A beauty manifesto, from someone who is done pretending not to notice.
So here it is. My list. Unapologetic, personal, and very much final.
The Brands I'm Done With
These are the brands I will no longer promote, recommend, or buy from. Not out of anger — out of principle.
Celine. Relentlessly youth-obsessed casting, campaigns that feel like they were designed for a world where women over thirty simply don't exist. Beautiful clothes, hollow vision.
Dior (runway and campaigns). One of the great houses. And yet — when was the last time you saw a woman with real age on her face in a Dior campaign? Not an icon hired because she defies her age, but a woman who simply is her age, gloriously and without apology?
Givenchy, Fendi, Versace. All under the LVMH umbrella, all part of a system that has continued using very young models while the rest of us age out of their imagination.
Balenciaga. Where to even begin. A brand that placed child models in deeply disturbing campaign contexts has lost any right to claim a cultural conversation about beauty. I'm not interested.
Drunk Elephant. Once a beloved skincare brand, now a cautionary tale. They actively marketed anti-aging products to children and teenagers — feeding age anxiety to girls who haven't even finished growing. That is not a brand I can support.
Glossier. Built on the aesthetic of effortless, dewy, twenty-something skin. I don't hate it. I just don't see myself in it — and I stopped pretending that I should.
Sol de Janeiro, and Charlotte Tilbury (in their campaign approach, not necessarily their products). Both brilliant in many ways. But their marketing consistently targets a narrow, young, aspirational demographic. The older woman is an afterthought, if she appears at all.
This is not about cancelling anyone. It's about clarity. When a brand doesn't see me, I stop seeing them.
The Brands I Believe In
These are the ones doing something different. The ones who understand that beauty doesn't expire.
Jones Road — Bobbi Brown. She built a hundred-million-dollar brand in her sixties, specifically because she looked around and saw that no one was making makeup for women who actually look like women. She doesn't use the phrase "youthful glow." She talks about looking like the best version of yourself, right now, at the age you actually are. That is radical. That is the kind of brand I want to support.
Westman Atelier — Gucci Westman. A luxury brand built by a makeup artist, for people who actually wear makeup. Cream-based, hydrating, designed to work with skin rather than paper over it. The philosophy is quiet but the conviction is absolute.
Trinny London — Trinny Woodall. She launched her brand at 53. She shows up every day, her actual face, her actual skin, talking to women about beauty in a way that feels like a conversation rather than a campaign. Her community, the Trinny Tribe, is thousands of women connecting with each other — not just buying products. That is what a brand with a soul looks like.
L'Oréal Paris. Not perfect. No large corporation is. But they have stood by Helen Mirren, Jane Fonda, Andie MacDowell, and Eva Longoria — not as tokenism, but as the actual face of the brand, year after year. Andie MacDowell has been an ambassador for forty years. That kind of consistency means something.
Dove. Their "Beauty Never Gets Old" campaign featured real women over sixty — not celebrities, not exceptions, just women — and asked: if this is what aging looks like, what exactly are we afraid of? I don't have a good answer. And I think that's the point.
Merit Beauty. Minimalist, considered, genuinely for everyone. No drama, no anti-aging language, no suggestion that your face is a problem to be solved.
Look Fabulous Forever. Founded by Tricia Cusden when she couldn't find what she needed at beauty counters in her sixties. A brand born out of pure frustration and quiet determination. I respect that enormously.
I am not asking beauty brands to stop making beautiful things. I am asking them to stop making women feel like their expiration date has passed.
Monica Bellucci is in her sixties. She is, by any measure, one of the most magnetic women alive. Not because she looks young. Because she looks herself — completely, unapologetically, and with a depth that only comes with time.
That is the beauty standard I choose. And these are the brands I choose to stand beside.
