A Model Boomer in Harmony With Her Age
Red-blooded Angeleno that we are, we have absolutely no intention of getting older. Ever. So it was only out of anthropological interest that we lunched with ageless beauty Dayle Haddon, author of the new how-to for boomeresses, “Ageless Beauty: A Woman’s Guide to Lifelong Beauty and Well-Being” (Hyperion).
You must have seen her face. It’s been on more than 100 magazine covers. And Haddon is the only model to have surfed four major cosmetics contracts, including her current gig with L’Oreal. That’s no mean feat, especially for a woman who had the audacity to turn 50.
Since we also plan to have a cosmetics contract when we hit 50, we debriefed Haddon on her beauty secrets over lunch at the Argyle Hotel’s Fenix restaurant. Our first question was, should we order the Caesar salad?
“That’s super-fattening,” she said, “but when it’s so good, it’s worth it. I check my body. I just say, there must be some element in it I need.”
There is. The fat.
“We don’t have to be good. I don’t believe in being good all the time.”
Now that’s our kind of diet.
Speaking as a model baby boomer, the raven-haired Haddon believes her peers will change the face of aging. “The baby boomers don’t consider themselves old and never will. A generation ago, 40 was old. At the turn of the century, the average life span of a woman was 46. Isn’t that phenomenal? I’d be dead already.”
And your lunch would go to waste.
“I’ve been talking to women all over the country and Europe, and they were not happy with having their magazines and the products they bought imaged back to them from a 20-year-old girl. It’s offensive. I contemplated it, and I just thought the longevity of beauty made sense, because what’s beautiful at 20 is different at 30. What is the beauty of 40 and what is the beauty of 50?
“Things do head south. There are things you can do about it, and there are fabulous things you can do for your skin, but you really want to be developing an inner life. That’s what true beauty is, merging who you are with what you look like. There’s an inner connection you get with meditation and yoga and things like that.”
Blah, blah, blah. What about face lifts?
“How you’re feeling about your life shows up on your face, and you see it in New York. People are so stressed out, and they may have spent thousands of dollars on a face lift and their hair and their clothes. . . . That’s why I talk about the inner work on yourself, to have a balance, because it translates into beauty, into an experience you have with someone. Now let me ask you something. Does this interest you?”
Yeah, sure. So what’s your position on plastic surgery?
“Individual choice. I’m pro-choice. But I wish that women would read my book first, because I give alternatives. There are ways to put on your makeup that can cheat and enhance. If your focus is on eliminating everything and looking 20, it’s a losing battle. That’s why the inner is so important.”
Would you go under the knife?
“I don’t know. I’m too afraid. Just the idea. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do it, but I like the way a woman’s face gets as she gets older. Now if I had a huge thing dangling down here, I might get rid of it. Turkey neck’s gotta go. But I like the softening of the face. I would like my book to help women come to terms with this process and be smart about it. Get real. This is not a book for little girls. This is a book for women.”
Om.
*
Speaking of keeping your life dangle-free, we stopped by the Wolfgang Puck Cafe in Santa Monica last week to eat hors d’oeuvres in honor of another new how-to for boomers, and anyone else with muscles for that matter--celebrity fitness gal Kathy Kaehler’s new book, “Real-World Fitness” (Golden Books).
If the snacks served at the bash are any indication, the new trend in fitness cuisine is duck quesadillas. Excellent, we say.
Anyway, Kaehler trains celebs such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Alfre Woodard, Lisa Kudrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Claire Forlani and Jennifer Aniston, which makes Kaehler flashy enough for us. Also for Women’s Sports & Fitness magazine, which lured her away from Elle.
“It’s a fitness-eat-fitness world out there,” said Lucy Danziger, editor in chief of Women’s Sports, which bought the snacks.
The fat-free Kaehler, who also preaches fitness on “Today,” chatted about the exercises in the book and tips to make you Michelle Pfeiffer-like: “One of Michelle’s great tips is if she is given five hours of sleep, she takes four. She’d rather work out that fifth hour, because she knows that will give her energy to get through the day.”
And safeguard her God-given right to eat Caesar salads.
