5/15/2016 0 Comments BEAUTY\t> CELEBRITY BEAUTYMeet Maye Musk, the Model (And Mother to Elon) Who Proves Beauty Has No AgeIt goes without saying that Maye Musk looks great. The 68-year-old model and doyenne of the Musk family—you’re likely to have heard of her sons, Elon and Kimbal, two of this era’s groundbreaking entrepreneurs—recently signed to IMG. Inking a contract with a prestigious agency is a significant moment for any model, but for Musk it’s a banner moment not for herself but for all women looking to be defined by more than their age. “I hope it gives other women hope that they can look good and feel good when they are past 60,” says Musk, via phone from her home in Los Angeles. “I was on a shoot yesterday, and the young models were so excited to see me because they say it gives them hope, too, that they can carry on.”
Musk began her fashion journey at the age of 15 in Pretoria and Johannesburg, South Africa, becoming a popular model in the 1960s and working consistently through the next five decades, doing everything from starring in campaigns for cosmetics giants like Clinique and Revlon to playing the heroine in Beyoncé’s atmospheric video for “Haunted.” In a business where most are lucky to last five years, Musk has managed to beat the odds while raising three children, picking up two Master of Science degrees, and running a practice as a dietitian. Photo: Getty Images The secret to her multifaceted success: Musk’s health and nutrition knowledge comes from both her studies and personal experience. Having lost 50 pounds in the mid-’90s after a brief stint as a plus-size model and having kept it off since, Musk is vigilant about what she consumes and how. “I think the biggest misconception about me is that people think I am naturally lean,” she says. “I am not. I have to eat healthfully all the time and be incredibly conscious about what I put into my body. Nutrition-wise, no matter how much knowledge you have, you need strategies to prevent weight gain. Plan ahead and avoid temptation. I still do that on a daily basis.” For Musk, food is fuel for the kind of life she wants to live. A focus on superfoods helps her maintain the energy she’s known for and provides an added bonus: flawless skin. “Feed the body well and your skin will look good. Eating well combines science with common sense,” she says. “The best way to maintain vitality is to eat when hungry, and not eat when not hungry. When starved, you become anxious and angry. When too full, all your energy goes to digesting your food, so you feel tired and like you’re in a food coma.” A fan of vitamin-rich veggies like pumpkin, sweet potatoes, spinach, greens, broccoli, and cauliflower, Musk says it’s easy to eat well without feeling like it’s work. “If you don’t like kale—I don’t—this doesn’t mean you won’t have good skin. There are many other vegetables and fruits with the same nutrients.” At home, she says, “I eat vegetarian with cereal, milk, yogurt, cheese, legumes, vegetables, fruit, whole-grain bread, brown rice, nuts. When eating out, I choose fish, meat, and chicken.” Musk’s beauty routine is similarly elemental. In fact, she’s so low-maintenance that she doesn’t know offhand the names of the few products she uses (soap, eye cream, moisturizer, sunscreen). Her trademark silver hair is kept fresh with monthly cuts and frequent experimentation—Serge Normant transformed it into a sleek chignon for the Met Gala—but she credits its health to nutrition and steering clear of dye. “If you eat well, the whole body and hair will be well fed,” she says. Her other tips? Washing hair after every photo shoot to remove product. “I then don’t blow-dry it, as it’s been tortured and needs a rest,” she says. “When there are a few breaks, I wash my hair every five days.” Free from most model vices—smoking, falling asleep in mascara, and champagne overindulgence among them—Musk and her no-frills routine are like a master class in how to age gracefully using common sense as a guide. But she does admit to relying on her best friend and stylist, Julia Perry, to keep from ever falling into a beauty or fashion rut. “Just as you start liking your new look, it’s already out of date,” Musk jokes. “I’m a nutrition scientist who models. Science nerds need experts to help us!”
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