bdmetronews Desk ॥ After more than two decades as a professional makeup artist who worked with top models around the country, Cindy Joseph found herself in an alternate reality: in front of the camera instead of behind it.
That’s because a casting agent approached Joseph on the street — when she was just shy of 50 — wanting her to pose for a Dolce & Gabbana campaign to be shot by Steven Meisel. She was surprised but not averse to the opportunity, and thus began Joseph’s flourishing, late-in-life career with Ford Models, which has made her the face of brands from J.Crew to Olay, Aveda, and Ann Taylor — always recognizable by her proud mane of silver hair.
Now, at 66 years old, she’s also the CEO of Boom by Cindy Joseph, a pared-down, “pro-age” skin and cosmetics line consisting of natural moisturizers and color sticks.
So how did someone in the thick of the beauty industry become known for her all-natural look, her embracement of aging, and an outlook on life that is downright crunchy?
You could start by crediting her free-and-easy California upbringing, but those roots were only further strengthened through an adult experience: living as part of a commune for nearly six years. The intentional community — Lafayette Moorehouse, founded in 1968 and still going strong — first counted Joseph as a resident in 1999, when she lived for several years at its Yonkers, N.Y., outpost. Most recently, she spent time living at its original Lafayette, Calif., location with her husband, Bruce, a semiretired contractor, now the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Boom, whom she married in an intimate ceremony just four years ago, with her two grown children on hand to celebrate.
