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While “anti-aging” — a word I, and most women who know aging is a privilege, loathe — comprises over $50 billion of the beauty category, there are very few brands dedicated to women over 40. Despite sagging shelves, there’s a dearth of cosmetic products and formulations that truly understand and resolve aging skin issues. Sarah Creal sought to change this.
As a writer striving to change the narrative of aging, I am delighted to have interviewed the founder about her eponymous brand, hearing firsthand her mission and inspiration: “First and foremost, I thought [women over 40] needed a beauty brand that was explicitly for them! The fact that most beauty brands are ‘for everyone’ is not helping. We wanted to create a brand that is formulated for [women’s] higher needs, reflects them in our advertising/marketing so they can realistically see what a product will look like on, and creates a space to continue the beauty journey with as much excitement, aspiration and fun as they had with beauty in their 20s.” I speak for every woman who may be feeling overlooked in this youth obsessed society, thank you Sarah Creal.
Read more about the beauty line that is resolving frustrations and making us sparkle. Age be damned.
EXPERTLY CRAFTED FOR BABES 40+
While Sarah has an incredibly impressive resume spanning three decades — including stints at Prada, Aerin, Tom Ford, and most recently Victoria Beckham — it’s her passion for product development that makes this line shine. And our skin glow.
The industry veteran touts her new line as “wear, repair and moisturization" — with nary an anti-aging claim in sight — having surveyed 2,000 women over 40 about their specific concerns and feeling that despite technological advances in her own purview, beauty issues she was experiencing were not being addressed by brands. “Concealers were emphasizing my lines, blushes were drying, lipstick was bleeding, eyeliner was smearing, and my favorite volumizing mascara was ending up under my eyes halfway through the day.”
She took matters into her own hands. “The overall formulas I developed for the launch moisturize, protect, and reinforce the moisture barrier (which tends to be more compromised as we get older), and utilize key high-performance actives that contribute to the repair.”
HIGH PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS
The brand’s debut collection includes a mix of skincare and cosmetics. While considered the basics of beauty, as a mid-50’s minimalist, they complete me.
To me, it’s easy math (nothing like insufferable girl math): Less product + better formulations = greater impact.
The perfect base layer, this liquid moisturizer is weightless hydration that supports the skin barrier while brightening and firming skin. Fueled by peptides, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.
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Tapping into peptides, hyaluronic acid and extracts (caffeine and jasmine flower), this lightweight — yet effectively nourishing — eye cream works well under makeup. Sans makeup, I have found my dark circles diminished.
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Formulated with zinc oxide and bakuchiol (a sun-safe bio-retinol that conditions and repairs skin), this mineral SPF primes skin for makeup or simply a day on the go. Includes an antioxidant booster — clinical trials reveal an increase in antioxidant activity by 200% — to protect skin and reduce oxidative stress.
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Formulated as a treatment for lips, this balm is loaded with capuaçu butter, peptides, phospholipids and lactic acid (which gently exfoliates so the actives can work) for soft, smooth and plump lips. Good riddance waxy lip balms.
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With ten flexible shades formulated to stretch across skin tones while never caking or creasing, it’s no surprise this product is a fan fave. It’s the perfect hybrid — high-coverage brightening concealer meets moisturizing foundation. I find a little goes a long way as the ingredients (hyaluronic acid, caffeine, aloe leaf extract and green tea) blend together for a smooth velvety finish that feels weightless. I fade long before the coverage does.
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This long-wearing, one-coat wonder (or two coat “wow”) tubing mascara creates volume and definition for smudge-proof days.
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This just in! Sarah Creal has now added a hydrating lipstick to the line. Available in ten flattering shades — with fabulous monikers and the occasional charity component (at launch, 15% of net sales of shade Red V. Wade was donated to Planned Parenthood) — I am stocking up for the season.
Pair with another new product — the peptide primer treatment Lip Grip Line Filler ($36) — to blur and treat lip lines, and make lipstick stay put.
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YOU𝖳̶𝖧̶ OBSESSED
Lest you think Sarah Creal takes itself too seriously, the brand — and by default, the founder — have the perfect panache, as evidenced by the chic retro packaging, product/shade names and the bold marketing campaign solely featuring models over 40 — many sporting gray locks. For this 40+ crowd (which happens to be one-quarter of the population), Sarah Creal is building an empowering community — free of judgment and dismissive language — alongside beauty products that will streamline and elevate the everyday. And, as you would expect from an eminent product developer, the brand is dedicated to resolving future frustrations and eager to hear from women.
Unapologetic about aging and her breakthrough brand’s role in the industry, Creal has said, “I couldn’t think of a single luxury brand specifically creating products for women like me. So, this brand is about me saying, right, fuck it.”
Age into beauty with Sarah Creal today.
