In 2009,Gabrielle Unionwalked into her first no makeup photo shoot with PEOPLE, not knowing what to expect.
“At first it was kind of terrifying, to be honest,” theL.A.’s Fineststar, 46, tells PEOPLE in this week’s Beautiful Issue. “I think sometimes we use makeup as a mask to insulate ourselves from reality. But once I kinda got comfortable and we were outside, it was the beach, and I had a bike, and I just let it ride. I thought the pictures turned out great and I had a great time that day.”
Ten years later, the actress and new mom to daughterKaavia Jamessays she’s feeling “mildly less confident,” but has evolved in a positive way both inside and out.
“Once I kind of made peace with who I am and where I’m at and being 46, I actually feel pretty, pretty solid about being back here 10 years later, shooting again with no makeup,” she says. “Because I’m finally really okay with me.”
Victor Demarchelier
In the past 10 years, Union’s personal and professional life has had its fair share of ups and downs, but, overall the actress could not be more grateful for her blessings.
Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty
“Since I first did that shoot, I got married, I have a daughter, I’ve had jobs, I’ve lost jobs, I’ve got some more jobs,” Union says. “I have my own line at New York and Company. Yeah, it’s just when I thought my career was supposed to be starting to taper off, I’ve never had more of a career resurgence at a time when most people were saying, ‘Pack it in. You’re not the ingenue anymore. There’s not going to be a lot of great opportunities for actresses your age.’ Crazy enough, it’s been the absolute opposite. So it’s been good.”
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Gabrielle Union/Instagram
Now, the new mom is looking forward to growing deeper with her daughter and her family, and hopes to still be embracing life to the fullest a decade from now.
source: people.com
