Jennifer Lopez Opened Up About The Way She Stays Looking So Young

It was way back in the ’90s when Lopez first burst into the public consciousness with her performance in Selena. Playing the celebrated Tejano singer Selena Perez – who was tragically murdered by a fan in 1995 – led to more roles in movies like Out Of Sight and Anaconda. Then four years later she released her debut album On The 6, and another medium was hers for the taking.

In 2001 Lopez hit the height of her fame up to that point. Her album J. Lo hit number one on the charts in the same week as the star’s movie The Wedding Planner took top spot at the box office. Lopez had become a pop-culture icon, and she would go on to become a permanent fixture in celebrity culture for the next two decades.

Lopez has long been championed for her seemingly ageless good looks, and she has always challenged the mainstream notion of female beauty with her curvy physique. Amusingly, in 2014 Vanity Fair described her butt as a cultural icon! People magazine named her the most beautiful lady in the world in 2011, and she has also topped FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women list twice.

One important aspect of her beauty has made Lopez the envy of women everywhere: that immaculate skin. Thankfully, though, she’s always been happy to reveal her secrets to the world. One of the star’s main secrets is something super simple. In December 2020 Lopez told POPSUGAR Beauty, “A dermatologist told me at a very young age to use sunscreen, and I was like, ‘What do I need sunscreen for? I live in New York.’”

“But the truth is, that was a big part of why I was able to stay youthful-looking because I used it as my moisturizer every single day,” Lopez continued. “It helped me protect myself from the elements, and enough people don’t understand that such a big part of staying youthful looking is using sunscreen every day.”

Over the years, the busy star has also revealed some other handy tips to getting glowing skin. In 2016 she told Hello! magazine, “I always, always wash my face after a workout. That helps keep my pores clean, and my skin feeling healthy.” Lopez also told People, “I never go to bed without taking my makeup off, [and I use] night creams to keep my skin hydrated.” Getting her eight hours every night is also a priority.

In 2016 Lopez told Us Weekly, “I don’t drink or smoke or have caffeine. That really wrecks your skin as you get older.” She makes sure to drink seven glasses of water per day, and her diet is heavy on the veggies. Lopez said, “We eat a lot of green vegetables, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and kale.”

Physical fitness is also extremely important for Lopez. On top of keeping her body in tip-top condition, it also has incredible mental health benefits. The Maid in Manhattan star told the Daily Mirror in 2016, “I am 100 percent convinced working out is part of what makes me so happy. Taking the time to move my body and do something that’s so good for me is key to my happiness.”

Lopez continued, “And I believe when you take care of yourself and work to stay healthy, you’re better able to take care of those you love, so working out is definitely a priority for me.” She then revealed that there is one particular workout activity that always raises her spirits. Unsurprisingly, considering her status as a performance icon, that activity is dancing.

“When my confidence is lagging, I dance,” Lopez revealed. “There’s something about seeing what my body is capable of and feeling the endorphin rush that comes with a good dance session that really helps boost my confidence and my mood. I still consider myself a dancer at heart, and I love it.”

Speaking of dancing, Lopez learned an entirely new style of dance for her critically acclaimed role in 2019’s Hustlers. To get her prepared for playing charismatic stripper Ramona Vega, she trained with Cirque du Soleil’s Johanna Sapakie. Within an intense two-month period, Lopez was executing upside-down splits like a seasoned pro.

As Sapakie told Insider, “By the time we were done working together, even though it was just a short period of time, [Lopez was] throwing out these moves without even thinking about it anymore.” The dancing pro added, “She was able to achieve her goal by the end, which was turning upside down and ultimately looking like she’s been doing this her whole life. And that was really exciting to see and really satisfying.”

How exactly did Sapakie get Lopez to this point, though? Well, for starters, the latter had a pole installed in each one of her homes in Miami, New York and Los Angeles. She then began working on strengthening the parts of her body that are essential to a pole dancer; namely, her upper body and core muscles.

Lopez hit the gym like a demon and also started training sessions on the pole with Sapakie. At the start of each session, Insider notes that the latter would concentrate on stretching, because pole dancers need to loosen their hips, spine, and shoulders. This helps give them a much larger range of motion for performing their gravity defying moves.

Sapakie and Lopez worked hard on her endurance, as they knew that her dancing would be filmed multiple times when shooting the movie. Each routine would be a combination of different moves linked together. In fact, Lopez’ main routine in the movie is a full four minutes long, which required quite the learning curve for someone new to the discipline.

In the leadup to the movie’s release, Lopez told Variety, “It’s really tough. That steel pole is unforgiving, and you just have to figure it out. I did a crash course.” She added, “I knew I had to conquer three or four minutes of the song and that’s what we did. It’s difficult.”

The exhausted Lopez revealed she spoke to co-star Cardi B – an experienced pole dancer – when she began training. The former admitted that she complained, “It’s so hard, I’m bruised everywhere,” and Cardi replied, “Oh yeah. I’m really good at it now, but it took me years to learn.” Lopez then laughed, “Even my teacher said, ‘This is normal.’ I said, ‘This chafing is normal?!’”

In truth, Lopez’ normal is likely quite different from ours. But, despite being one of the biggest celebrities in the world, she has always been keen to maintain that aura of authenticity in her personal brand. Even though Lopez regularly performs on-stage in expensive outfits, her most well-known hits have titles like “I’m Real” and “Jenny from the Block.” And that honesty about her beauty regime undoubtedly plays into this relatability.

In December 2020 Lopez launched JLo Beauty – the star’s personal line of skincare products based heavily around her own beauty routine. She appeared on People (The Show!) and explained, “[For] the past three years, we’ve been working on the products, but we finally got them right.” And Lopez joked that it was her perfectionism that delayed them getting to market.

“I think I drove everybody a little crazy because I didn’t want to put my name on anything that didn’t work or wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be,” Lopez said. Later, during a press junket organized by People magazine, she revealed the products are inspired by a family recipe. And they even have a secret ingredient!

The star said, “The hero ingredient and the basis of the line was kind of a secret that my mom and aunt had from a very young age, which is olive oil. It’s nature’s secret ingredient which we don’t use enough of. They would use it on their skin and on their body, their face and their hair to get like a glow and to highly hydrate and moisturize.”

When Lopez posted a JLo Beauty announcement video on Instagram, though, the reaction wasn’t as positive as she might have imagined. One commenter posted, “That’s interesting, she gets all types of professional skin treatments and wants people to think simple topical products will make a difference. I hope so but it’s a stretch.”

Some fans did begrudgingly admit that perhaps Lopez has good genes, but they weren’t willing to accept she’d never had Botox. One disbelieving commenter wrote, “Good genes okay, but no little lines on the face is impossible.” Another took a more aggressive approach by posting, “Botox galore!” Now, that’s just mean.

Some fans leapt to Lopez’ defense, though. One wrote, “Lol right. Women can’t handle the fact that some just have good genes. My mom is almost 60 and looks 35.” Another added, “Also, she said you need to look after yourself and be kind to yourself. I’m nearly 40 and try [to] stay away from stress. I’m not old looking – or weathered – just lucky.”

The following month, Lopez posted a video on Instagram that caused another stir. The clip features the glowing star talking to the camera right after trying a JLo Beauty “limitless mask.” She begins, “Okay, I just took off the mask. Honestly, I cannot even see a line on my face.”

While moving her face around in order to show the results in the best light, Lopez continues to wax lyrical about the results of the mask. She says, “I feel like it took ten years off my face. We’ve got to charge $10,000 a piece for these!” But, while Lopez may have been impressed, many of her followers weren’t convinced she was being entirely honest.

A host of users suggested that those youthful looks had come from cosmetic surgery rather than good skincare. And one comment in particular caught the star’s eye. The person wrote, “You definitely have Botox. And tons of it. And it’s all good. Just saying.” Unfortunately for this fan, Jenny from the Block wasn’t going to take the accusation lying down this time.

“Lol that’s just my face!” replied an angry Lopez. “For the 500 millionth time, I have never done Botox or any injectables or surgery. Just saying.” Though the snap back didn’t end there. Lopez decided to give the “fan” a piece of advice – complete with a sales pitch for her new products.

“Get you some JLo Beauty and feel beautiful in your own skin!” Lopez suggested. “And here is another JLo Beauty secret: try spending your time being more positive, kind and uplifting of others. Don’t spend your time trying to bring others down. That will keep you youthful and beautiful, too.” She then signed off with, “Sending you love,” but we think her point was well made.

On this occasion, though, Lopez was aggravated enough to speak to People magazine in an effort to clarify things. The Second Act star said, “I don’t judge anybody. If you want to do Botox and injectables, that’s fine. But I don’t want people lying on me and saying, ‘Oh, she’s trying to make believe that this stuff works.’”

“No, I’m telling you what I do works!” continued an exasperated Lopez. She then continued, “Please don’t call me a liar. I don’t have to lie about things. I’ve been pretty honest about my whole life. If I had [done Botox in the past], I would say, ‘Yeah, you’re right...’”

Lopez explained, “... But I don’t want people going, ‘Stop lying, you’re doing this, you’re doing that,’ when that’s just not true. I just felt it had to be set straight, but in a loving way.” To this end, the pop icon wanted to reiterate the advice she clapped back at her fan on Instagram.

“One of my big beauty secrets is that I try to be kind to others and lift up other women,” Lopez claimed. “I think that that is important for us to do for each other instead of trying to tear people down.” It was an intriguing way of looking at things, and definitely food-for-thought for the Lopez army.

It seems Lopez was triggered by the mention of Botox, and we can understand why. After all, she’s talked about it plenty in the past! In December 2020 the star spoke to Elle magazine about the first time anyone offered her a Botox injection. Amazingly, she was in her early 20s when a doctor suggested it after pointing out a wrinkle on her face.

“She said, ‘Did you know you have a little line right here? We should start Botox,’” Lopez went on. “I mean, I had to be 23-years-old, right? And I was like, ‘I’m going to pass.’ I didn’t like needles anyway, but the boyfriend’s like, ‘Yeah, you should start it. I do that.’ I was like, ‘No, thank you.’”

Lopez then pondered if she would even look like the same person if the decision had been made to have Botox at such a young age. The star said, “... I just wonder what would’ve happened to me if I would’ve started Botox at 23, what I would look like right now. My face would be a totally different face today.”

The same month of the Elle interview saw Lopez also speak with the Daily Mail over Zoom. And she again reiterated her personal history with Botox. The singer said, “I haven’t ever had Botox to this day. I’m not that person. I don’t have anything against people doing that; it’s just not my thing.”

“I’m more about a natural approach to skincare,” the songstress continued. “I want the hyaluronic acid in there. I want the things that are going to help, because I don’t want to have to go to the needles at some point. I’m not saying one day I won’t, but I haven’t yet.”

So, there you have it, folks. J Lo doesn’t sound opposed to the idea of getting Botox one day, but that moment has certainly not arrived yet. The multi-talent is in her 50s now and is going to keep doing what she’s been doing for the last three decades – defying age by treating her body like a temple. At this rate, she’ll probably continue to avoid those injectables for another 30 years!