FORGET blowing candles out on a cake or posing with a balloon – the daring new celebrity birthday trend is to strip off to the nude.
Just this week, Liz Hurley caused fans’ jaws to drop as she bared all in celebration of her 60th birthday, and she’s by no means the first star to do it.
Liz Hurley set pulses racing with this sizzling ‘birthday suit’ shot to mark her 60th[/caption]
From Amanda Holden and Nicki Minaj to Gwyneth Paltrow, it seems the only thing you need to get all the Instagram ‘likes’ and set pulses racing is quite literally your ‘birthday suit’.
Body language expert Judi James told Fabulous that the trend is the “new status and power boast.”
She explained: “Career-stripping all the year round might be seen as demeaning work for these A-listers but a once-a-year pose in the buff is seen as liberating and status-enhancing.
“It’s a non-verbal V-sign to the ageing process plus a signal of how confidence and self-love can only improve with time and experience.
“These are women who have no need career or attention-seeking-wise to flaunt their bodies in a way that should be thought shocking but in terms of proving they can still be seen as reckless, daring, naughty and sexually demanding their statement suggests power rather than trying to please.
“They’re not looking for approval, they’re just checking in to boast.”
For many of the celebrities, the racy ‘birthday suit shoot’ is the ultimate mic-drop moment to show they not only possess beauty but confidence too.
Here are the head-turning stars who have flaunted for fans during milestone moments…
LIZ HURLEY
Liz went totally naked this week and ditched all her clothes to celebrate turning 60.
Liz could be seen perched in a meadow as she posed in order to protect her modesty from being on full display – and used the caption: “Pic taken this afternoon… in my birthday suit xxx.”
Judi said the pose appeared “celebratory”, not just of her birthday but “having made it through the star and celebrity system that has included some famous relationships with high-profile guys and come out the other side.”
The body language expert said Liz looks like a “super-confident woman in total control of her body and her brand.”
She added: “This birthday baring lets us know she calls the shots now as well as being a visual boast about how her legendary looks are still undimmed.”
So what is the secret to the former girlfriend of Hugh Grant’s sensational looks?
Age-defying Liz has a trick up her sleeve when it comes to her youthful appearance, and previously told Women & Home magazine that she applies moisturiser to her face and neck multiple times throughout the day.
She admitted: “The one thing I swear by is moisturiser – and lots of it.
“I’ll moisturise my face about six times a day and my neck about 10 times a day.”
Dr Barbara Kubicka of Clinicbe said Liz is likely to use sun protection, and a simple skincare routine of retinoids, vitamin C and peptides to keep her skin looked as dewy as a a 25-year-old.
She previously told Harper’s Bazaar: “My grandmother had beautiful skin and she believed that fresh air was imperative. I never sleep with the heating on in my room and always have the window wide open – even if it’s snowing.”
LINDSAY LOHAN
In 2019, to celebrate her 33rd birthday, Lindsay Lohan posed in what she was wearing when she came into the world.
Carefully positioning her knee to cover her modesty, the Mean Girls star simply accessorised with a pair of studs and some gold bracelets.
She captioned the post with a simple pink bow and birthday cake emojis.
Judi shared: “Her body language in this selfie nude signals a quiet, peaceful, loving affection for herself.
“The gesture seems to suggest she’s come to terms with her life and learnt to love both her own looks and her personality.
“She looks reflective and calm, as though using her nudity as a symbol of smoothing her life out.”
NICKI MINAJ
Nicki Minaj posed with a gigantic teddy bear for her eye-popping 39th birthday snap[/caption]
To mark turning 39, Nicki Minaj decided to get in on the racy trend by posing fully nude in 2021.
The rapper, sporting bright pink hair, straddled a giant teddy bear as she covered her breasts with her hands.
She wrote: “Say Happy Birthday to da Bad Guy.”
Judi added that her “playfully daring” had undertones of celebrating as a child but with a racy twist.
She added: “Her pose is still raunchy but with her over-the-shoulder glance as she arches her back; the open-mouth fun smile and the baby pink hair and background this pose seems to signal she’s very much the celebratory birthday girl who just happens to have added a rather daring statement into the mix.
“It’s a naughty but nice look that keeps her at the top of the tree in terms of diva daring and status.”
AMANDA HOLDEN
Amanda Holden stripped off for her 50th – and has not shied away from the trend[/caption]
Amanda Holden celebrated turning 53 – and her age-defying physique – by stripping off, sharing the nude photo of herself on Instagram.
The Heart FM presenter went totally starkers for the saucy snap on the edge of a cliff, which she captioned “birthday suit”.
Amanda, who has repeatedly spoken out about her refusal to cover up, previously said: “I don’t see the point in growing old gracefully.”
It’s not the first cheeky treat she’s dropped for fans on her birthday either – three years ago she posed nude on top of a three-tiered cake, decorated with roses.
Judi shared: “Amanda’s birthday boast lets us know how she’s not just turning the clock back with her ageless beauty but that it’s a top-to-toe gorgeousness that comes alongside a desire to be seen as daring as possible.
“She adopts the look of a siren or goddess in her very carefully-sculpted poses that seem to be lit and crafted to show her looking as near to perfect as possible.
“This is effort-full posing rather than just being ‘caught’ running through a garden, suggesting Amanda really does want to put a lot of space between herself and other women TV presenters in a rather competitive field.”
Amanda Holden’s sexiest holiday pictures
Amanda isn’t afraid to flash the flesh and post pictures of her incredible holiday style
When she balanced in a bikini off the side of a boat
When she gave Pamela Anderson a run for her money
When she celebrated her 53rd birthday on the beach in Dubai
And went completely in the nude
When she posed topless in her hot tub
When she showed off her perfect dive in her villa pool
GWYNETH PALTROW
It’s somewhat of an annual tradition for Gwyneth to pose naked on her birthday.
In 2021 she celebrated her 49th birthday by sharing a picture of herself in the bath, and the year before, she ran free and showed off her naturist tendencies, prancing around in the woods.
Never missing an opportunity to plug her own brand, She wrote: “In nothing but my birthday suit today… thank you all so much for the birthday wishes and thank you to @goop‘s insanely amazing brand new body butter for making me think I can still get my kit off.”
Naked Gwyneth Paltrow beamed in her birthday suit to celebrate turning 48[/caption]
In 2022, Gwyneth marked her 50th by spraying herself in metallic gold body paint for a Goldfinger-inspired photoshoot.
Judi said of Gwyneth’s naked shots: “With her vagina-scented candles and other ‘shocking’ sounding products Gwyneth has always shown a capacity to provide gentle shocks alongside her cool elegant exterior so her birthday suit rituals are an extension of that love of throwing sexual curved balls out now and again.
“Her nudity looks spiritual rather than raunchy but the message is clear in terms of body and confidence-boasting.
“Her pose here includes the hand to head gesture that suggests recklessness as though she’s been caught running round her estate and rolling in the morning dew.”
JENNIFER ANISTON
Ahead of Jennifer Aniston’s 40th birthday, the former Friends star posed nude in the December 2008 issue of GQ magazine.
The actress was completely naked – apart from a well-placed neck tie that covered her modesty.
Jennifer turned 40 a few months later, in February 2009.
Judi called it a “very powerful statement from a woman who is still known and loved as the ultimate girl next door.”
She added: “It’s an ‘Is that Jennifer Aniston?’ moment that shows she had totally grown up and lived a life despite being locked into her rom-com brand.
“Her body language is not too far from that ‘wholesome’ brand but her daring expression and the little paw-like hands suggest this act of defiant confidence shows us who she has actually been all along.
This birthday statement pose shows she’s hot as well as ‘nice’ and her teasing eye expression suggests we should have known that all along.
“It’s a birthday baring of personality, sensuality and confidence that will inevitably be packed away for another year as she reverts to her ‘pure’ brand.”
KYLIE MINOGUE
Queen of Pop Kylie Minogue gave fans an eyeful back in 2018 in a racy snap to mark turning 50.
The starkers star beamed as she looked away from the camera while holding a bejewelled guitar.
She wrote: “And so a new decade begins. How thankful I am for the opportunities life has afforded me. 50….. Let’s go!”
The body language expert pointed out: “We knew she dated Michael Hutchence and that her stage outfits can look sexy but Kylie has never quite shaken off her wholesome image from the days as Charlene in Neighbours.
“Even posing naked she still looks utterly polite and sweetly gorgeous despite the suggestion that she’s knicker less behind that guitar.
“Her open-mouth laugh looks cheeky rather than sensual, making this celebratory pose something of a shared, playful joke with her fans rather than a sexual statement.”
KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN
Kourtney Kardashian shared a nude photo of herself in honour of her 38th birthday[/caption]
The Kardashians are certainly not wallflowers, and Kourtney thought the best way to celebrate her 38th birthday in 2019 would be to strip off.
Sharing a sexy snap of herself in water, showing off her curvaceous bod, she simply wrote: “Birthday suit.”
Judi shared of the striking snap: “Kourtney’s kit-off pose has everything: dramatic back-lighting, water-spray and a totally nude profile with her head thrown back and mouth open for good measure.
“Kourtney lives in a competitive hub with her sisters and this pose looks like a birthday attempt to go further, bare more and look more artistically-photographed than the rest of them.
“She seems to be using her birthday to bare her sibling status along with her body.
“It’s a throwing down of the gauntlet that raises the bar for the others to compete with.”
OLIVIA BOWEN
Olivia Bowen roped in husband Alex Bowen for her 26th birthday picture, with them both beaming in baths[/caption]
Having flaunted their toned physiques on Love Island back in 2016, stripping off was nothing for Olivia and Alex Bowen.
The couple, who wed two years after meeting on the ITV reality show, shared a snap of themselves naked in two standalone baths to mark her turning 26 in 2020.
Judi said of the cheeky picture: “This birthday suit pose is full of status symbols to prove Olivia has got it made since her time on Love Island.
“Not only is she flaunting her curves but there’s the two-bath set-up, an eye-catching tattoo and, of course, the adoring ‘Bae’.
“She’s using her birthday to tick all of the reality show boxes in terms of lasting success and by sharing the moment of nudity with her partner she makes a power couple statement, too. “This pose is all about success as she shows us her desirable life as well as her bare body.”
