey if we want.

Over the last few years, more people have been searching online for videos of women over 50 doing
make-up, and that’s really helped me and other older beauty vloggers to grow. My top make-up tip is to
visit a beauty store and have a free makeover to find the right foundation for your skin type – it’s the
base for everything else. I use a Laura Mercier oil-free one that gives me a glow. I’ve stopped applying
powder altogether. For cleaning my face, I find regular terry washcloths too harsh, so I knit my own for
the perfect texture. Skincare’s always been important to me and since my 30s I’ve used Retin A from my
dermatologist.

I’m friends with other older vloggers and we all buy the newest technology. We’ve learned how to edit
nicely, add music, set up lighting. It takes time to do it well. We do get comments like, “You old hag, why
don’t you get off YouTube?” But we continue to fight to be heard.

It’s hard being an older woman in society in general. Much of our lives we did our duty and mattered to
our children and it can be a challenge to feel relevant. Advertisers don’t recognise us. When we look at
the TV or at models, we don’t recognise those girls. It bothered me when Estée Lauder used to
advertise wrinkle cream when she doesn’t have a wrinkle on her.

Most of my audience is women my age. I’ve become close friends with many of them and that kinship is
part of the reason I make the videos. There’s a group of us that met online and talk every day. We lift
and support each other, whether it’s problems with kids or health or husbands, or just feelings about
getting older. It means everything to me.

My children don’t really like me doing beauty vlogging but they’ve learned to accept it. If you have the
right attitude about it, this is a time in your life where you feel a lot of freedom to try new things.

Nichole Grice, 55, North Carolina

I started my YouTube channel because I couldn’t find many people reviewing wigs for hair loss. Lots of
younger women were reviewing wigs for fashion, but I didn’t see anyone else going through all the
heartache and pain of losing their hair and turning to wigs as a necessity. When I started, my two
children were like, “Mum, are you really going to be on YouTube with your bald head and no make-up?”
I thought, “Yes, because you don’t see it and we need to be represented.” It shouldn’t be anything to be
ashamed of. It happens. People lose their hair, especially women of colour.

My hair loss began in my late 30s. Then when my son went through chemotherapy aged 15 for cancer, I
cut my hair off too, so that he could feel more comfortable. With the stress of his chemo, plus just
ageing, and years of wearing weave and braids, my hair didn’t really grow back. But I decided I wanted
to be an example to others that you can get through it. I received so many emails from women, men,
even young children, who thanked me for being out there. Even though my channel wasn’t drawing the
masses, I was helping others.

My subscribers started asking if I could do make-up for bald women and older women. For example
when you wear a wig, you can’t put make-up on parts of your forehead because it stops the wig sticking.
You also have to think about how bright you want your make-up to be, depending on the wig’s colour
and style.

My channel now focuses on beauty for older women and is called Ageless Beauty. I use the term pro-
ageing rather than anti-ageing, because I’m not trying not to age. For me it’s about skin and hydration.
I’ve been using Ambi Skincare every day for over 30 years and that’s kept the elasticity in my skin. When
I went through the menopause I shared tips like putting powder on before foundation to help prevent
make-up melting when you’re having hot flashes. Although sometimes nothing can stop it.

It takes a lot of courage to remove your hair and make-up and put yourself on YouTube to be judged and
criticised. There are days when I don’t want to turn the camera on, but by the time I’ve finished the
video I’m pumped up. Make-up and hair can change how you feel and get you out of a funk, and I love
showing that.
Margaret Manning, 69, Zug, Switzerland

For four years, I pretended I was 59. I just didn’t want to embrace that 60-year-old milestone. I’d worked
at Microsoft for a long time and it’s a young culture. While I felt vibrant, I was afraid that other people
would view me differently.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Margaret Manning: ‘A lot of women in their 60s are dealing with a
reinvention that spans relationships, family and work.’

Then when I was 64, I was on holiday and had a nasty fall. I was in bed for five days and it gave me time
to think. I realised I’d fallen because I wasn’t connected to my body and to the real me. It was time to
accept that I had to look after myself, physically and emotionally, to let the old me go. I knew there had
to be other women holding back from making that leap into 60. From that bed, I launched via Facebook.

It took off immediately. I work with my son and his wife and we produce content for women over 60.
From listening to the community, we saw older women feeling invisible in society. People see them
differently and when they look in the mirror, they see themselves differently. The beauty articles I write
and videos I make address this.

I like to empower women and pull them into our shared experience. I’ll look into the camera and say, “I
wouldn’t worry too much about us having wrinkles under our eyes, because that’s just what happens
when we turn 60, right?” My beauty videos are about simple things. For example, I don’t use concealer
to erase the lines around my eyes any more – what’s the point? It can’t do it. But I do use it to mask
shadows when I haven’t had enough sleep. If you apply it quite low, almost above your cheekbone, it
reflects back up to your eye and hides the darkness.

A lot of women in their 60s are dealing with a reinvention that spans relationships, family and work. In
my late 50s I went through a divorce and in the 2008 financial crash I lost my house and savings. Many
older women are also very creative. My approach to make-up is: “Just try it.” You see the years ticking
and you know there’s less ahead than there is behind, and this is a time to really express your true
nature. When people say they want to age gracefully, I think, “How about magnificently? Or creatively?”
Pink hair. That’s what I’m trying next.

Now when people ask me how old I am and I say almost 70, they stop and say, “Oh wow, you don’t look
it.” Remembering Gloria Steinem’s quote, I reply, “This is what 70 looks like.”
Mewing: what is the YouTube craze that claims to reshape your face?
The internet is rife with beauty tricks and trends, from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s skincare routine to
$265 anti-aging cream. But tongue placement is not often involved. Mewing, one of the latest internet
beauty crazes, focuses on just that. It’s a practice thought to improve looks, claiming to non-surgically
shape the jawline and face.

It’s a simple premise that has attracted many fanatics. The practice of mewing involves keeping the
tongue on the roof of the mouth, the maxilla. Consistent tongue placement on the maxilla apparently
renders it malleable, thus changing face shape. Those who mew adhere to other habits, including a
wave-swallowing technique, as well as gum-chewing to strengthen the jaw muscles.

A quick YouTube search for “mewing technique” brings up 7,000 results. It’s “the new health craze
taking over Instagram and YouTube”, according to one UK news site. Joseph Saavedra, a 21-year-old
YouTube vlogger, said the tongue placement is crucial. “A few [commenters] have said that they have
been doing this all their life and they all have really nice facial structures.”

Mewing is named after the British orthodontists Dr John Mew and his son, Dr Mike Mew. The latter is
most associated with the popularity of mewing, a result of his YouTube videos. Since 2012, he has
posted more than 600 videos about the subject.

But his outspoken attitude has come at a price. In November 2018, the younger Mew claimed to have
been expelled from the British Orthodontic Society because of his fervent posts. He said the board
claimed his “social media statements have misled or have the potential to mislead patients and the
public”.

The British Orthodontic Society refused to comment on the status of Mew’s membership, citing data
protection laws. Their spokesperson provided a statement: “As part of our Articles of Association, our
executive body may suspend any member whose conduct, in its opinion, is contrary to the interests of
the society.”

Even so, his fans remain faithful. On one particular subreddit, he is heralded by users who post photos of
his face with Photoshopped halos. The subreddit in question, r/orthotropic, has more than 6,300
subscribers. In the forum, the users earnestly seek advice on how to gain their desired facial features,
which includes (but is not limited to) “hunter eyes” or deep-set almond eyes, more pronounced
cheekbones and defined jawlines.
There are some skeptics who point out the alleged benefits of the technique have yet to be
substantiated by science. Others worry mewing may be symptom of dysmorphia. “Mewing has led some
down a new road of obsession,” one Redditer says.

Saavedra says mewing for looks is a misuse of the technique. “I think [looking for improvements] is the
wrong mentality to look at this with, because if you’re just trying to chase facial improvement by doing
this, it’s going to a few years before you see some real results, especially if you’re older.”