This article has been updated since its initial publish date.
Christie Brinkley recently shared an unfiltered, close-up selfie with her Instagram followers, and it has been (mostly) met with praise from her fans. The 69-year-old model’s post is being celebrated for showing her natural skin texture and wrinkles, and it is encouraging others to embrace signs of aging.
Fans, as seen in her comment section, are loving the beauty icon’s attempt to “normalize aging.” This week, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girl also fired back at critics and bullies on social media who she deemed the “Wrinkle Brigade.”
On June 28th, Brinkley uploaded a selfie that she took while in the backseat of a car. She captioned her post: “Downtown Girl” and shared shots she took through her window of the Freedom Tower in New York City.
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Fans Commend Christie Brinkley For Radiant, ‘Real’ Selfie
In the pic, the mom of three wore her signature blonde tresses and bangs down and styled into elegant, loose waves. As for her makeup look, the National Lampoon’s Vacation alum went for a classic smokey eye look with black liner, gray eyeshadow and voluminous lashes. She added rosy blush to her high cheekbones and topped it all off with a glossy red lip.
While many fans praised Brinkley’s “timeless beauty” and “realness,” other commenters were quick to write rude notes about her wrinkles and age spots. Brinkley then updated her caption, clapping back at them: “Whoa Nelly! The Wrinkle Brigade is out in full force in the comment thread! They are the people that scan celebrities pages, hoping to find some cellulite, wrinkles, or anything that they can point to to critique.”
She added: “It must be some form of compensation for some thing they are lacking. But when those people appear, there are others who pop up with messages so kind and valuable. Those are the comments that restore my faith and make my heart sing! Thank you sweet souls.” Brinkley went on: “PS I don’t have hair on my chest obviously (I thought!) My phone has a tendency to create weird things in the shadow. But so what if I did? Have a great day My Friends!”
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More commenters stressed that Brinkley displaying fine lines and wrinkles is a “great thing,” and that it’s “ridiculous” to expect someone at her age level to have “perfect, smooth skin.” One wrote: “I think Christie’s skin at 69 reveals a well lived, sporty, sunshine, salty sea filled life.” One other thanked her for “not using a filter.”
Another added: “Why is it bad when a woman grows old and ages but a man is ok and looks distinguished and handsome. If our society would be more forgiving women wouldn’t worry about becoming old.”
Someone else chimed in: “One of the reasons Christie has been & always will be one of the world’s most iconic beauties is bc she leads with kindness. It’s her biggest beauty *secret*. And it’s free.” One other follower wrote that Brinkley is “One of our planets most beautiful souls,” and we couldn’t agree more!