It's a tragic truth that society teaches us to be ashamed of our bodies - especially as we get older.
Thankfully though, every once in a while, a celebrity comes along to remind us that we can still have that wow factor at any and every stage of our lives.
Actress Maribel Guardia was the woman to do that recently. The Costa Rican-Mexican star celebrated her 60th birthday at the end of May with a jaw-dropping photoshoot that collected hundreds of thousands of likes on social media.
Check out the stunning video Maribel uploaded to Instagram:
The actress began her career in 1978 when she was named Miss Costa Rica. She went on to represent her country at the Miss Universe 1978 beauty pageant, before accepting an offer from Televisa producer Sergio Bustamante to develop a career in Mexico.
She has since starred in multiple telenovelas, released a series of albums in the Norteño music genre and modelled for a wide variety of magazines.
Veteran supermodel and actress Cindy Crawford, 53, has been body-shamed after posting a picture of herself in a bikini.
Despite having just as incredible of a figure as she had in her modelling days, after posting a picture of herself in a bikini to Instagram on Wednesday, trolls took umbrage with the fact that Crawford, as an older woman, was willing to show off her body.
Crawford posted a sparkling emoji, alongside the picture with the caption: "A little bit of lake light."
Now, bearing in mind that we live in the era of body positivity, where people, regardless of shape, size or age are encouraged to love the skin they are in, trolls decided to post their small-minded views in the comments section.
"You are old now. I don't think you are living in reality," wrote one commenter. "Men do not foam at the mouth at 55-year-old women. Trust me."
Another added alongside a cringing emoji: "Getting a little old for this..."
Thankfully, the trolls were mostly drowned out by fans of the 53-year-old, who praised Crawford for still having the confidence to pose in a bikini at 53 - with some people of a similar age wishing that they had such an enviable figure.
"There are negative comments about this picture????" wrote one confused user. "Must be a jealous bunch!"
"Go Cindy... they're jealous," another added. "I am 80 now but when I was 56 I wore bikinis when I swam in Greece but I did not look as good as you... YOU ROCK."
A day after Crawford shared the snap, her 17-year-old daughter, Kaia Gerber, followed suit, posting a dazzling snap of herself sunbathing to Instagram.
Why is it that some celebrities seem to have been able to hit the pause button on their lives and cease from aging like the rest of us?
Have Keanu Reeves, Selma Hayek, Paul Rudd, and Halle Berry all discovered the Fountain of Youth? And more importantly, is it being guarded over by Vera Wang?
The only reason I ask is that on June 27, the iconic wedding dress designer turned 71 years old, and celebrated her big day (which also coincided with Pride 2020), by uploading some pictures to Instagram.
Now, back in May, Wang ignited the internet with a series of seriously youthful snaps (scroll down), and even shared some of her tips for looking so incredible in her 70s.
But now it seems like she's a female Benjamin Button, because she looks even younger than she did in those snaps!
Sharing a series of pictures of her in an Adidas sports bra and some sunglasses, Wang captioned the post to her 402,000+ followers: "PRIDE Workout".
She's 71! She looks better than I have in five years and I'm 28!
And the photos proved popular among her fans, as the post amassed over 24,000 likes in 24 hours, with fans heaping compliments on the legendary fashion designer.
One Instagram user with the handle 'kolaczynski' typed: "I've come to realize that Vera Wang is quite probably the most stylish & coolest person ever."
Another admirer with the handle 'jeffshumate13' commented: "All of mankind thanks you for this picture."
And a third fan with the handle 'mike.peters1964' joked: "Totally amazing, wow 29 forever."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
Other commenters simply couldn't get over how "flawless" the designer looks at 71 years old:
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
As I mentioned, back in May, Wang somewhat "broke the internet" when she uploaded some shots of her in lockdown.
Looking half her age and then some, Wang posed in a series of laidback outfits, that perfectly showed off her toned stomach and slender legs.
In one outfit, Wang rocks a bright orange crop top, white shorts, and bold sunglasses. In another, she pairs the same white shorts with a grey tank top, gray paisley bandana, and a killer pair of heels.
Now, Wang has revealed what she does to keep herself looking so young.
One Instagram user called Rosalee took to the comments section of one of Wang's recent snaps, and asked the question we were all asking in our heads. "I need my stomach to be like yours. What’s your routine?", she asked. asked a woman named Rosalee.
Mercifully, Wang replied, "Work, sleep, a vodka cocktail, not much sun."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
I won't lie, I feel like I already achieve 75% of that list, and I certainly don't feel any younger.
In more snaps, the 70-year-old fashion icon got all dressed up on the patio in a bright orange gown, complete with matching face mask and black heeled boots.
In the third series of snaps, Wang pairs a t-shirt and Adidas leggings with a pair of white heels and a bold necklace. She shared the images with Harper's Bazaar for the magazine's #BazaarHopeAtHome survey.
Wang told the publication that she is currently quarantined in Miami with her "workday fashion family," and as a result, she's been taking some fashion risks and exercising more than usual. She said:
"All of them are extremely fit, which pushed me to 'work out' most days. [My quarantine group] being a hardcore fashion group, and me having my lifelong obsession with leggings, I had the opportunity to actually 'play' with clothes, something even a fashion designer rarely has the luxury of doing."
She also stated that the picture above: "depicts my personal conflict between loving athleisure clothing but dreading the treadmill!"
Liz Hurley has taken to Twitter to set everyone straight on the identity of the photographer who snapped her latest viral topless pics.
On Monday, the model and actress posted a couple of provocative pictures of her posing in her underwear and a fluffy coat that exposed much of her chest.
The 55-year-old captioned the post simply: "How could I resist". Nothing in the post indicated that the photos were taken by a specific person.
And yet yesterday, a number of publications suggested that the photos were taken by her 18-year-old son Damian.
This was probably due to the fact that they were reporting on Piers Morgan's reaction to snaps. Lacking evidence for his claims, Piers suggested the photos were taken by her teenage son.
Discussing the photos on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, Piers said, per the Huffington Post: "Who took the pictures? Your 19-year-old son, you said, took the pictures? Isn’t that a bit creepy? What is all this! It’s what we call in the business 'thirsty and a bit creepy.'"
Later that day, Liz took to Twitter to share not only that the photos were not taken by her son - but they were actually taken by her 80-year-old mother.
She wrote: "Far be it for me to suggest the tabloids get their facts muddled, but these pics were in fact taken by my 80-year-old mother. Not entirely sure if that puts minds at rest or not."
A number of people have responded to the post, with one writing: "Who would have thought that the human body could be so upsetting for some people."
Another said: "OMG Girl...I just came across these pics on FB; haven’t seen you in a while. You look absolutely amazing!! What an inspiration to other women to know the potential women (atleast you) can maintain even while aging! I think you look as good as you ever have!"
Another person suggested: "If your mum ever needs a rest I’m the man for the job. I’ve got a smashing camera on my phone."
Some people seem to just have the gift of never aging a day, don't they?
While the rest of us wrestle with dubious face creams promising improbable results, drink copious amounts of water every day, and moisturize like we're preparing to break the land speed record on a slip and slide, others seem to just stroll through life apparently unblemished by the aging effects of Father Time.
Of course, aging is something that should be celebrated, meaning as it does that we're another year older and wiser, with a lifetime of experiences to look back on.
Seriously, Hayek looks the same as she did when she starred in From Dusk Till Dawn:
Salma Hayek is certainly someone whose name crops up often when we talk about celebrities who never seem to have aged a day. Her Instagram page is constantly flooded with fans expressing their amazement over her youthful looks, and a recent post from the actress in celebration of her 54th birthday was no exception.
"I am very grateful and proud for every single one of my 54 years. Thank you for all the birthday wishes, especially to my fans who made a special account for my birthday. What a gift!" the actress wrote on Instagram, alongside a picture of herself happily posing in a golden swimsuit.
And her fans were delighted with the birthday post. "Are you ageing or anti-ageing !!! Beautiful" wrote one commenter, while another added, "Happy birthday. You definitely don't look 54 years young you look 28".
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
A third commenter wrote, "How is she 54? Godess [sic]".
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
Another well-wisher added, "Happy Birthday Gorgeous more like 24".
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Instagram]]
In a 2016 interview with Harper's Bazaar. Hayek discussed getting older, telling the publication:
"Well I am entering my fifties so your body confidence isn’t that good. I think it depends on the day, for everybody, there’s some days you say, ‘This is it,’ and you love it. Then there are days when you go, ‘This can not be it! Is this really it?’ So I think it’s up and down all the time!"
And the Like A Boss star previously revealed some of her best beauty tips in an interview with The New York Times, revealing in 2017:
"I never cleanse my skin in the morning. My grandmother taught me that at night your skin replenishes all the things you lost during the day. Also, if I cleanse very well at night, why would it be dirty when I wake up? It’s for companies to have you use more products.
"At night I take off my makeup with coconut oil. Then I use rose water to take off the residuals. You can use a hot towel with the rose water — you put a wet towel in the microwave — to do a little steam. I’ll use the chamomile cleanser from Nuance. Then I splash with cold water."
Sofia Vergara has turned up the heat this summer as she's shared a snap of herself basking in the sunshine, and she looks incredible.
The 50-year-old is best known for her work on Modern Family, as well as being a judge on America's Got Talent, and she is defying time.
For any Modern Family fans out there, it's obvious why Phil Dunphy was spellbound by Gloria throughout the series, isn't it?
The Colombian-American actress took to Instagram last week where she shared a photo of herself enjoying the weather by her swimming pool, and it has left fans speechless.
Lying facedown wearing nothing but a black bikini bottom thong, the 50-year-old will definitely have stopped people scrolling for a moment.
Some can't believe that she's 50 years old as it seems like the effects of time that ravage a lot of us haven't been able to leave a mark on Vergara.
One person commented under the post: "She looks so young," and a second added: "Ultimate goals to look like this at her age."
A third person said: "If I don't look like this at 50 I don't want it," and a fourth simply concluded: "50 years young."
Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram
Credit: Instagram
Vergara sat down with Home Business Magazine earlier this year, where she opened up about her beauty and the passage of time.
"Well, it's great that at this age I'm still considered a beauty icon because, you know, after you start feeling time goes by, things change," Vergara said.
She continued: "So, of course, I love it, I think it's great that I'm showing a little bit more of the Latin looks all over the world, I'm showing a little bit of my ethnicity off."
Though it should be noted that as well as her natural beauty, a lot of hard work goes into maintaining her body, which her trainer, Jennifer Yates, revealed is mainly down to Pilates.
Vergara has stunned fans with her snap. Credit: BG026/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
"We do a lot of squats and deadlifts, and we do a lot of things off the machine as well," Yates told Women's Health. "Recently, we've been combining some of the heavier weights for the lower body because she's trying to put a little more mass on, so we've been doing a lot of work with kettlebells."
Yates made it clear that Vergara is dedicated to maintaining her physique and even takes her workout equipment with her on vacation.
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.webp_QQJmGo?tr=cr-345.0.1535.1190,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
.webp_QQJmGo?tr=cr-345.0.1535.1190,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)