Christie Brinkley Admits to Fillers (but Avoids Botox): 'I'm a Model, I Want My Skin to Look Its Best'
Christie Brinkley is 62, but you’d never know it from looking at oh, any recent photo of her. And the supermodel admits that the secret to remaining ageless isn’t a secret at all — especially since, as a swimsuit model, she spent years smiling in the sunshine, leading to laugh lines and sun damage.
“I grew up in Malibu then my real job of modeling took me to beaches all over the world and under the sun. I really am aware of all the sun exposure I’ve had in my life and I’m interested in things that they can do to [reverse the sun’s effects],” she tells People, saying that she’ll get Clear and Brilliant laser treatments and “occasionally I’ll do a little bit of filler” (though not Botox) to keep her face full and youthful.
RELATED PHOTOS: Christie Brinkley’s Most Iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Photos!
And of course, a woman who wrote a book called Timeless Beauty isn’t holding anything back — she’s happy to share everything she’s learned from seeing the world’s top dermatologists and researching her skincare line. “I’m a model. I want my skin to look its best,” she says. “Some women on my Instagram will say, Oh, she’s so fake. It’s not her skincare, she gets filler.’ And it’s like okay …if I only did filler and I didn’t use my Recapture 360, I wouldn’t have the moisturizing, I wouldn’t have that bounce back … it’s the whole thing. You have to take care of the texture of your skin.”
RELATED VIDEO: Behind the scenes of Christie Brinkley’s cover shoot!
Brinkley doesn’t mind all the interest in her skincare, fitness and food regimen: “You’ve gotta take care of yourself and share what you do so others can take care of themselves as well,” she says. For her, that means an “aspiring vegan” diet. “I try to be as vegan as I can be … I try to keep it mainly to the mozzarella now. It comes from Italy and I like to imagine it’s just this little cow roaming on a hill and somebody milks it gently,” she says. “Occasionally I feel like I need a little piece of salmon … I will occasionally eat oysters. I think that there’s nothing like a great oyster and a little glass of prosecco [ her line, Bellissima, hits stores this summer]. But other than that it’s a vegetable based diet with lots of greens and quinoa and some couscous.”
She says it’s all worth it to continue the career she loves well into her 60s. “As a model, if I don’t look good, I’m not gonna be able to be — I don’t wanna say inspiration cause that sounds so full of myself,” she says, laughing. “But I think that models generally speaking are either aspirational or inspirational. The only thing I don’t like about modeling is I don’t want women to feel like they have to look like the airbrushed version and feel like they can’t attain the perfection there. I’m always trying to unmask that and say you guys, hair and makeup, good lighting.”
For more from the model, pick up this week’s issue of People, on stands Friday, and tell us: Are you loving Brinkley’s honesty?
— Alex Apatoff, with reporting by Charlotte Triggs
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