The supermodel, who's teamed with Upneeq to raise awareness about its eye drops, shares her beauty philosophy at 60: ‘I want to feel like the best version of me’
Credit: Upneeq
NEED TO KNOW
- Cindy Crawford is lending her famous face to a new campaign with Upneeq prescription eye drops
- The supermodel credits the treatment with helping her feel more confident
- Crawford also shares her self-care routine now and how she’s approaching beauty in her 60s
Cindy Crawford can remember one of the first times she let her eyes do the talking.
The year was 1986, and she was shooting her first Vogue cover with iconic photographer Richard Avedon.
“He used to shoot with the big 8×10 cameras. It was very slow, so [between shots] he would have you turn away from the camera then look back to the camera because he wanted each shot to have a freshness to it. But, he told me, ‘every time you look at the camera, have a thought in your head because I can see it in your eyes.' I think I was 21 at the time, but I still use that to this day and it just helped me realize how important our eyes are in communication.”
Forty years later, Crawford is still using her eyes to tell stories. But now she does so with the help of Upneeq prescription eye drops, the only FDA-approved treatment clinically proven to lift low-lying upper eyelids in adults.
While Crawford was announced as a partner for the eye treatment in May, she's long been using the product, which has contributed to a boost in her confidence, she tells PEOPLE.
Credit: Upneeq
“I remember probably 10 years ago after I turned 50 when I would be doing early morning calls, they would be like, ‘Are you fine to start at 6:00?'”
Crawford says she would candidly reply, "I can get up whatever time you want, but my face doesn't wake up until 9:00, so just don't plan any closeups or anything.”
The supermodel continues, “I could see on camera that my eyes just weren't quite as perky as they once were.”
On set, Crawford recalls moments when makeup artists would be doing her eye makeup, and “they would have to pick up [my lids] to get the makeup in there.”
It'd take the greater part of the decade for her to find a solution.
“About two years ago, my dermatologist told me about Upneeq as something that could help your eyes just look a little bit more wide open and awake. So I tried it. At first, I was only using it for shoots or when I really wanted to be on. But when I realized you can use it every day, I was like, ‘Why not?' It's [one of] those little things we can do to feel like the best version of ourselves. And, when women feel more confident, they present themselves in the world in a more confident way.”
Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Dendy Engelman, who did not treat Crawford, explains that “as we age, there's a phenomenon called acquired blepharoptosis, where the muscle that controls the upper eyelid gets weakened. In addition to the natural drop in the eyebrow positioning, this results in a smaller eye aperture or opening.” The non-invasive treatment, which works in as little as five minutes, activates that muscle, making your eyes more visible for up to eight hours.
“The thing I love about Upneeq is it's not a big commitment. You're not going under the knife,” Crawford says.
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The supermodel, who turned 60 in February, rounds out her wellness routine with several other steps for mind, body and soul.
“I get up, I put my Bible app on and while I'm listening to that, I dry brush, gua sha, then I go do my red light. Then I go outside and when I come back in I have a cup of coffee, work out, then I shower.”
“When I get ready for the day, usually around 9:30 in the morning after my workout, that's when I use my Uqneeq eye drops. And then my skincare, which is Meaningful Beauty. I can do my face in less than two minutes. Even if I'm home, I get ready for the day.”
Crawford says entering this decade felt surprisingly different than the big 5-0.
“Aging has its challenges and its gifts. I think, for instance, 50 was really hard for me. That was the one that I was like, ‘Wow, there's nothing girlish about 50.' So how I handled that was by writing my book. I was like, ‘I'm not going to run from this or try to hide it, I'm just going to write about my lessons that I've learned over these 50 years.'”
“Then this year I turned 60 and honestly, it was easy. That one I thought would be hard. But, look, I'm not trying to be 20 or 25. I think that's my biggest change in how I approach beauty: I just want to feel like the best version of me. I don't want to look tired. I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard. Do I like it if someone says my skin looks great or you look great? Sure. I hate when someone says, ‘You look great for your age.' Can we just ban that?”
Credit: Upneeq
While using Upneeq has proven easy, there's one element of her routine that requires more muscle.
“People talk about so many different things for anti-aging, but hair color is probably the biggest for me. This color is a pain to keep it up. But, when I look in the mirror, I see myself still. And, I am all for things that just help me look more like me.
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