From a Depressed Housewife to a Model at 58, How Caroline Labouchere Proves Life Only Begins After 50

Modern women face more and more beauty challenges. One of them is the very idea of having gray hair. People admit that it takes huge courage and self-confidence to embrace going gray, and the silver shade on women’s heads needs to be dyed and colored to ensure they’re accepted by society.

However, there are some women who prove that gray hair is not a burden, but rather, a beautiful accessory that adds immaculate charm to any woman. And today’s heroine can prove this by her own example.

Caroline Labouchere wasn’t really happy in her earlier years.

Caroline Labouchere is originally from London. As a child, she was abandoned by her father, which caused her to feel insecure and develop a fear of growing old. The mother-of-2 spent her twenties and thirties feeling “needy and insignificant.” She fought signs of aging by dyeing her hair, which was already starting to go gray.

In an interview, Labouchere reflected, “I was brought up to not look in mirrors. I don’t think I ever felt beautiful — not even on my wedding day. When I was younger and a camera pointed my way, I turned away. I didn’t experience this feeling of beauty that I have in the past year of my life.”

Her plans for life were quite down-to-earth. As she said in her interview, “I didn’t like school and I left at 16. I did a Cordon Bleu cooking course and a dressmaking/pattern-cutting course. There were no career plans, just travel, marry, and have a family.”

One day literally changed the woman’s life completely.

This feeling of hopelessness and insecurity may have lasted forever, but suddenly, Labouchere got a chance to look at herself with new eyes.

In November 2017, her daughter, Amelia, who was then 23 and working as a model, said that her boss was looking for a gray hair ambassador. And this was a big opportunity for the mother. “I was not a model, but I was gray,” remembered Labouchere.

Now, years after that lucky chance, Labouchere has never looked back as her photos are now being published in British Vogue.

Gray hair has become a luxurious accessory for the woman’s image.

While Labouchere felt average about her looks throughout her forties and early fifties, she became somewhat obsessed with the possible ways to combat aging. She would dye her gray hair, use widely advertised anti-aging creams, and get facials, Botox, and fillers.

But after she jumped on that modeling opportunity in 2017, Labouchere has never felt happier with the way she looked. She said, “I have never wanted to look old. In this day and with advances in modern medicine, cosmetics, and nutrition, it’s not necessary. I’m much more confident and braver than I was in my twenties and thirties. I go to events alone and say yes to almost everything.”

She added, “I think men still prefer younger women. I get attention, and it’s overwhelmingly positive, but don’t call me ’old.’” In another interview, she commented on her own appearance and going all-natural, saying, “I believe I’ve become better looking as I’ve got older. I feel complete now. To be gray... For some reason, it just does empower you. It’s my crowning glory.”

Now Labouchere is living her best life and gives powerful advice to women.

In her Instagram bio, Labouchere wrote, “At 58 years old, I am the person I always was but never had the opportunity to be.” She takes pride in her gray hair and in her youthful looks, and never tires of stunning people with her gorgeous photo shoots.

She and her husband, David, have been through many tough times together, but now they’re living in Arabian Ranches in Dubai and enjoy their life to the fullest. She calls her children her best investment and doesn’t make huge plans for the future, living happily in the moment that is now.

Among the advice she gives to women, she emphasizes the importance of a really good cosmetologist and using products that contain retinol. She is against the constant use of decorative cosmetics and considers daily makeup one of the enemies of youth. She rarely touches her skin and opts for less sugar in her diet. But apart from that, she strongly recommends all women to be active and never give up on the way to self-love.

Do you have gray hair? What is your attitude toward going gray and growing older?