The sky is turning orange. The entertainment industry is at a standstill. The world is topsy-turvy — and that’s putting it mildly. But Sarah Jessica Parker is feeling optimistic. For the second year in a row, she’s partnered with RoC Skincare to promote the #LookForwardProject, which aims to educate young people about the scientifically-backed benefits of practicing optimism in their everyday lives. (Optimists have a 24 percent increased likelihood of having no chronic diseases, no cognitive impairment, and good physical health over time, according to research conducted at Harvard University.)
That’s not to say Parker is ignorant of the realities of living in 2023, especially when it comes to society’s obsession with youth. Parker’s point of view is that while she’s not trying to stop the clock, she does want to feel her best every minute she can. And for her, that doesn’t mean carving out time for a 10-step skin-care routine. (She does, however, stand by the three vitamin C-enriched products included in her limited-edition kit with RoC Skincare, 100 percent of the proceeds from which will be donated to mental health advocacy group SeekHer.) Below, in her own words, Parker shares more of her unfiltered thoughts on age, skin care, and hotel shampoo. — As told to Dianna Mazzone
Women have a huge amount to offer the longer we spend in experience as parents and employees and employers and friends and colleagues and neighbors and wives and partners and anything in-between. We are better and have more to contribute. We are not of lesser value but rather the contrary. We are a huge, important, and influential part of life and industry and friendships and love…
I think the hardest thing for all of us is to know something intellectually and to make it live emotionally for us. Like anything, it takes time to integrate ideas [about beauty] into our lives. It takes time to chip away at old ideas and welcome new things. But more and more I think you’re just hearing women talk about wanting to feel good about themselves when they walk out the door and really meaning it.
I just don’t spend that much time [thinking about appearance]. It’s not that I don’t have an ego, that I don’t have a decent, healthy amount of vanity, but I just don’t want to spend that much time really deconstructing it all. I like to be graceful with myself. I’m not delusional. I know that age adds up, that there are consequences to being 51, 52, 53. I get it.