I'm middle aged. Not invisible.

As a mother and an Irish woman approaching 50 I rarely see myself or someone who looks like me in advertising, in brand photography, on social media. If we are in public facing media, it’s on shows like Operation Transformation where I need to change, or skin care ads with unblemished skin telling me I can look younger. 

10 years ago I worked on an advertising campaign for Breastcheck and we recruited women in their 50s. The young hipster Creative team in charge of casting could not identify what a woman in her 50s looked like. A sad moment, I thought.

Now as a creative business owner and director of my own brand I feel a responsibility to portray and celebrate the very women that buy my jewellery. After all, I am one of them and I am tired of seeing images across media suggesting to us that we are not enough.

We are. We are mothers, wives, daughters, aunts. We have lived through challenging experiences. We are caregivers. We are pioneers of industry. We have leant in - thank you Cheryl Sandberg for that load of unsustainable crap - and leaned out again. Our domestic labour is not recognised. Unpaid. We are the taxi drivers of the youth. The mentors of the future. And happily we are no longer saddled with the insecurities of our youth.

My absolute heroines who have this confidence in their age include Emma Thompson, who famously said “Don’t waste time, don’t waste your life’s purpose worrying about your body.” Not to mention the fabulous movie where she plays a woman re-engaging with a desire for sexual excitement”. Kate Winslet is another who has exclaimed “I’m baffled that anyone might not think women get more beautiful as they get older. Confidence comes with age, and looking beautiful comes form the confidence someone has within themselves.”

In my latest photo shoot I wanted to portray this confidence. This sophisticated and sensual elegance that is simply more credible in an older woman. A woman who is visible. A woman confident in her own skin, despite being a mother, a mature woman, a woman with wrinkles and laughter lines. A woman who loves. Who sacrifices. Who drives around with a cup of tea on the dashboard. Thus I partnered with a wonderful Irish actor.

I wanted Olivia to portray herself as herself. No make up artist to rub out the blemishes. No stylist to tell her how to appear. But rather a woman of the world, with the sophisticated refinement that comes with a life lived. And in my opinion these shots are fabulous. As an older woman myself, I can relate to her and I hope you feel the same. And that was the whole point. Her confidence oozes through and wow..... she is beautiful.