They’re the women that have seen it all and tried it all — the ones that we look up to, and in many cases, the ones we’ve grown up alongside, watching their personal lives and careers evolve in parallel with our own.
Women like model and writer, Ruth Crilly, one of the early beauty bloggers who started out sharing her knowledge on her ‘A Model Recommends’ platform, now has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, and has since gone on to write the bestseller, How Not To Be A Supermodel.
Ruth Crilly, 45, feels that every woman’s approach to age is very personal and it’s about doing what feels right for you as an individual
Then there’s makeup artist, Genevieve Turley, who regularly shares her expertise and thoughts with more than half a million followers on Instagram and TikTok, often through comedy skits that have found favour with the A list.
And Dr Pyal Patel, an NHS GP specialising in dermatology who, during the pandemic, shot to fame on Instagram as a medic covering skincare, haircare, cooking, motherhood, fashion and more — she now has more than 250,000 followers who regularly check out her posts.
Dr Pyal Patel, an NHS GP specialising in dermatology, says taking a collagen supplement is part of her aging powerfully
And, it goes without saying that we want to know their insider tips and best-kept secrets when it comes to how they’re tackling the thorny topic of ageing.
Because let’s be honest, ageing today doesn’t look like it did for our mothers and grandmothers — our expectations and our frames of reference are completely different.
This new generation of women is refusing to fade into the background, refusing to be defined by their age and, instead embracing their knowledge and experience, and ageing powerfully — on their own terms. And who better placed to explain the reality of the biology of ageing and what our skin and body needs as we get older, than Dr Pyal?
‘For me, aging powerfully means being able to do what’s right for your body,’ says Dr Pyal, 42. ‘It’s about understanding what works for you, and embracing the process and not fighting it.’
For her, part of that is taking a collagen supplement.
‘I’ve been taking Absolute Collagen for six months, and I love that the collagen supports the normal maintenance of my skin, my hair, and my nails, all from within.’
She says. ‘Because as we age, our natural collagen levels start to drop. What sets Absolute Collagen apart is that it’s not just a beauty trend. Their clinical trial is actually one of the largest and most robust studies on collagen supplements.’
Ruth Crilly, 45, similarly feels that every woman’s approach to age is very personal and it’s about doing what feels right for you as an individual. She’s made no secret of the fact that — personally — she feels that interventions such as toxins and fillers aren’t for her, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t care.
As she explains it: ‘For me, ageing powerfully is about being allowed to think about ageing in whichever way you want.
‘There’s just so much noise around the idea of anti-ageing, and I feel like you’re almost forced into taking some kind of dramatic stance. You are either meant to embrace it and grow old gracefully, whatever that means, rejecting any kind of intervention or tweak. Or you’re supposed to go on a full on age-reversal campaign’
But she argues, there is a third option, and that’s the route that she is keen to explore.
‘What if you sit somewhere in the middle? What if you don’t want to obsess? But equally you want to do things to look your best. Use beauty tech, adopt clever makeup techniques, try out supplements.’ And that’s where something like a collagen supplement comes in.
Makeup artist, Genevieve Turley, 39, is also a fan.
Genevieve Turley, 39, feels more comfortable and confident now than ever before
‘As women, we need to change the narrative that ageing is a problem. It’s not a problem. Ageing is a celebration. A celebration of our life, of our beauty, of our friends, of our families, of all the beautiful things we’ve got to enjoy in life!
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Some people, like Genevieve, like to add it to their morning coffee — it’s unflavoured so you won’t even taste the difference. But if you’re not a coffee person, it can also be added to smoothies or yoghurt.
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In the published study*, participants taking Absolute Collagen like this self-reported improvements in the appearance and feel of their skin and hair over 12 weeks, compared with a placebo group.
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‘I wouldn’t want to go back to my twenties. I feel so much more comfortable and confident —more so now than I’ve ever been before. I think I’ve always been confident, but I feel more comfortable in my body now than I ever have before,’ she says. And she attributes this to the self-knowledge she feels she’s acquired with age.
‘I think it’s because I know how to dress my body now, how to style it, what colours to wear, and I just all round feel like when I look in the mirror I look better than I did when I was 20. So who’s to say that as we get older as women, we’re less beautiful? What a load of old tosh!’
‘I’ve been taking Absolute Collagen for the past six months, and alongside my pretty strict skincare routine, I do believe that collagen helps keep that elasticity, the firmness, the hydration to my skin.’
Although ‘the big four-oh’ as she calls it, is on the horizon, she is refreshingly unbothered by it.
‘I know loads of people really worry about turning 40. But I’m actually really looking forward to it. I think everyone’s got a number in their head of an age that in their mind they always are. And mine’s 28.’
However she admits that the idea of dropping a decade — or more — doesn’t really appeal.
‘I want to age well,’ says Genevieve. ‘That’s why I take care of my skin. It’s why I exercise. It’s also why I take some collagen every morning in my cup of coffee.’
This new approach to ageing isn’t anti ageing, instead it’s about ageing well.
Results are based on the participants involved in this study; individual results may vary.
*https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1155/2024/8752787