Once upon a time, a woman hitting midlife would disappear into the background never to be seen out of the kitchen again.
But as the HELLO! Power List event, in partnership with L'Oreal Paris, proved last week - not any more!
The impressive list of women over 40 who were invited to party at Mazarine restaurant have all stepped into their power as they have moved into the next chapter of their lives - but all in very different ways.
“Over history women have been forgotten over a certain age and more than ever now, women are not stopping. We are just getting more powerful as the years go by,” said party DJ Mel Blatt, who alongside Strictly Come Dancing star Jaime Winstone, had everyone on the dancefloor like they were teenagers again.
“My superpower is doing the Viennese waltz and doing the school run and cuddling my son,” laughed Jaime. “Basically juggling, all the things we do behind closed doors. I am working that out!”
What does being powerful in midlife look like?
For Carol Vorderman, 65, it is having a voice. She says that being older has given her the power to speak up for what she believes in without fear.
“I was a great believer that celebs should speak up, and also that you get to an age… I'm almost 66 and the whole no f**** given thing happens.
“A lot of younger girls say, ‘oh I wish I could say that’, and I say to them, if I was your age, I'd be a bit wary. I mean I've lost jobs because of being outspoken. But I've had my career, I've done the things. But they're not in that position.”
The super power that comedian and host of the Our Table podcast Judi Love has embraced in her second act is; “Being my most authentic self and listening to my gut and intuition. I just feel like I’m in a stage of my life where I know a lot more who I am and what I want. I know myself a bit more.
“When you are younger in your twenties you are not so sure of who you are . Now I couldn’t be anything else. To be something else is more draining.”
Intuition is also something that Natalie Imbruglia found had become more powerful for her as she hit her fifties. “My intuition and psychic ability is dialled up,” says the Torn singer, who at 52, happily celebrates every year she gets older after being told to ‘shush’ about her age when she was younger. “I feel like I am so aware of what you are thinking and feeling and that’s new.
“You can walk into a room and you feel a whole room and that’s new. I had it a little bit before, but in menopause it has really ramped up.”
She also used her voice to amplify what women are going through in the menopause.
“I think it’s really important. I’m done with not talking about things that are a mental health issue. I don’t care what people might think. I think it’s really important.”
© @rachellouisebrownstudio
As supermodel Lorraine Pascale has moved into the different chapters of her life, she has become the queen of the career pivot.
She has found the power of education has lifted her up in ways she could never imagine. “What I love about getting older is the freedom to be me, the confidence to be me, I love studying and I’m just finishing a doctorate. It’s so empowering when you’re older to be studying something you want to study, I just love it, I didn’t think it would feel like this when I got older.”
For radio presenter and influencer Jo Good, her superpower is her relentless energy! “Life just gets better and better,” she says. “And I'm not being Pollyanna. I'm 71. I don't think I've ever been busier or ever had more fun. That would not have happened 10 years ago.”
Mia Mauge celebrated her 61st birthday just days before the event and says she stepped into her power when she turned 50 and embraced her natural hair.
“That was a turning point for me. I spent my whole 40s going through the peri-menopause not knowing that I was going through the peri-menopause, just feeling like I was falling apart. I had symptoms treated as individual conditions so I didn’t have the knowledge.
“At 50 I stopped dying my hair and that was the moment I just started embracing my age and wearing it like a badge of honour.”
© @rachellouisebrownstudio
Fellow birthday girl Katie Piper said; “I turned 43 yesterday. And I was thinking, if you ask younger me, what is power? I used to think it's like money, status, success. And now I've got a bit older and I'm in a better position in my life. I realise it's the freedom to decide who you want to be. That's what we all want, and so many of us are trapped, so we can't do that.
“If you do get to that point, then it’s also your duty to help other people, who are not in that position, because then we can all kind of be powerful together.”
© Hoda Davaine
Tess Daly summed up what we were trying to achieve with the evening. “I just think it's wonderfully inspiring to be in a room full of women who are here to support each other.
“They’re here to lift each other up. And I think there is no greater power than that. Everywhere I look in here tonight I see a woman who I respect and admire. And that is why we're here today. To lift each other up, celebrate each other and our achievements. I love the power that brings.”
Photographer: Rachel Louise Brown @rachellouisebrownstudio
In Partnership With @lorealparis
Venue: @mazarinerestaurant
Set Design: @propped_up_ltd
Photographer 1st Assistant: @petrospoyiatgi
Digi Tech: @dani_rov
Retouch: Matt Ransom at Invisible Ink
Shoot Producer: @nathanhighamshootproducer
Creative Director: @bluebuxton