In the years since her early days of blonde-bombshell stardom in 80s blockbuster hits like Grease 2 and Scarface, Michelle Pfeiffer’s natural and age-defying looks have always garnered international attention. Named one of the ten most beautiful women in the world, Time called her “drop-dead gorgeous”, and time has not affected this title in the slightest. A perfect example of a classic beauty, even at 63 – let’s unpack her special secrets and routines:
Back to basics – Diet Edition:
Going vegan a few years ago was much healthier for the American actress, as she noticed she was naturally avoiding a lot of toxins known to age both skin and body. Michelle Pfeiffer tells Urbanette that she noticed a difference in her skin not long after she went vegan, but recently revealed she’d switched to her “vegan phase” for a “paleo-ish” diet. The popular diet mirrors the food supposedly eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era and is often also referred to as The Caveman Diet.
Pfeiffer’s paleo diet is packed with lean meat, fruit, fish, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. She avoids the likes of processed foods, grains, legumes, and dairy too. Although she admits that her decisions were initially driven by vanity and the desire to age gracefully, she also says,
“the older I’ve gotten, the more it’s occurred to me that I’m doing it in order to live longer, though the vanity component will always be there.”
A young Michelle
Drink lots of water
Pfeiffer also recommends drinking at least two liters of water a day, and has also recently become a big fan of Matcha green tea. Matcha is high in a catechin called EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), which is believed to have cancer-fighting properties. Studies have linked green tea to a variety of health benefits, like helping to prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, and even encouraging weight loss.
Exercising Caution with Pilates:
The Hairspray actress incorporates a bit of everything into her exercise routine. A fan of running between 6 to 8 km preferably on a treadmill in her home gym, she revealed that she loves a dance workout on her treadmill too, a video of which has gotten almost a million views on Instagram. She also has a Pilates reformer and admits to doing a bit of yoga as well.
Reformer Pilates allows you to move through full range while working on strengthening muscles. This dynamic form of exercise cleverly uses the machine’s springs and levers to create resistance and allows for equal focus on the concentric and eccentric contractions to create long, lean, toned muscles. Look no further than a beach-ready Pfeiffer in her swimsuit to see the proof in this pudding!
Michelle Pfeiffer’s Slumber Secrets:
Tips and tricks aside, the Catwoman actress also admits that although we are all constantly searching for the “magic bullet”, the secret to her longevity is,
“what nobody really wants to hear…it’s that you have to eat right, you have to exercise, you have to get sleep.”
Sage advice, but then again, we don’t all have Michelle Pfeiffer’s genes! She might just be on to something when it comes to the beautifying power of a good night’s sleep, though.
Your skin goes through several changes at night. Rather than fend against pollution and UV rays, it can go into repair mode and enter a period of intense regeneration. As well as creating new collagen, our cell production can double between 11 am and 4 pm. If our bodies enter deep sleep, cell turnover can increase by three times between the hours of 2 am and 4 am.
Skincare: Keep it Simple:
Pfeiffer has been outspoken in the clean beauty world, especially around the launch of her fragrance line, Henry Rose. She visited Capitol Hill to lobby for reform in the cosmetics industry.
“You begin to look at the world through the eyes of your children, and you just want to protect them—so you start looking at health in a preventive way,”
Scanning an ingredient list is just one of her secrets to staying young. She looks for ingredients that are clean and effective in their function, such as Hyaluronic Acid, which locks moisture into the skin and re-plumps the skin. She has said that she has very reactive skin and therefore keeps her beauty routine extremely simple: ‘I cleanse, I moisturize—that’s it’
Another beauty secret for her: she goes makeup-free as much as possible. The star has often been photographed on her holidays with no make-up, not only helping her skin, but also proving her effective age-defying tactics.
Thoughts on Plastic Surgery:
She believes in aging gracefully, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she would never consider plastic surgery. “Sometimes I think about it, sometimes I don’t,” she mused. “I’m not saying that I won’t have plastic surgery at some point. I think that it’s harder and harder the older you get to say never. Especially being in the public eye. It doesn’t really matter, I think that if people actually want to do something here or there, who cares? If it makes them feel a little bit better about themselves… What I object to is too much. And really bad plastic surgery. When I think it becomes a distraction and when people don’t look like themselves anymore. As long as it doesn’t overtake them.”
Reference List:
Shatzman, C. 2021. Clean Beauty Queen Michelle Pfeiffer, 63, Spills 7 Beauty Secrets. [Online] Available at: Clean Beauty Queen Michelle Pfeiffer, 63, Spills 7 Beauty Secrets (womenshealthmag.com) [Accessed: 2021-11-30].
Ash, J. 2021. Michelle Pfeiffer, 63, looks half her age with NO wrinkles and bouncy blonde hair… 40 years after becoming a pinup with her role as Elvira in Scarface. [Online] Available at: Michelle Pfeiffer, 63, looks incredibly young at event as she appears wrinkle free | Daily Mail Online [Accessed: 2021-11-30].
