Tyra Banks Just Turned 50 and Doesn’t Mind Some “Little Wrinkles” on Her Face

“I think 50 is the new 30s.”

Tyra Banks turns 50
(Image credit: Instagram)

Confidence has long been something that model Tyra Banks has in spades, and, as she ages, that hasn’t changed a bit. The former host of America’s Next Top Model took to Instagram to give us a masterclass in embracing our age and loving parts of ourselves that society wants to call undesirable.

“I now have these little wrinkles on the corner of my mouth and I’m kinda feelin’ them,” she captioned the photo. She then turned the question on her followers, asking them “What are you [feelin’] about yourself these days?”

Tyra Banks turns 50

Banks turned 50 last month

(Image credit: Instagram)

There’s nothing like a milestone birthday to make you reevaluate aging and your relationship with it, and Banks just celebrated her fiftieth birthday last month. Back in September, about three months before her big birthday, Banks told People that she’s “not against” cosmetic procedures as she gets older, but that heretofore she’s “not had age plastic surgery stuff,” although she doesn’t elaborate on what exactly that means.

“I look in the mirror and I don’t feel 50,” she said. “I think 50 is the new 30s.”

Banks—who said in 2018 that she had a nose job in the early days of her modeling career—said that, though she hasn’t enhanced her appearance as she ages yet, “Maybe I’ll need a little something, something,” she said of the future. “But I’m not insecure about it.”

Based off of her recent Instagram post, that much is obvious. And instead of hiding her age, Banks said three months before she turned the big 5-0 that she was so proud of it that “I keep saying I’m 50, even though I’m not, as an excuse,” she said. “When people ask me, I say ‘I ain’t doing that—I’m 50.’ Or ‘I’m just going to tell you what I think, because I’m 50.’”

Tyra Banks turns 50

(Image credit: Instagram)

On her actual birthday last month, Banks went makeup-free in photos, wearing nothing but a fluffy gray robe. “So many fear getting older,” she wrote, per Page Six. “That’s understandable. Things just aren’t the same anymore. Our bodies. Our energy. Our minds. But I gotta say, my mind is FIERCER THAN EVER. Wise, baby.”

Wise enough to proudly embrace those little wrinkles on the corner of her mouth—as we all should.

Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.