Tricia Cusden: “Look Fabulous Forever, No Matter Your Age”

It’s not every day you meet someone who not only defies expectations, but rewrites them entirely. At 77, Tricia Cusden is the founder of the thriving beauty brand Look Fabulous Forever, a grandmother, a CEO, a spirited traveler, and living proof that reinvention doesn’t expire with age.

We met Tricia (who launched her business at 65), on a bright morning in London, her presence as polished as her brand: elegant, articulate, quietly proud. She radiates the kind of confidence that only time can bestow, the kind of confidence that makes you sit up straighter, listen closer, and perhaps reconsider everything you’ve been told about ageing.

The Myth of the Decline

“Let’s start with the myths,” she says with a smile. “The first one? That ageing is something to dread.” Her voice is warm but unwavering, like someone gently handing you the truth. “One of the great gifts of age is caring less about what others think. There’s freedom in that. You begin to realise you don’t have to perform, you can simply be and honestly, I’m happier now than I’ve ever been.”

She references the U-curve of happiness, a well-documented psychological theory that shows we dip emotionally in midlife but rise again with age. “That’s certainly been true for me. It’s not decline, it’s mindset, really. Ageing hasn’t made me fearful, it’s made me bolder. For instance, once I drove down myself to the South of France and stayed alone in a villa I rented. The friend who was meant to join me fell ill, but I went anyway. Some people thought it was brave. I just thought, why not? I’m a good driver. I enjoy it. Why let age dictate what I can and can’t do?”

From Slimming Clubs to Beauty Labs: A Life of Ideas

This adventurous sprit is the one that driven Tricia to reinvent herself multiple times. “Even when my kids were little, I found ways to earn. I ran a slimming club for 12 years. Later, I worked in training consultancy, then launched my own. But Look Fabulous Forever? That came at 65. A completely new field for me: a beauty brand designed specifically for older women. But I’ve always been good at making things happen once I’ve got an idea.”

She can’t deny starting a business later in life came with challenges, especially financial ones. “I didn’t have a huge amount of money,” she recalls, “but I had a huge amount of support. Many women simply don’t have access to capital, but there is help out there. I was recently part of a report HSBC did on funding for older female entrepreneurs, and they’ve now created a whole business unit dedicated to it. The support is out there, you just have to find the right doors to knock on.”

Tricia chose to invest a portion of her tax-free retirement lump sum to get her idea off the ground. That leap of faith paid off. Her brand quickly found success and with it, the interest of new investors. “My first two investors were actually my sons-in-law,” she laughs. “They could see how well the business was doing and offered to invest in exchange for shares. After that, we brought in angel investors.”

Look Fabulous Forever With The Right Makeup

What drove her wasn’t just a clever business idea, it was frustration. “I was using a dozen different products from different brands. None of them worked properly for my postmenopausal skin. I thought: surely, we deserve better.”

She realized that post-menopausal skin has different needs: “Your face becomes drier, your eyes crinkle, your lipstick bleeds into fine lines. These aren’t things to despair over, they’re just things that need different solutions.” So, she partnered with a cosmetic manufacturer who believed in her vision. “They got what I was trying to do, they supported it and they created the exact kind of products I had imagined.”

The result? A brand that not only fills a glaring gap in the market but empowers women to feel confident and beautiful at any age. Among the brand bestsellers, there’s one standout hero product that’s won hearts from the very beginning: the face primer.

Silky and luxurious on the skin, it was designed with mature skin in mind—skin that’s often thirsty and tends to “drink in” foundation, leaving makeup patchy or faded after just a few hours. “This primer acts like a smoothing canvas, helping makeup stay fresh and flawless from morning until bedtime. It doesn’t just improve wear, it transforms the whole experience of applying makeup, which is why it remains a cult favorite among customers“.

But the love doesn’t stop there. For women over 50, Tricia recommends three absolute essentials in every beauty case: a high-factor SPF serum to protect aging skin from sun damage, a mascara to instantly open up the eyes, and a lipstick, not only for a pop of colour but also as a clever multi-tasker that doubles as a blush. “If I were stuck on a desert island,” she laughs, “those are the three I’d bring. You’d look amazing waiting to be rescued.”

Ageing Is a Privilege After All

Tricia Cusden’s philosophy goes far deeper than skincare. “To any woman who dreads ageing,” she says, “I’d simply say: don’t buy into that cultural myth that growing older is something dreadful. It’s not. It’s a story society has created, not a universal truth.”

At 77, Tricia is living proof that ageing can be vibrant, fulfilling, and even exciting. “My mother passed away at 67. My grandmother at 57. So these past ten to twenty years have felt like a gift—extra time to love, to live, to see my grandchildren grow, to keep creating.” She challenges the notion that later life should be feared or diminished, insisting that the extra years are not just about longevity, but abundance: more connection, more purpose, more joy.

And what’s her secret to glowing at 70? It’s not just the primer. “I love my life,” she says simply. “I have two daughters I adore who work with me, five grandchildren who live nearby, a home I cherish, and good food, good health, and a lot of laughter. That kind of contentment shines through. It’s not about chasing youth—it’s about embracing the life you’ve built.”

A Different Kind of Role Model

In a world that still largely erases older women from boardrooms and beauty campaigns, Tricia Cusden isn’t just relevant,  she’s radical. Her story isn’t just one of business success,  it’s about rewriting the narrative of age itself. About challenging the myths, embracing the mirror, and showing us all that the most beautiful thing a woman can wear is her freedom and maybe, a really good lipstick.

“You can seed your future at any age,” she adds softly. “I got divorced at 42. It wasn’t the end. It was just one chapter. Life doesn’t stop because you’re older, sometimes it finally begins.”

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