Andie MacDowell didn’t set out for her hair to become her superpower, but it happened all the same. Embracing her natural silver shade has made her the figurehead for a generation of women reframing grey as a powerful statement, where giving up hair dye isn’t giving up on beauty or self-worth.
‘The response has been wonderful,’ Andie tells GH, dialling in on a video call from Paris, those silver curls gleaming on our screen. ‘Mostly, it’s so positive. Occasionally I’ll see someone say something like, “You look older.” And I just feel so sorry for them, that they feel the need to say that. I don’t have a problem with it. I’m embracing being my age, so I’m not trying to look younger. That’s not part of my needs.’
That decision to go grey didn’t start out as a conscious decision to rebel against conventional beauty standards or redefine what being sixtysomething looks like, she notes. ‘It was just a stage in my life that I wanted to experience. I mean, we get one shot at life, right? This is it. I don’t get another chance. And I wanted to see what it felt like to look my age.’
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It was a bold move for one of L’Oréal Paris’s best-known beauty ambassadors, so was the brand pretty much told rather than asked? ‘Yes, yes! I'm just so thankful to L'Oréal for tolerating me,’ she says, in her charming Southern accent nobody could easily say no to. ‘It’s not that I’m trying to advocate for not colouring your hair. I think it’s a lovely choice. You have to do whatever makes you happy. I’ve enjoyed [being grey] for my work. I think it’s more interesting to play someone who truly looks my age.’
While Andie didn’t set out to be a beauty disrupter, it’s a role that comes naturally to her. ‘I’ve never understood the concept of not saying my age,’ the Four Weddings And A Funeral star says. ‘It didn’t resonate with me. I had no problem with it. I love advocating for people being comfortable in their bodies. I’m 67 and I’m understanding what it is to be in this body at this time of life, and what I need to do to care for myself. That is something I study all the time, and I live it. I walk the walk.’
On that subject, Andie came to Paris to walk L’Oréal’s legendary Le Défilé catwalk last night, strutting her stuff alongside her fellow spokesmodels in the name of empowerment. ‘I look up to these women so much,’ Andie enthuses. ‘Being on the same stage as these remarkable women is always a huge honour. I love watching each of us finding our own way of expressing our power and our strength.’
It was also a moment to put that hair in the spotlight, polished with L’Oréal’s Cool Silver shade enhancer, and blow-dried into big Hollywood waves. ‘When I’m not working, I work with my natural curl but I love to have it blown out for that true-glamour L’Oréal red carpet hair. I think it’s remarkable looking.’
Away from the cameras, Andie lives the whole ‘I’m worth it’ ethos, and then some. ‘I self care in a very particular way,’ she says. ‘I know what I’m supposed to do to have longevity in a positive life.’ Her daily priorities include sleeping well (‘naps are so great for the brain’), healthy eating and exercise tailored to her life stage. ‘I used to be an aerobics junkie, now I’m a huge advocate for weights. It’s all about maintaining muscle now. My stomach muscles are amazing!’
A six-pack at 67? ‘Kind of!’ she laughs. ‘I’ve actually got two indents. I work hard!’
She loves to flex her curiosity even more than her abs. ‘I think the most important thing that you can do for yourself as you’re ageing is to have the right people around you, people that stimulate you. I’m fortunate that I live around a lot of ageing women who are very dynamic. I do the book clubs. A lot of them play bridge, I think I might start. Just constantly challenging yourself and staying curious is really the most important thing you can do.’
Her thirst for self-improvement extends to her relationship with her three children, including her youngest, Margaret Qualley, best known for her Golden Globe-nominated turn in The Substance. ‘All of us study food, we love to exercise, we love to walk in the woods,’ she says. ‘Margaret is huge into meditation, so that's something I need to work harder on. I like to meditate when I’m walking, but the actual concept of sitting down and doing a mantra for 20 minutes doesn’t appeal to me. But she says it works.’
Chasing wrinkles isn’t a concern for Andie, who tells us she keeps her skincare regime focused on a healthy glow. ‘Staying hydrated is really important to me, from the inside and out,’ she says. ‘So I’m using L'Oréal Age Perfect, which is created for older skin, and drinking a lot of water so I’m keeping my skin moisturised. If I’m feeling tired, I’ll put L'Oréal Lumi Les Glass Sticks on my cheekbones, and it just gives a healthy look to my skin.’
The nearest thing she has to an ‘anti-ageing’ regime is a good eyebrow pencil. ‘I do fill my eyebrows. As you age, they can get a little thinner. I'm lucky, I have pretty good eyebrows, but that's something that all women will talk about – ageing and their eyebrows.’
It’s refreshing to meet an A-lister so sanguine about the passage of time, and as we wrap up, we ask Andie if it’s a mindset she’s developed through time and experience.
‘I think it’s also my personality,’ she says. ‘I think I’m constantly giving myself the same advice: to know my own value. I think I have to know what my boundaries are and be comfortable in saying ‘I'm doing my best’. I can’t do what you expect, but I’m doing my personal best. That’s what matters.’
Andie MacDowell is a spokesmodel for L'Oréal Paris
