I said no to Botox, let my hair go gray I've never been hotter

Publish date: 2024-05-05

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Justine Bateman has been in the news for doing nothing.

On a recent episode of “60 Minutes Australia,” the 1980s glamour girl, now 57, said that she’s proudly embracing — and not trying to alter — her wrinkles and lines despite criticisms.

“I just don’t give a s–t,” Bateman said in the interview.

“I think I look rad. I think my face represents who I am. I like it.”

It’s a sentiment that married mom of four Amanda Hanson strongly echoes. 

“We shouldn’t be afraid of aging,” Hanson, 50, a clinical psychologist from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told The Post. “It’s a natural process just like being born.”

Online, she passionately promotes natural beauty and has vowed to never undergo “anti-aging” procedures such as Botox, face-lifts or fillers.

Amanda Hanson, 50, proudly refrains from wearing makeup, following a skincare routine and dying her hair in order to appear younger than her years. Diana De Lange

“Getting older is a beautiful spiritual journey,” she said. “I won’t dishonor the process of aging by trying to alter it with surgery or cover it up with makeup.”

In 2013, shortly after her 40th birthday, she looked in the mirror and noticed fine lines around her eyes and mouth, as well as wrinkles on her forehead. Her cheeks weren’t as full and firm as they once were.

She decided not to fight it.

At age 40, Hanson first notice the signs of aging on her face, but decided to embrace the subtle wrinkles and lines rather than erase them with makeup or surgery. Diana De Lange
Although she’s been married for 28 years, Hanson says men regularly compliment her natural beauty. Diana De Lange

“I made an outward declaration to myself that I would never get Botox or any of the treatments that toxic beauty culture says women need in order to be considered relevant, loved or chosen,” said Hanson.

Five years ago, she even stopped dyeing her gray hair — the one beauty ritual she struggled to give up.

“I was like, ‘Wait a minute Amanda, there’s still an aspect in which you are still complicit to a system that says aging is wrong or needs to be hidden,'” she added.

During a recent sit down with “60 Minutes Australia,” Bateman acknowledged social media critics who said she “looks old.” 60 Minutes Australia

Hanson’s pro-aging sentiments are in line not just with Bateman, but a number of mature women in Hollywood.

Paulina Porizkova, 57; Meryl Streep, 73; Drew Barrymore, 48; and Andie MacDowell, 64, have all publicly said that they don’t want to be pricked by syringes or go under the knife in an attempt to look more youthful.

But such women seem to be dwindling in numbers.

Sports Illustrated super model Paulina Porizkova addressed her decision to allow her face to age sans medical intervention. @paulinaporizkov/Instagram

A recent survey conducted by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that procedures such as Botox, soft tissue filler and nonsurgical skin tightening were on the rise for women around the age of 45 in 2022.

The research also showed that business at 30% of clinics had at least doubled since March 2020. More than 75% of clinics said business was growing some amount.

Hanson, meanwhile, has taken her low-maintenance ethos to the nth degree. She doesn’t follow a skin care regimen — or even wash her face at night.

In 2021, Barrymore, 47, said she doesn’t want to negatively influence her two young daughters by undergoing cosmetic surgery on her face. @drewbarrymore/instagram

“All I do is moisturize with a vitamin C cream from Whole Foods,” she said, referring to an Andalou Naturals salve. “My face is the least interesting thing about me.” 

On TikTok and Instagram, she’s billed herself “The Midlife Muse” and has attracted more than half a million followers.

As a psychologist, she counsels clients, many of whom are in midlife, to accept and appreciate their aging faces and bodies — and to unfollow social media accounts that make them feel negative about getting older.

In 2009, Streep, 73, told Vanity Fair that plastic surgery feels like an “interruption in communication” between her and loved ones who’ve gone under the knife. Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock

Hanson has been married for nearly three decades and says that her husband, Bryan, has embraced her approach to beauty.

“He loves the fact that I’m so free. He always says he’s never been with someone so natural before,” she said.

Other men have also been drawn to her gray hair and lines visage.

“Male friends and guys on the street are constantly coming up to me telling me how great I look,” she said.

“We’re told that a young-looking woman is what men want, but that’s not true. That’s what we’ve been sold because it makes us open up our wallets to cosmetic surgeons.”

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