Brooke Shields on getting older: “I definitely feel sexier

When you are one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood, getting old can be a crushing reality. But for Brooke Shields, she tried to take it in stride.

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“The toughest thing is giving up wanting to look like you did at 26,” she told People. “Because when I was in my twenties, the fifties and late forties sounded ancient! Now I’m rapidly approaching that and I don’t feel ancient. I think that the toughest part is letting go of the past. But the easiest part is this feeling that this is who I am. It’s more important that I feel good than it is to have people think I look good.”

But once she got past needing to be 26, she said, “I definitely feel sexier and definitely more confident. I’ve stopped comparing myself to other people. Still I fall prey to it. But you just have to knock yourself and say ‘Nope, don’t do that.’ It’s just counter productive.”

Shields is releasing a new brand of makeup at MAC and said she wears more makeup these days than she wants to. But her daughters won’t let her go out in public without it.

“When I was younger, it was such a job for me, so I would just sort of wash it off the minute I was done with the job,” she said. “Now my daughter insists that I put makeup on when I take her to school. ‘Mom, please, at least put a little mascara on. And some lip gloss. And some blush.’ It’s like, ‘Anything else?’ So I definitely try to pay more attention.”

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Shields’ makeup line includes 13 products, including makeup for a signature part of her: her eyebrows. But it almost didn’t happen. She explained, “I thought I’d covered everything: the lips, the cheeks, the eyes — what’s left?” she adds with a laugh. “I was so oddly forgetful because they’ve been talked about so much. But I realize that brow grooming is something that people focus on.”

Shields loves being a mother. And although she has been working on and off, after a lifetime of focusing on her career, she seems happy to now be focusing on her family.