Guyanese woman is new billboard beauty in London -- at 96 years young

Wednesday, January 5, 2005

LONDON, England (AFP): It's never too late to start a new career, even if you're 96 years old -- and the new job is modelling cosmetics.

Irene Sinclair, a Guyana-born pensioner living in London, is appearing on billboards around Britain this month, wrinkles and all, to help sell Dove, a popular brand of facial cream.

"I've never felt beautiful in my life, but I feel I am now," said Sinclair, quoted in the Daily Mirror newspaper Tuesday. "It's all about growing old gracefully."

Her secret? "I don't stay indoors," she said. "I try and get fresh air as much as I can by going for walks."

Sinclair is the latest of a number of women -- including a half-dozen with "real curves" -- which Dove, a Unilever brand, is using to promote itself among women put off by the idea that beauty is defined by tall skinny supermodels.

Last year a survey for Dove, conducted among 3,200 women in 10 countries, found that 31 percent thought they looked "natural" and 29 percent "average" -- compared to two percent which replied "beautiful".

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