Cindy Crawford, 60, has shared her decade-long battle with blepharoptosis—drooping eyelids that limit her vision—and how Upneeq prescription eye drops have helped her look and feel more awake every morning.
Cindy Crawford remembers the mornings before the day even started—when the call time would be pushed earlier, and her face simply wouldn’t cooperate. She said those schedules used to come with a question: could she start at 6:00?
“I remember probably 10 years ago after I turned 50 when I would be doing early morning calls, they would be like, ‘Are you fine to start at 6:00?’” Crawford told People.
Her reply was simple, honest, and revealing of a bigger issue she’s lived with for a decade. “I can get up whatever time you want. but my face doesn’t wake up until 9:00. so just don’t plan any close-ups or anything.” For her. it wasn’t just about being tired—it was about her eyelids and the way blepharoptosis. a condition that weakens the muscle controlling the upper eyelid. had begun to show in her life and work.
Blepharoptosis causes the eyelid and eyebrow to droop and can limit or even block vision. Crawford has said she’s been dealing with the condition for the last 10 years. When it came time for glam, even her makeup routine had to adjust. She explained that getting her eye makeup done often required her glam team to “pick up” her eyelids.
After years of struggling, relief arrived through a dermatologist’s prescription. Crawford said that after eight years of relentless trouble. her dermatologist prescribed Upneeq so her eyes could look “a little bit more wide open and awake.” She now uses the prescription drops every morning. after initially relying on them only for special occasions.
Upneeq is the only FDA-approved treatment that lifts droopy upper eyelids in adults. The drops activate the affected muscle in 5 minutes and prevent drooping for up to eight hours. Crawford described Upneeq as a way to feel like herself without going under the knife. “The thing I love about Upneeq is it’s not a big commitment. You’re not going under the knife,” she said.
She also framed the benefit as something more than cosmetic. “It’s [one of] those little things we can do to feel like the best version of ourselves. And, when women feel more confident, they present themselves in the world in a more confident way,” Crawford said.
In May. she partnered with the brand to promote the drops and raise awareness—turning a private. frustrating issue into something others could recognize and act on. For Crawford, the conversation about aging has always been complicated, too. She spoke about the “challenges” and “gifts” of getting older. saying she wasn’t thrilled about turning 50 a decade ago. but that turning 60 this year has felt unexpectedly “easy.”.
“I’m not trying to be 20 or 25. I think that’s my biggest change in how I approach beauty: I just want to feel like the best version of me,” she said.
Still, she made clear she doesn’t love certain kinds of praise. “Do I like it if someone says my skin looks great or you look great? Sure. I hate when someone says, ‘You look great for your age.’ Can we just ban that?” she said.
Cindy Crawford blepharoptosis Upneeq FDA-approved treatment droopy eyelids prescription eye drops celebrity health aging People interview