Let me preface this by saying that I ADORE Cindy Crawford. Back in the 90s, I bought her exercise DVDs, and did those workouts religiously - only realising after 18 months that my body wasn’t going to magically morph into Cindy’s. She was, quite simply, a goddess and made out of superior DNA. Supermodels are exactly that- super-human-looking-miracles, and it’s useless trying for us mere mortals to try and look like they do.
I was still interested, however, to see that the 60-year-old modelling legend recently shared her ‘morning routine’. Would it help me become more Cindy? I’m fairly disciplined in the mornings, and rise at 6.30am (part of being a mum, and then losing the ability to sleep because of menopausal hormonal changes). I often think the way you start the day shapes the rest of your experience. If you wake up and immediately start worrying, well it’s likely that you’ll feel in a panic for the rest of the day.
© Getty ImagesIn the 90s I would have started my morning at around 11am with a cigarette and a strong coffee — and Radiohead playing in the background. As I’m 52, that isn’t a healthy morning (never was) and so I gave Cindy’s routine a whirl. Her REAL routine takes around 2 hours, but I don’t have 2 hours to dedicate to self care so I squashed it into an hour (more time effective but less relaxing).
Dry body brushing
One of the key elements of Cindy’s morning is dry body brushing. She practices this whilst listening to a ‘Bible app’. I’m not religious so I tried doing this with the noise of my 7 year old practicing to be a K Pop Demon Hunter which was a tad distracting. I used to do a lot of dry body brushing back in the 90s, and am familiar with the practice which claims to boost circulation and fight cellulite.
I did it for about 5 minutes and definitely felt more invigorated. I often feel sluggish in the morning so will try and do this again. I doubt however that it will have any discernible impact on my cellulite which has become part and parcel of who I am (it’s made itself clear it’s never going leaving anyway).
Red light therapy
I don’t have access to a ‘Bemer mat’ or a ‘Capillus red hat’ (which is for hair health apparently) so I put on my LED face mask. I felt smug as I’d already been using the mask for a while, and had definitely noticed my skin looking brighter. The only issue was that it’s hard to get dressed when you’re wearing it so I had to walk around in my pants and bra for 10 minutes, and then noticed that one of my elderly male neighbours could see me from their garden (they were enjoying a coffee and I waved but it was a bit cringe, as my tween would say). I’m assuming that Cindy doesn’t have immediate neighbours, and possibly has a dedicated ‘light room’ for these purposes.
Standing on the grass
Apparently an effective ‘grounding’ technique. I checked the clock and it was already 7am. Cindy’s routine seemed to take quite a bit of time and I really wanted to get on with the day but I persisted, and worked out that you needed to stand in bare feet to get the benefits.
I gingerly stepped out onto the tiny patch of grass in our garden, and noticed that a fox had deposited a half chewed up piece of chicken packaging on the grass, and I was stood on one half of it. I picked it up and then stepped on a giant marble. This wasn’t grounding so I abandoned this part of the routine. I also reflected that I am already relatively down to earth so the grounding wasn’t necessary.
© Mirrorpix via Getty ImagesGua Sha
Apparently Cindy uses this to lift her facial muscles and create smoother skin. I got given one as a gift but eventually settled on this roller ball thing which kind of does the same job. The problem with beauty tools is that your tween will often borrow them. At this point I’d already spent 20 minutes on the morning routine, and so I did the massage as briskly as possible as there was a netball match that my eldest needed to attend.
Working out
I skipped this. Cindy usually does ‘rebounding on a trampoline’, but we dismantled ours as it was looking distinctly broken after 5 years in the garden, and being bounced on by multiple kids and their mates. I made a mental note to look online to see if I could find a mini trampoline as the idea of bouncing sounded fun, and would definitely wake me up (though I have a weak pelvic floor so perhaps not a great idea?).
© FilmMagicCindy then does some stretching so I skipped straight to the stretching part and this was definitely the most beneficial thing as I tend to have an appalling posture, continually hunched over my phone or a laptop. I would give the stretching 10 stars. Simple but effective.
Coffee (with collagen)
I liked this part of the routine as there’s really nothing more comforting than a giant jolt of caffeine on an empty stomach (I skipped Cindy’s ‘apple cider vinegar’ as only found ‘red wine vinegar’ and am pretty sure it’s not the same). I also added collagen powder - I often forget to take it but I put a big dollop in and swished it around. I crossed my fingers at the same time - hoping that it would erase some of the tired wrinkles around my eyes. Perhaps I could have a little dose of Cindy?
Anniki's verdict
© Tom PilstonI would give the whole thing 5/10. I only enjoyed the stretching (and maybe the body brushing) and found the sheer amount of stuff a bit overwhelming. I think it would work well if you had lots of time, and no kids at home. Or neighbours watching you. Or cats mewing pitifully whilst you tried to do downward dog.
I still think that the way we start our day is important but I’ll be sticking to my usual strong coffee, followed by a quick jog around the block (or trip to the gym as I definitely believe exercise sorts my head out each day). I still love Cindy. I think she’s iconic. I may even try and find one of her old workouts on YouTube. I would love to listen to Primal Scream again and see if I can do the whole "Shape Your Body" routine without pausing it once.
