Brooke Shields began her accomplished professional career at only eleven months of age, and by age 3 was a runway model.
At age 9, Shields began her extensive film career when she won her first acting role in "Alice Sweet Alice" and rapidly gained fame after starring in Louis Malle's "Pretty Baby," the Palme D'or Award winner at the Cannes Film Festival, and the coming-of-age tales "Blue Lagoon" and "Endless Love."
In addition to her film achievements, Shields has maintained a successful and critically acclaimed television career. Her work on The NBC hit "Suddenly Susan" garnered her a Golden Globe nomination, and she received an American Comedy Award nod for her guest role on "Friends."
As a model, Brooke has graced the covers of hundreds of magazines, most notably Time Magazine as the "Face of the Eighties". Today, Shields continues her prolific appearances in a broad range of worldwide publications, decades after it all began.
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This September, Shields unveiled her latest project Beginning Is Now, a digital community and brand which looks to inspire women of every age to live their fullest lives, to overcome challenges and adversity, and the courage to begin again. The site features a mix of content and commerce created to foster peak happiness and wellbeing.
Shields is the best-selling author of several books, including "The Brooke Book," "On Your Own," and the highly publicized and critically acclaimed "Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression."
Brooke started working with the toothpaste company, Colgate, at a very young age and continues to be a brand ambassador for the company to this day.
In support of their new product, New Colgate Renewal toothpaste, Brooke is spreading awareness on the importance of proactive gum care.
Shields knows how important a healthy, beautiful smile is to feel confident in front of the camera and in their everyday lives - and gums are the foundation to that.
In addition to her professional career, Brooke continues to be a strong advocate for women’s issues and keeping the arts alive in schools, and is the happily married mother of two beautiful daughters.
We sat down with Brooke to discuss the importance of self-care, maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and her secrets to youthful beauty.
Q: How would you describe your typical morning?
A: I like to get up with the girls because spending that time with them is super important to me, although only one of my girls is home now. I try to get up a little bit earlier so that I can make sure I’m brushing my teeth thoroughly, going through all of the stages of my skincare routine, and getting settled for the day. If I’m rushing, I won’t spend the proper time on the important self-care things. I also try to stretch a little bit in the morning. Then, I go downstairs, get my tea, take the dog out, and try to read the paper a little bit before my daughter comes downstairs.
Q: What is the most essential part of your morning routine that you absolutely couldn’t miss?
A: It’s always been taking care of my teeth. Since I was a little girl, I have been working for Colgate, which showed me the importance of overall dental health and oral care from a very young age. So that’s the piece that I always do. I don’t always do the toner and the cream and all that stuff, sometimes I just try to clean and moisturize if I’m feeling pressed for time. The thing I never skip, morning and night, is my dental hygiene ritual.
Q: Can you talk a bit more about your oral hygiene ritual?
A: It’s honestly become such a huge part of my beauty routine, as well. By working with Colgate, I learned the importance of things like gum health, which typically isn’t what people think of when they think of dental care. Truthfully, these things just weren’t really on my radar. In a business where I need to show my face and smile a lot, the teeth have become so important. If you think about it, it’s everything. It’s the first thing you see when people are smiling at you. It's the first thing other people see when you're smiling at them. The appearance of your teeth is a very important piece of the puzzle, but I recently learned about the actual integrity of your gum health. Taking care of your gums can revert early signs of gum damage, which can lead to more serious health consequences. So it’s cool that I’m constantly learning, and relearning, and able to see actual, tangible results on myself.
Q: What other wellness or beauty products would you use for the rest of your life?
A: I recently started using True Botanicals, because I love the ethos of their brand, what they stand for, and how clean their products are. I also love how the brand addresses everybody’s different target needs. Haircare is also another really important part of the wellness equation. It’s really about taking care of your whole person, which I used to look at as a luxury, and now I realize it’s a privilege.
Q: How do you go about managing your work-life balance? How do you carve out enough self-care, "me" time?
A: It’s a really hard thing because when you’re a mom and working, sometimes you are last on the list. I definitely realized in later years, that the better I am, and the better cared for I am, the better I am to my family, my husband, and my girls. I become more available and stronger. It’s when I lose sight of myself, that I overlook my needs, and am consequently less valuable to my family. It’s like putting your mask on yourself before helping others on the airplane. Sometimes you need to put yourself first.
Q: What is your biggest self-care and/or anti-aging secret?
A: It’s the thing I do the worst, which is sleep. It shows so much on my skin, and on my whole person if I don’t sleep enough or well. I’m working on finding ways to sleep more and get a better quality of sleep. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting enough sleep and drinking enough water. It really is critical for you internally and out. I think I’m going to look into taking some supplements. I know that Hum is a really good brand, so I’m going to give that a try!
Q: If we were to open your makeup bag right now, what three items would be in it?
A: I’d say my Laneige lip balm, a drafting pencil I use for my eyebrows, and a color stick.
Q: Are there any health/wellness/beauty myths you would like to debunk, maybe surrounding oral health?
A: Just that it’s important, which I never really knew until recently. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a myth, but it was an overlooked part of dental care and oral health. It’s amazing to think how many years I neglected to work on my gums, and just focused on teeth. I didn’t realize how your gum health is sort of a window into your actual physical health. Gum health is a really good indicator of the rest of your health. If I had known that earlier, I would have started taking care of my gums years ago.
Photography by: Courtesy Bcw-global
