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<\/p>\nIt\u2019s 10am on a Wednesday morning and I\u2019m bonding with the global icon that is Caroline Hirons over aches and pains. One of the world\u2019s most influential figures in the beauty industry and the woman behind multi-million skincare brand Skin Rocks, Caroline is known for her unapologetic observations and unfiltered honesty, which she happily showcases for me from the get-go.<\/p>\n
\u2018Mate, I wish I could say I was better,\u2019 she replies, wincing slightly when I ask how she is. \u2018I\u2019ve got the worst blasted backache. You know when you\u2019re in pain and it makes you physically grumpy?\u2019<\/p>\n
Oh, do I what. At 46, deep in the hormonal purgatory of perimenopause and having made the ill-advised decision to train for a marathon, my own body has begun lodging formal complaints, which I mention. \u2018Lunatic,\u2019 she says playfully. I like her already.<\/p>\n
Caroline is 56 \u2013 57 in July \u2013 yet she looks closer to my age than I do. Her famous skin is immaculate: plump, luminous and glowing with health. \u2018If my skin wasn\u2019t great, I\u2019d be in trouble. It wouldn\u2019t say much for my business model, would it?\u2019 she laughs, referring of course to her award-winning beauty empire, which is growing exponentially.<\/p>\n
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Caroline Hirons, 56, has immaculate skin (Picture: Evan Doherty)<\/p>\n
She\u2019s just launched her Skin Rocks Pro project, offering training, education and curated facials for salons and beauty professionals worldwide.<\/p>\n
When prompted, Caroline lists her seven-step morning skincare routine with brisk efficiency, and while I\u2019m impressed, I note that even putting on moisturiser some mornings is a chore for my fatigued self. She eyes me sympathetically. \u2018Perimenopause is brutal,\u2019 she notes. \u2018I didn\u2019t know what was going on. I thought I was just putting on weight and losing my mind. My brain was fudge. You\u2019re so tired and I don\u2019t think you\u2019re in any frame of mind to do anything major during those years. But then when you come out of it, you get clarity.\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"Caroline](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/106545311-15577741-image-m-4_1771596589364.jpg\")
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Caroline Hirons says she’s had ‘three pretty s*** years’ (Picture: Evan Doherty)<\/p>\n
She adds that the huge hormonal storm was up there with one of the worst times of her life. \u2018When you\u2019re through the other side, life is a lot easier,\u2019 she muses, and I know she\u2019s not just talking about navigating hormones.<\/p>\n
\u2018Yeah, I\u2019ve had three pretty s*** years, to be honest \u2013 my mum dying, perimenopause, Jim and I separating,\u2019 she reflects. In January, Caroline announced that herself and singer\/songwriter Jim, her husband of 32 years and the father of her four children, had separated, and today, she affirms that the family are in a good place.<\/p>\n
\u2018To be honest, I think we\u2019re faring better than most because all of our kids are grown so we\u2019ve been able to have space that you need when you\u2019re going through that,\u2019 she says carefully. \u2018I don\u2019t have to ever worry about visitation and custody \u2013 our youngest is 21 \u2013 so I don\u2019t have any of that s*** that many other other poor women have to deal with. When we talk, we talk on text, and it\u2019s very amicable.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ve got two children still at home and it\u2019s the family base and they\u2019re in and out, you know. They still see Jim and he comes and goes. What\u2019s still important is that we spent nearly four decades together and we don\u2019t have to worry about where they\u2019re going to go for Christmas, what they\u2019re going to do at Easter. That would tear me apart. Then I can see how I would want to kill him on a weekly basis,\u2019 she smiles wryly.<\/p>\n
\u2018We communicate about finances and logistics and that\u2019s it. It\u2019s easy because there\u2019s no animosity. It\u2019s just, it is what it is. You just try and do the best you can for your family. You\u2019re still a family, you just look different.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m not interested in going off to someone else, he\u2019s not interested in going off to someone else,\u2019 says Caroline, whose says that her marriage break-up was the complete opposite of any type of high conflict or toxicity. It wasn\u2019t a sudden implosion, it was a decision that the family have been comfortable with for some time.<\/p>\n
![\"Caroline](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/106545323-15577741-image-m-6_1771596616613.jpg\")
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Caroline says of the reaction to her news: ‘Can you all calm down?’ (Picture: Evan Doherty)<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m in a much better position than a lot of people I know are,\u2019 she continues. \u2018It wasn\u2019t new information to my family or my kids or my loved ones. So we were just like, yeah, can you all calm down?\u2019 says Caroline of the online fervoured reaction to her news.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s not happening to you. It happened to us and it was a while ago and we\u2019re cool. Get on with your lives. Nothing to see here, you know, move along,\u2019 says the \u2018almost borderline psychotically optimistic\u2019 Caroline, who is also a deeply pragmatic person.<\/p>\n
\u2018Someone did ask if we were consciously uncoupling? I said, no, we\u2019re not w****rs, come on,\u2019 she laughs. \u2018I\u2019ve got no reason or energy for animosity. Obviously, in the initial days, I\u2019m not going to say it was easy, but I immediately had the thought process of, I\u2019m a child of divorce in the 1980s, and I never wanted that type of narrative.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m 56, so I\u2019ll be dead soon, I haven\u2019t got the energy. I\u2019m certainly never going to speak badly about the man who is the father of my children. If I\u2019m going to be angry, I\u2019ve got plenty of other people who deserve anger more than what will always be the biggest part of my life. Why would I want to be raging against that? The four best things on God\u2019s green earth came from our relationship,\u2019 she says, of their children Ben, Dan, Ava and Max.<\/p>\n
\u2018I just said to them, \u201clook, your dad is your dad. He\u2019s the love of my life. I\u2019m not looking for a new love of my life. I\u2019m not changing my name. He will always be your dad. And you may have to cut me some grace sometimes. You might hear me say the odd thing like you do as a normal person where you\u2019re just like, oh, whatever,\u201d\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n
I know exactly what she means, the generic frustration that can come post-split.<\/p>\n
\u2018Now, I\u2019m lucky in that Jim is not a w****r. I\u2019ve experienced my friends with young children in very different circumstances, and I can feel the rage. But for us, I think it\u2019s nice to show to the world that actually, you live the best part of your lives with each other, so why have animosity?<\/p>\n
\u2018Unless, of course, there\u2019s extenuating circumstances \u2013 I\u2019m not suggesting for a second that you stay friends with someone who\u2019s abused you or similar, god no.\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"Caroline](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/106545345-15577741-image-m-8_1771596634334.jpg\")
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Caroline Hirons says of her grandchildren: ‘I’m obsessed’.<\/p>\n
In fact, Caroline, who has over 700,000 followers on her Instagram account, says that she\u2019s inundated with similar stories from women her age navigating similar circumstances. \u2018I\u2019ve had so many women in my DMs… you know, there\u2019s a reason that my demographic is the highest demographic for divorce,\u2019 she says. \u2018I think postmenopausal women get to a certain point and you\u2019re just like, is this all I want for the rest of my life?\u2019<\/p>\n
Among the challenges of the last few years, she\u2019s had some major highlights too. \u2018Professionally, the business is flying,\u2019 she says. \u2018Then there\u2019s the grandchildren…\u2019 Caroline\u2019s eyes light up at the very word. \u2018I\u2019m obsessed. It\u2019s a different level. Everyone thinks I\u2019m joking, but I looked into it scientifically. It\u2019s all the maternal love amplified and intensified, all the good stuff.\u2019<\/p>\n
She\u2019s currently a grandmother of two with another on the way, following the news that her influencer daughter Ava is expecting a baby with former Love Island star Zach Noble. \u2018I just want to eat them,\u2019 she laughs. \u2018I saw the babies last weekend and I was like, \u201ccome here, I\u2019m going to bite you\u201d. And the little one goes, \u201cNanny, don\u2019t bite me\u201d. My grandchildren are very much all I think about when I think about the future. They\u2019re obsessed with me and I\u2019m obsessed with them. When you\u2019re a grandparent, you\u2019ve seen it all and nothing really fazes you.<\/p>\n
\u2018So yeah, you could say post-menopausal, you\u2019re kind of living the dream, as you don\u2019t give a f*** what anyone thinks about you,\u2019 she reflects when I ask her how she feels about women and ageing. \u2018The word I\u2019d like removed permanently from the vernacular is \u201cgracefully\u201d. Ageing gracefully. What does that even mean?<\/p>\n
\u2018No one ever says that about men. No one says George Clooney\u2019s ageing gracefully. Do you think I have to behave like a lady? You know, I always think of Helen Mirren when she turned 70 and was asked do you have any regrets? And she went, \u201cyes, I wish I told far more people to f*** off\u201d,\u2019 she says, her eyes flashing.<\/p>\n
\u2018Does that mean you let yourself go grey, you let yourself have no hormones, so your health suffers, so the health of everyone around you suffers? Because trust me, if the matriarch is not healthy, you\u2019re all going to suffer,\u2019 she says in what I definitely detect as a warning.<\/p>\n
This resistance extends to aesthetic treatments, where you get the sense that she believes the real danger is not Botox, but judgment. \u2018Why would anyone care what anyone else does to their face?\u2019 she says. \u2018If someone wants a tweakment to feel fresher, let them. I have no plans to go in for a Kris Jenner facelift but she looks phenomenal. That is some bloody good work.\u2019<\/p>\n
As a society, Caroline feels we should be careful in condemning something like tweakments for women as she sees beauty and bodily autonomy as part of the same continuum of choice.<\/p>\n
\u2018Having any opinion over what anyone does with their body leads me directly to a woman\u2019s right to choose, because that\u2019s coming down the line from the States with someone like [Nigel] Farage over here,\u2019 muses Caroline, who has Limerick roots and remembers fondly being in Dublin in 2018 when a Repeal march was happening and proudly donning a campaigning jumper.<\/p>\n
\u2018There is no way I\u2019m leaving this earth with my granddaughters having fewer rights than I had. I\u2019ll go to jail. I\u2019ve said it. I can afford protection and everyone would have great skin,\u2019 she says, only half-joking.<\/p>\n
\u2018If you come for women\u2019s rights, there are going to be a lot of grandmothers who will be having none of it. Absolutely not a chance in hell. So any politician who thinks that women aren\u2019t watching you when you don\u2019t speak up for our rights, be aware, babe. Be aware.<\/p>\n
\u2018We don\u2019t have these discussions about men. Name one medical procedure a man needs legal permission for. It doesn\u2019t exist. Why would we let men have vasectomies? That\u2019s also preventing life \u2013 if you want to go down the road, let\u2019s go down the road. But I\u2019m not here for any kind of legislation over women and that to me starts with leaving women alone.\u2019<\/p>\n
She pauses for a second, a smile playing on her face. \u2018There\u2019s a great line about how men should be grateful that most women just want equality and not revenge. That\u2019s very much where I\u2019m at. Can you tell I\u2019ve got backache?\u2019 she asks, grinning.<\/p>\n
\u2018I have a very busy brain, sometimes I just have to shut down, I literally have to shut the computer down and I lie on the sofa, make a cup of tea and put on the TV. It\u2019s the equivalent of plugging myself out,\u2019 she says, when I ask her how she relaxes.<\/p>\n
She also loves gigs \u2013 she\u2019s going to Raye at London\u2019s O2 next week. \u2018Look, I\u2019d go to gigs every night if I could but I\u2019m past that,\u2019 she says, and I concur. \u2018I used to go to the gym three times a week. It\u2019s harder now, I just don\u2019t have the love for it.<\/p>\n
\u2018But I\u2019m active anyway. I hardly ever sit still. When I do, I get backaches,\u2019 she grimaces, her eyes in mock roll.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m going to go now and do some stretching. I think a pigeon pose might help this back,\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n
I just know this powerhouse won\u2019t be on the floor for too long.<\/p>\n
Visit Caroline Hirons\u2019 brand Skin Rocks at SkinRocks.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s 10am on a Wednesday morning and I\u2019m bonding with the global icon that is Caroline Hirons over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[539,93,61,60,1489],"class_list":["post-311338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-dailymail","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tvshowbiz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}