Olay has chosen 69-year-old model Maye Musk to be the face of their ‘Simply Ageless’ collaboration with Covergirl.
Just weeks after the news that Dior had chosen 25-year-old Cara Delevingne as the face a line which “corrects all visible signs of ageing”, - which left many asking where were the opportunities were for older women in the beauty industry, this marks a welcome win for diversity of age.
The Canadian born model and dietician is also the mother of Elon Musk. Maye has been in the industry for 50 years and looking through her portfolio of work truly reveals how dynamic she is.
Maye understands that being a working model who is older is a rarity as she said to The Cut this was her highest achievement in modelling:
“This is a big surprise, and I’m really, really happy. It represents women of my age. I noticed on Instagram the young women are so excited, because it gives them so much hope.”
Maye started modelling when she was just 15, and she recalled that she worked so hard outside of modelling because she was told her career wouldn’t continue once she was past 18.
But now as the face of the biggest beauty brands in the world, Maye is tackling ageism by just being herself.
As she consciously chose to let her grey hair shine through in her sixties, it seems apt that as Maye grows more and more comfortable in her skin, the bigger campaigns she is landing and the magazines she is covering.
Happiness is key to Maye’s mantra as she explains to HelloGiggles “It’s a big part of my role as a dietitian, too — helping people feel happy, healthy, and confident exactly as they are.
“With wearing makeup part of my job as a model, one might think I’d get tired of it, but I absolutely love it.”
Kudos to Covergirl and Olay for understanding the gap which needs to be filled for representation for older women and taking a few steps to change how the beauty industry isolates women who are older.