Christie Brinkley claims her ageless appearance is the result of a lifelong vegan diet – Daily Mail

At the age of 61, supermodel Christie Brinkley still doesn’t look a day over 40, and while good genes undoubtedly play a role, she credits her vegan lifestyle with her astonishingly youthful appearance.

The stunning blonde, a mother-of-three based in New York’s Long Island, tells Elle.com she was only 13 when she decided to go vegetarian, after reading a ‘very graphic’ slaughterhouse scene from Norman Mailer’s Miami and the Siege of Chicago, and explains that has continued to reap the benefits of her lifelong plant-based diet ever since. 

However, Ms Brinkley, who launches her eight-product Christie Brinkley Authentic Skincare line today on HSN, admits that while she is almost entirely vegan these days, ‘Life is too short to not have oysters and champagne sometimes’.

Life is too short to not have oysters and champagne sometimes 

Ms Brinkley hasn’t consumed meat or diary for most of her life, but says she found it hard when she was travelling a lot for work earlier in her career not to eat fish, since it was often the only option.

‘Now, though, since Fukushima and BP in the Gulf, I don’t eat fish apart from the occasional oyster,’ she says, in reference to the 2011 Japanese nuclear power disaster and BP’s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico respectively.

Both major accidents caused considerable damage to marine life, and scientists speculate they had long-lasting contamination effects on seafood.

The animal rights activist, who is an avid supporter of PETA, designed her new range of skin products in accordance with her vegan lifestyle.

None of the ingredients were tested on animals, and she opted for glass bottles over plastic, ‘because they turn back into sand’.

The new products range in price from $ 22.95 to $ 69.95; and include a day cream, night treatment, exfoliating polish, eye serum, neck treatment, wrinkle smoother, smoothing primer and facial cleansing wash.

One of her favorite products is the exfoliator.

‘In the beginning of my career I read an article about the reason that men always look five years younger than women is because they shave,’ she says, adding that shaving’s exfoliation action is the key.

‘Back then, 40 years ago, exfoliators were like taking gravel off the street and rubbing it on your face,’ she continues. ‘But I went ahead and did that and started exfoliating, exfoliating, exfoliating.’

Ms Brinkley’s own-brand exfoliator can be used daily, she says, whereas most others on the market are designed to be used less frequently.

The svelte stunner, who rose to fame as a Sports Illustrated model in the late 70s, told People last month that her three children, 28-year-old Alexa Ray Joel, 19-year-old Jack Brinkley-Cook, and 16-year-old Sailor Brinkley-Cook, keep her young too.

‘Because I’m an older mom, I have a responsibility to my kids as well as myself. I want to be there for them.’

Sailor is now following in her mother’s footsteps and has got into modelling herself.

Over the weekend, the young blonde appeared in Lord & Taylor’s Prom Fashion Show, and has previously thrown shapes for Claire’s accessories and Teen Vogue.