Women 40 and Up: Brooke Shields Is Launching a Hair Brand for You

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Brooke Shields is our generation’s hair icon. Remember Blue Lagoon? Those Suddenly Susan power blowouts? Or, hell, her Instagram posts? The woman has always had an incredible head of hair (and yes, eyebrows, too). She acknowledges that genetics have blessed her, and her mother was a former hairdresser. “But I’ve also had so much done to it,” she says. “I’ve experienced hair loss and terrible scalp irritation because of products I’ve used, the constant upkeep, and the stress of getting it styled daily and the roots colored every three weeks.”

So the 58-year-old mom, actor, and podcast host could relate when members of Beginning Is Now, her online community for women 40 and older, would often talk about their hair. “It wasn’t a bitchfest—everyone in every decade is dealing with a beauty concern—but certain questions kept coming up: What should I do to my hair now? How do I keep it healthy? What do you use? Is your scalp getting dry, because mine is, and are you thinning, too?” says Shields. It spurred her to analyze the options for her age group, and what she learned was frustrating: “It’s this clinical world, there to fix you. I was really disappointed with the marketing. We were either pushed aside or labeled dry and menopausal. It was like, You’re on your last leg—or, really, your last strand! It was so negative.”

For Shields, there was a huge disconnect between that messaging and how she felt. “Since I turned 50, I’ve been in a positive, optimistic period of my life. It has felt like things opened up for me in a different way, including my confidence in myself, faith in my ability to be in this world and to experience it and not worry about my body looking a certain way. It’s just this sort of buoyancy,” she says. Where was the joyful, intentional, effective haircare brand for like-minded women (who happen to need formulas that address sluggish hair growth, sensitive scalps, and thinner follicles)? Shields pulled together a team of seasoned beauty pros and got to work.

The result is Commence, a new haircare brand that contains a complex of peptides, pre- and post-biotics, and plant stem cells to volumize, thicken, and protect strands while soothing the scalp and promoting growth. The chemists didn’t skimp; these are potent formulas that contain less than 60 percent water (industry norm is 80) but are still gentle enough for everyday use as well as phthalate-free, talc-free, and safe for color- and chemically treated hair. Oprah Daily staffers had a chance to test the line’s first three hero products before they launched. Read on for key info and reviews:

Commence 2-in-1 Instant Shampoo

This is a dry shampoo, but don’t call it that—dry is not a good word for women over 40, Shields notes. It’s also not drying; it’s made to hydrate and nourish your scalp while it soaks up oil and greasiness. From half an arms-length away, aim the nozzle toward your roots, then press down for a puff of powder. Rice powder and mineral gemstones absorb buildup and create volume; as you massage them, they burst to release hydrating hyaluronic acid.

“I’m used to aerosol cans, so switching to a manual pump took some trial and error, and this emits a big cloud of powder. But the volume it created? Wowza. I was impressed with how full my hair looked right away—and even more impressed on day two when I didn’t feel the need to rub my scalp (my typical move when a coating of dry shampoo starts to make me feel dry and irritated).” —Kate Sandoval Box, beauty director

Commence Thickening Root Serum

Women over 40 want thicker, denser hair, and to do that you really have to start at the scalp. This serum is meant to create the right environment for growth. It contains fermented minerals, antioxidants, and peptides to strengthen and nourish. The best part: It’s very quick to absorb. You can put it on whenever you want—you won’t have to wash or restyle your hair afterward.

“I massaged a few drops onto my scalp after washing my hair, and it felt light, refreshing, not greasy or sticky. I’ll keep using it to see if my hair gets thicker, but I noticed an instant lift, a bit of bounce at my roots.” —Jennie Tung, senior director of wellness and features

“Here's what I love about the root serum. It’s lightweight, feels really delicious, and smells yummy. I like to put it in at night and let soak through as I sleep. No washing after, and it just calms the hair the next day. It’s also four ounces, so you can travel with it in carry-on luggage. Added bonus: the retro font, the happy pink. I’m a sucker for anything that reminds me of my mom’s Rave hairspray.” —Leigh Newman, editorial director of Oprah’s Book Club

Commence 3-in-1 Leave-In Conditioner

As we age, our hair can put us in a catch-22: it’s drier, so we need to condition it more, but when we do, it gets weighed down and greasy. This formula is meant to solve that. It’s hydrating but so lightweight that it actually helps with volume. It’s also ideal if you find regular conditioners too heavy. “I don’t like to load my hair up with conditioner in the shower—I mostly focus it on the ends—but that does make it hard to comb through my hair, so I needed something. This is it,” Shields says.

“I don’t always love an in-shower conditioner because it often leaves my hair flat and limp. So, after shampoo, I towel-dried my hair and put one pump of this leave-in conditioner through my ends first and then lightly on the rest of my hair, then blow-dried and styled.… I must say, my hair looks shinier, healthier, well-conditioned, and not dried out. When you get to a certain age, you never want anything dry! Coincidentally, I happened to run into Brooke the day I tried it, and she admired my hair before I could even say I used this!” —Adam Glassman, creative director

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