I’m 51 but look 30 – trolls say I AI edit my photos but belly dancing & a £5 Primark foundation are secrets to my youth
AN AGE-DEFYING 51-year-old who looks and feels so young she identifies as being in her thirties has revealed her top anti-ageing beauty secrets.
Alexia Richter, who is from Blackheath, southeast London, looks so good, she says that trolls wrongly assume she uses AI to edit her photos.
From ditching sunbeds and embodying Shakira to her go-to beauty dupes from Primark, which start from as little as £2.50, the brunette beauty has spoken exclusively to Fabulous and revealed exactly how she stays looking so youthful.
I identify as being in my mid to late thirties
Eager to dispel the common assumption that older women should be “resigned to just being menopausal,” Alexia is instead determined to prove that “life begins at 50.”
“I’ve never, ever felt my age,” she explains.
“As I’ve got older, I’ve started thinking, just like people can identify as being a different sex, why can’t I identify as being a woman in my mid to late thirties?
“It’s not like I’m ashamed of being 50, but there is some kind of stigma attached to it.”
As I’ve got older, I’ve started thinking, just like people can identify as being a different sex, why can’t I identify as being a woman in her mid to late thirties?
She adds: “Women of that kind of age feel like they need to grow old gracefully and accept their age, but I think that if you actually genuinely don’t feel it and look it, why should you?”
With her Mediterranean skin and youthful glow, it’s little surprise Alexia, who runs her own small business as a spray tanner at golden_goddess_blackheath, is often inundated with compliments from her younger clients.
“I’m not looking for compliments but I’m actually incredibly flattered by them,” she says.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it does make me feel really good.”
She even admits to whipping her Passport photo out on the odd occasion as a bit of an “icebreaker”, as she likes to see people’s reaction when they catch a glimpse of her real age.
“It’s just probably something I like to do to make me feel good,” Alexia, who has two teen boys, aged 11 and 13, admits.
“I do it for the shock factor and possibly a bit of an ego boost.”
However, with the positive always comes the negatives, and the 51-year-old, who is a firm believer that people need to ditch sunbeds for good, has received her fair share of hate online.
“I’ve had a few nasty comments saying that I filter my photos,” Alexia says.
“I don’t believe in the filters or the AI stuff and I don’t use any Snapchat filters.
I’ve had a few nasty comments saying that I filter my photos. I don’t believe in the filters or the AI stuff and I don’t use any Snapchat filters
“In a way, it’s hard not to get upset, but I suppose it is like an underhanded compliment.”
But while Alexia is all for female empowerment and making other women feel good, she says she’s always telling her younger clients not to start any kind of work until their face is fully matured.
Everyone is turning into carbon copies of each other
That’s because the mum-of-two is growing increasingly concerned that the Gen Z generation are fast becoming carbon copies of each other.
“I think everyone looks kind of the same,” says Alexia, who admits to having a few subtle tweakments done in her late forties, including Botox.
“It’s all that kind of BBL and big lips and a lot of men don’t actually like it.
“They like the more natural look which is probably a trend that’s going to come back.”
So, with many desperate to know her anti-ageing beauty secrets, how exactly does Alexia stay looking so young?
Tan is not a skin colour, it’s a lifestyle
Aside from natural-looking aesthetics, Alexia, who provides a luxury mobile airbrush and express lash service in around SE London, highlights the importance of wearing sunscreen, ditching sunbathing and steering clear of sunbeds.
And with the weather warming up and May being melanoma awareness month, it’s something Alexia urges everyone to take very seriously.
KNOW THE SIGNS Skin cancer: What are the signs and symptoms – and what does it look like?
By Vanessa Chalmers
There are various forms of skin cancer that generally fall under non-melanoma and melanoma.
Non-melanoma skin cancers, diagnosed a combined 147,000 times a year in the UK, kill around 720 people a year in the UK.
Melanoma, meanwhile, is diagnosed 16,000 times a year, but is the most serious type that has a tendency to spread around the body.
What are the symptoms?
Melanoma
The most common sign of melanoma is the appearance of a new mole or a change in an existing mole.
Most experts recommend using the simple “ABCDE” rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body.
Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
In women, the most common specific location for melanoma skin cancers in the UK is the legs.
Men are more likely to see melanomas in their trunk – the back or torso.
Non-melanoma
The first sign of non-melanoma skin cancer is usually the appearance of a lump or discoloured patch on the skin, the NHS says.
It persists after a few weeks and slowly progresses over months or sometimes years.
In most cases, cancerous lumps are red and firm and sometimes turn into ulcers. Cancerous patches are usually flat and scaly.
The two most common types of non-melanoma skin cancer are basal cell cancer and squamous cell carcinoma.
Basal cell cancer (BCC)
Basal cell cancer (BCC) is sometimes referred to as a rodent ulcer, and this affects the outermost layers of cells in the skin.
Signs of BCCs include a skin growth that:
Looks smooth and pearly
Seems waxy
Looks like a firm, red lump
Sometimes bleeds
Develops a scab or crust
Never completely heals
Is itchy
Looks like a flat red spot and is scaly and crusty
Develops into a painless ulcer
“Young people are using sunbeds again because there’s much ignorance and no understanding of how dangerous they are,” she warns.
“One of my clients who recently got diagnosed with melanoma, she’s only in her thirties, so it’s really, really important to act now.”
Alexia goes on to urge young people, especially men, to not feel stigmatised about having a spraytan.
“The MAN tan is very much in,” she says.
“Besides I wouldn’t mind spraying more fit younger guys!!! As I always say, ‘a tan is not a skin colour, it’s a lifestyle.'”
The 51-year-old also places a huge emphasis on having a young mindset – adding that if you believe something, it’s more likely to actually happen.
“I think the more people that tell you you look young or you look good, it’s that extra kind of belief,” she says.
Another of the mum-of-two’s tricks to her endless youth is to surround herself with friends who are 10 to 15 years younger than her.
“Also having younger boys keeps me young,” she continues.
“I like to immerse myself in the music, the chat and the social media.
I feel like I identify with the generation 20 years before. I don’t identify with my generation at all, it’s weird
“I feel like I identify with the generation 20 years before… I don’t identify with my generation at all, it’s weird.”
Like many of us, Alexia, who follows a keto diet – a low-carb, high-fat eating plan – admits she hates the gym, and has instead turned to another form of exercise to keep slim.
“I’m doing belly dancing now because I want to be Shakira,” she jokes.
“But the classier version of Shakira!”
I’m championing Primark for all their dupes
And, rather than forking out a small fortune on pricey skincare, Alexia instead credits her youthful glow to bargain buys from none other than Primark.
“I love a dupe,” she says. “Back in the day when I worked in the city in my early thirties, I was all for Charlotte Tilbury, Bobbi Brown etc.
“And now I’m championing Primark for all their dupes – their makeup is fantastic.”
Amongst her go-to products includes Primark’s ‘PS…Pro Cream Contour Wand,’ which retails at £4.50 and is a dupe of Charlotte Tilbury’s much pricier, £30 contour wand.
Alexia is also a huge fan of the high-street store’s £4.50 ‘PS… Vitamin Enriched Moisturising Primer,‘ which is a replica for the £54 ‘Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base.’
Primark’s version is enriched with vitamins E, C, and Niacinamide and contains key ingredients including oat oil and shea butter to “ensure essential hydration is maintained all day long.”
Alexia's top tips on how to look and feel good in your 50s:
- Self Belief
Believe that you are actually younger than you are / use manifestation techniques / behaviour.
Repeatedly being told that you look in your mid thirties rather than fifties is a huge confidence boost and strengthens your mindset!
2. Non-surgical tweakments
Always use an experienced and established medical practitioner to administer subtle treatments to enhance your face like Botox, fillers, etc.
Threads look awful!
My advice to young women in their twenties is to start in their late thirties if possible.
3. Avoid sunbeds
Avoid the sun, wear factor 50+ and AVOID sun-beds like the plague. Use sunless tans and have spray tans.
As for foundation, the beauty fan has ditched Estee Lauder’s £40 Doublewear foundation in favour of Primark’s £5 ‘PS… My Perfect Colour Double Coverage Matte Foundation,’ while she also swears by the store’s ‘PS my perfect colour foundation and contour stick.’
Many have dubbed it a convincing dupe for Bobbi Brown’s £39 ‘skin foundation stick,’ but at just £2.50, it’s a whopping £36.50 cheaper.
Alexia goes onto say that she doesn’t feel any sort of “pressure” to look good because of her job in the beauty industry, but just rather enjoys doing her makeup.
So much so, it takes her two and a half hours to “perfect” her look if she’s getting ready for a night out.
“Some people say to me, why’d you spend so long putting your eyelashes or your makeup on?” she says.
“But it’s just an extension of me.
“I know it sounds really shallow, but it actually really helps with my mental health.”