The midlife beauty lessons to take from Spain’s Queen Letizia

At 51 years old, Queen Letizia of Spain is one of the royal circuit’s chicest members. Throughout the Olympics so far, we’ve seen her wear beautiful dresses by Dior and Carolina Herrera – she has her style formula perfected.

That goes for her hair and make-up, too. No stranger to making a statement, at a pre-opening ceremony reception on Thursday Letizia wore her hair swept up in a chignon with strands of her natural grey peeking through, and a smudged, smokey eye.

She certainly has confidence in her beauty choices. In 2024 it shouldn’t be groundbreaking for a public figure to embrace grey hairs, but Queen Letizia shows them off with flair. She looks all the more powerful and stylish for it.

While it’s a style statement for anyone in the public eye to not feel committed to covering grey hairs, the London-based Spanish hairdresser Manuel Serranocerro says that the queen embraces her country’s typical approach to ageing. “Spanish women are stylish because it’s part of our culture,” he says. “We care about how we look but we’re not scared of ageing.”

While she is very used to a highly groomed appearance as a former TV news anchor, Serranocerro tells The Telegraph that the queen’s attitude of seeing make-up and hair as an extension of her overall style choices is engrained in her culture. Here are the beauty lessons we can learn from Letizia.

Expert haircare

“Embracing grey strands can be a chic and sophisticated choice,” says British hair stylist Edward James. There are a few tips to bear in mind. Firstly, keep your hair looking as glossy as possible. Doing this will give it a groomed appearance. James suggests trying the Gold Lust Nourishing Hair Oil by Oribe, £38. “This product helps to restore shine and vitality to your hair, making it look sleek and glossy,” he says.

Secondly, go for regular trims to prevent split ends. “A leave-in treatment to protect your hair from heat and environmental damage can help, too,” says James. Try the Botanical Repair Strengthening Leave in Treatment by Aveda, £15. If you want to blend your greys rather than covering them, as Queen Letizia has perfectly demonstrated, “ask your colourist to weave in multiple tones in the hair to add depth and more shine,” says James.

Midlife make-up

Letizia doesn’t shy away from wearing impactful make-up. While most formulas are now much more suited for skin of every age (and not just designed for 20-somethings with perfect skin), there are some that are better suited for midlife skin. The make-up artist and brand founder Monika Blunder, 55, developed her own range to suit midlife women.

“Balmy foundation textures are really well-suited to midlife skin because they are more moisturising and are buildable,” says Blunder. “A balmy texture is ideal for skin that is no longer as plump as a 20-year-old. It will give you more hydration, smooths fine lines and wrinkles, and it will give you a dewy finish.” Try Blunder Cover, £45: you can build up the intensity over areas of discolouration or age spots.

As for colours that suit midlife women, Blunder is a fan of mauve shades for lips and cheeks. “Mauve has a neutral undertone, and this colour works well from fair to deep skin,” she says. “Mauve shades often mimic the natural flush of the skin, it almost looks like your own lip or skin colour but better.” Try The Kind Words Lipstick in Humble by Rare Beauty, £21.

Skincare

While we can’t speculate on any skincare or facial treatments the queen has had in the past, she does have a very healthy, toned complexion. If you want to get your skin in shape in your 50s, there are a multitude of treatment options. “In the case of Queen Letizia, at the age of 51, we would want to stimulate collagen at a high level for effective lifting and maintenance,” says A-List facialist Natasha Clancy.

She would recommend treatment options such as a combination of radiofrequency and microneedling which works well for midlife skin to stimulate collagen production. At home, Clancy is a fan of the NuFACE microcurrent device, £125, which “is great for a quick-fix before going out, as it helps tone the facial muscles.”