Jennifer Lopez's Birthday Instagram Post Embraces Her Natural Beauty

The singer, who turns 55 today, showed off her favorite swimsuit and her makeup-free face.

Jennifer Lopez poses during the 'Atlas' Mexico City Fan Event at Plaza Toreo Parque Central on May 21, 2024 in Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Pop icon Jennifer Lopez is no stranger to headlines—especially this summer, amid a canceled world tour, speculation surrounding marital issues with husband Ben Affleck, and an opulent, ongoing vacation in the Hamptons. But today, she’s been especially top of mind. The mega-star is celebrating her 55th birthday, inspiring social media retrospectives toasting her decades-long career—including a birthday Instagram post of her own.

Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Jennifer Lopez highlighted her special day with a steamy Instagram post. The singer snapped a mirror selfie in her vacation home, wearing nothing but a white swimsuit, a high ponytail, and stacks of gold jewelry. She captioned the photo “This Is Me…Now,” followed by the birthday cake emoji.

The simple caption holds two meanings. First, it’s the title of the singer’s most recent album, movie, and called-off tour. Secondly, it highlights J.Lo's unexpectedly unfiltered post: Instead of dressing up in her favorite designers and a full face of makeup, she's embracing her physique in a form-fitting one-piece swimsuit from Gooseberry Intimates. Rather than shying away from aging or hiding her body, Lopez celebrated her appearance at 55—making her caption all the more powerful and unapologetic. The post was effective, too, garnering over 700,000 likes and hundreds of well-wishes in the comments.

Especially observant viewers can also spot Lopez’s chic birthday manicure in the post. It's a remnant from her opulent, Bridgerton-themed party over the weekend. The manicure, which comes courtesy of nail brand CND and nail artist Elle Gerstein, mirrors her swimsuit's elegant, minimal design. Indeed, J.Lo truly does appear to be in her au natural era: At another point on her birthday, she wore a sheer toile Dior dress that showed off her curves. There, too, she kept her styling simple, wearing her hair in a slicked-back ponytail with minimal makeup and accessories.

Jennifer Lopez rides a bike wearing a semi sheer turquoise toile dress and studded ballet flats

For her birthday, Jennifer Lopez rode in a bike (!!) in a sheer toile dress while celebrating in the Hamptons.

(Image credit: Backgrid)

Aging positivity isn't just a birthday activity for the "On the Floor" singer. Jennifer Lopez's natural beauty has shined throughout her Hamptons vacation: Whether she's biking in overalls and a new shoe trend or shopping in a maxi dress and wedge sandals, she's mostly gone makeup-free and in a slicked-back, easy hair style. J.Lo's message? This truly is “her…now."

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Gabrielle Ulubay
Beauty Writer

Gabrielle Ulubay is a Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. She has also written about sexual wellness, politics, culture, and fashion at Marie Claire and at publications including The New York Times, HuffPost Personal, Bustle, Alma, Muskrat Magazine, O'Bheal, and elsewhere. Her personal essay in The New York Times' Modern Love column kickstarted her professional writing career in 2018, and that piece has since been printed in the 2019 revised edition of the Modern Love book. Having studied history, international relations, and film, she has made films on politics and gender equity in addition to writing about cinema for Film Ireland, University College Cork, and on her personal blog, gabrielleulubay.medium.com. Before working with Marie Claire, Gabrielle worked in local government, higher education, and sales, and has resided in four countries and counting. She has worked extensively in the e-commerce and sales spaces since 2020, and spent two years at Drizly, where she developed an expertise in finding the best, highest quality goods and experiences money can buy.

Deeply political, she believes that skincare, haircare, and sexual wellness are central tenets to one's overall health and fights for them to be taken seriously, especially for people of color. She also loves studying makeup as a means of artistic expression, drawing on her experience as an artist in her analysis of beauty trends. She's based in New York City, where she can be found watching movies or running her art business when she isn't writing. Find her on Twitter at @GabrielleUlubay or on Instagram at @gabrielle.ulubay, or follow her art at @suburban.graffiti.art