“Why would I wish to be younger?” ask Tricia. Fed up of living in a society which ignores the elder face, the creator of Look Fabulous Forever queries where women her age fit into today’s world. With an endless list of how the mature demographic is no longer valid in the eyes of the beauty industry, Tricia took matters into her own hands.  She has filled the gap in the market and made the ageing population visible again with her beauty brand.  

​

Look Fabulous Forever is a beauty brand which sells, promotes and educates its customers on pro ageing products. Aiming to show women that anti-ageing is merely a myth, the concept is a forbidden topic in Tricia’s eyes, “Anti-ageing products are the most patronising thing anyone could suggest to me,” she expresses with frustration. 

​

The company’s cosmetic products are specifically formulated to suit mature faces, eyes, and lips for women 50 years plus. Convinced that the idea of anti-ageing was thought up by a 30-year-old man, she does not entertain the idea at any cost. “It is stupid to prevent ageing I cannot go backwards I have to go forwards. There is no resolution in me for that,” says Tricia. “Presenting me with the notion that I should want to do everything in my power to look and be younger is nonsense. It is a contradiction. So, the brand and I say leave us alone.”  

​

Tricia sees herself as late bloomer when it comes down to her career.  She prioritised the upbringing of her two children, so she only began her higher education and working life at 36. However, that has not held her back. Following the duties of motherhood, she decided to head back to school as a mature student, and after completing a four-year degree, Tricia found herself running her own management training consultancy, Tricia Cusden Consultancy.  

​

After 12 years of commitment to the business she became a one women band and set up her own consultancy training in motivating staff in various business sectors. “By 64 I was more or less retired, I had a private pension and a state pension so I didn’t really need to work from a financial point of view,” explains Tricia.  

​

Even though Tricia did not need to work, after just a year of retirement she needed a purpose, she needed something to make her get out of bed in the morning. Bored with the limitless time she had on her hands, it was time for a new direction in her life. “I was finding it quite difficult to know what to do with myself and I suppose I needed inspiration for me to think about ways I could get out the house and do something new and exciting” says Tricia. Thus, the worldwide beauty brand Look Fabulous Forever, was unexpectedly conceived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Constantly debating society’s ageist outlook on life with her daughters and friends, Tricia discovered that there were no beauty products or campaigns which spoke to her demographic.  It was not long after these conversations that Tricia soon realised that she could turn her frustration into a passion project. Something small to pass the time, or so she thought. The initial idea of Look Fabulous Forever was never part of her strategy or long term plan, yet five years later, the brand has become an internationally successful beauty business. Describing the company as her new lease of life, Tricia managed to create an unforeseen new chapter in her life.  

​

After much convincing and social media educating by her daughter, Tricia took to Youtube to promote the company with her own beauty tutorials for the mature face. Initially not convinced that this was the right platform for women her age, she was soon proved wrong. Watching her views increase form 100 views per day to 1000s, Look Fabulous Forever took off. 

​

“From that I started a weekly blog which started to be sent out to a few 100 people. We now send them blogs out to 130,000 - 140,000,” Tricia explains further. From the video tutorials to the unique pro-ageing products, the UK based company has reached far and wide, from the likes of Hawaii to Saudi Arabia.  

​

But like any business the company faced many highs and lows within its journey. Look Fabulous Forever hit its most pivotal moment to date back in 2015 when Tricia was invited onto the BBC Breakfast show to talk about the beauty brand. Whilst described as her most exciting and terrifying moment in equal measure, Tricia saw this moment as the peak of the brands success. The three minute airtime of promoting the brand and products consequently resulted into the website nearly crashing as the orders flooded through. “I think I shook from head to toe for four days, because I was terrified I was going to run out of stock and the business would collapse as a result. It was like a tsunami of orders,” says Tricia. It was in this moment  that Tricia suddenly realised her small project had turned into a business within the space of just four days.  

​

As a result, the company’s employees expanded, sales increased and Tricia now saw herself as an ambassador for the mature market. Working 11 hours, day in day out for the next month, the workload became bigger than anticipated, yet with the support of her friends and employees she did not give up. Even if the thought did cross her mind a couple of times. 

​

Nonetheless the unexpected job didn’t come without its perks. Earlier this year Tricia was fortunate to travel to Los Angeles to attend the Oscars Academy Awards ceremony and once again this was all due to the success of Look Fabulous Forever. The brand’s beauty products were selected to be included within the Oscar nominees gift bags, meaning stars from the likes of Meryl Streep to Allison Janney were getting their hands on the products. “It was completely mad. We went to various promotional events and ended up at Elton John’s Oscar party. Who would have thought five years ago when we had the idea, that we would be in LA because of the Oscar,” reminisces Tricia.  

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Look Fabulous Forever recognises the natural beauty of ageing, along with showing that no matter a woman’s age she can look fabulous. But Tricia is not oblivious to the idea that beauty can also be seen as a novelty, and she has become sceptical of this dynamic process, as she realises that the industry she is working in is an industry obsessed with youth and it’s constantly moving towards a youthful approach. 

​

“Mature women are moving in the opposite direction to the youth orientation and the focus of the concept of beauty. Therefore, you have this terrible dichotomy between the age and beauty. This is what we are stopping at Look Fabulous Forever,” says Tricia.  

​

With the launch of its new skin care range coming this year Tricia hopes to keep proving that anyone can be fabulous at any age. “Let’s look into the mirror without flinching, let’s celebrate our ageing faces, and let’s look at our wrinkles and say they are fine.”