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Actor and model Brooke Shields has been known for her thick, fluffy eyebrows from essentially the moment she entered the public eye. So you’d think if she started a beauty brand (for a moment, we’re talking purely in hypotheticals here), it’d have something to do with that signature feature. Well, Shields is here to tell you to think again. Today, her first-ever brand Commence, launches with three hair-care products.
“Once you reach this era in your life, you realize all of a sudden your hair and scalp have different needs,” the 59-year-old told me a few months ago while we sat over juice at Manhattan’s The Well. After taking the topic to her online community, Beginning Is Now, she realized this wasn’t just her issue. “It was a running through line. Women were sharing that their hair had become more brittle or was thinning. After some research, I realized there was this white space for women over 40 when it came to their hair.”
From there, things took off, and today Shields and her Commence team launched a trio of products: 2-in-1 Instant Shampoo, Thickening Root Serum, and 3-in-1 Leave-In Conditioner. All are made with a scientifically backed complex that helps stronger, thicker hair grow, starting at the scalp. Inside, there’s alfalfa extract and acai stem cells, fermented together to feed the scalp’s microbiome.
Something Shields wanted to be careful about when it came to Commence was the messaging. “I didn’t understand why women over 40 weren’t being marketed to in the beauty space, but in the rare times we were being spoken to, the messaging was just terrible. It’s not ‘Oh, poor me, everybody’s forgetting about me.’ Instead, we’re focusing on the strength, everything you have come from and done. I’m so excited about this age and era of life because I’m less complicated, less insecure, less egomaniacal, and I’m focusing on that.”
The brand is purposefully avoiding buzzy terms like perimenopausal. “I’m so glad this conversation is finally happening because you wouldn’t have heard that term a few years ago,” she says. “And it’s so refreshing for women to have a stigma around aging removed. But everybody’s glommed on to that term because it’s a big moneymaker. We don’t use antiaging, dry, or menopausal in our marketing because it all has this negativity surrounding it.”
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Shields especially loves the Instant Shampoo, using the dry powder to add oomph to her hair. “This is our version of a dry shampoo, but that’s not really what it is,” she says about the smart formula, which has both rice powder to absorb oil and encapsulated hyaluronic acid. “It adds lift and texture, as well as hydration from the hyaluronic acid, so if you’re having dry spots on your scalp, it can help with those too.”
From new hair concerns to feeling ignored, it’s all relatable for those who grew up with Shields as a beauty icon and are entering this new era of life in tandem with her. “For me, this stage of life is all about looking at where I’ve come from,” Shields says. “I’m proud of everything that I’ve done, and I’m so excited for this unchartered territory. I was a French major, so the name also plays into the word commencer, which is to begin. I’m focused on the idea that this era in a woman’s life is not an ending but a beginning. It’s a different beginning, but we’re on the precipice—I am excited and wondering, What is next?”
