Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Latest Issue
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Life

    Helen Mirren's 5 tips for women are everything you ever needed

    From drinking to falling in love, to throwing shade at Donald Trump, the woman pretty much has it all covered

    Lucy Abbersteen's avatar
    By Lucy Abbersteen
    Published 26 October 2016 In News

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    Helen Mirren life advice
    (Image credit: Billy Farrell/BFA/REX/Shutterstock)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    From drinking to falling in love, to throwing shade at Donald Trump, the woman pretty much has it all covered

    If there's one person who you should be taking your life advice from, it's probably Dame Helen Mirren. As one of Britain's most successful actresses of all time, she is smart, witty and incredibly talented. And let's not forget the whole host of awards that she has to her name, including an Oscar, three Golden Globes and four Emmys. The woman is a real force to be reckoned with, if you ask us.

    The Collateral Beauty actress was recently honoured with the Legend Award at a Hollywood gala, and her acceptance speech contained her top five pieces of life advice for women. And trust us, they are some *serious* words of wisdom to live your life by.

    On drinking

    Speaking at Elle's Women in Hollywood event, she said: 'Never drink alcohol unless you're celebrating something, upset about something, or it's a day that ends in the letter 'y'. And never drink when you're driving.'

    On love and marriage

    'There are no rules about love, I don't believe, but don't be in a rush to get married. Honestly, I married Taylor much later in life and it's worked out great. But give your partner the freedom and support to achieve their ambition. It's very important, and that goes both ways for men and women.'

    You may like
    • From L to R: Gabby Logan, Michelle Griffiths-Robinson, Gym Ta, Lavina Mehta and Liz Earle I Asked 15 Women Over 50 for the Health Habits They Wish They'd Started Sooner
    • Emilia Clarke Emilia Clarke: “That's my goal for the next decade of my life: to take it lightly. But it requires strength.”
    • A woman body brushing, taking a supplement, and heading to a workout class in gym city I Asked Leading Women’s Health Experts About the Best Health Investment They’ve Ever Made. Their Answers Surprised Me

    On playing blackjack

    'At the blackjack table, always split aces, eights and nines. Believe me it really improves the odds.'

    On friendship

    'Connect with friends daily, and I don't mean on Facebook. Better to have three great friends than 300 friends on social media – friends that you really talk to.'

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    On personal appearance

    'And finally, ignore anyone who judges the way you look, especially if he or she is some anonymous miserable creep lurking on the internet, or is a bloated small-headed dinosaur-y hand candidate for president.'

    There's no doubt about it, Dame Helen Mirren is a true hero.

    Lucy Abbersteen
    Lucy Abbersteen
    Social Links Navigation
    Beauty Contributor

    Lucy is a freelance beauty editor and contributor at Marie Claire, and has also written for titles including Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, Glamour and woman&home. She was previously Marie Claire’s junior beauty editor. During her career, she’s covered everything from backstage beauty at fashion week to interviews with famous faces like Drag Race royalty and Little Mix. As for her beauty ethos, she’s a big advocate for not having to spend a fortune on beauty products to get good results. When she’s not got beauty on the brain you’ll probably find her reading or Netflix-ing.

    Read more
    From L to R: Gabby Logan, Michelle Griffiths-Robinson, Gym Ta, Lavina Mehta and Liz Earle
    Wellbeing I Asked 15 Women Over 50 for the Health Habits They Wish They'd Started Sooner
    Emilia Clarke
    Culture Emilia Clarke: “That's my goal for the next decade of my life: to take it lightly. But it requires strength.”
     
     
    A woman body brushing, taking a supplement, and heading to a workout class in gym city
    Female health I Asked Leading Women’s Health Experts About the Best Health Investment They’ve Ever Made. Their Answers Surprised Me
    image of Rosamund Pike in Saltburn with gift guide products around it
    Shopping Gifts for the Woman... in Her ‘Knows Where It’s At’ Era
     
     
    Latest in Life
    Conceptual shot of woman having bad condition from broken heart, sadness or feeling loneliness etc.
    Life I Didn’t Know What Happened to Me Was Rape—How Religion Warped My Understanding of Consent
    Motherhood and raising a child with additional needs: Woman standing in a softly lit home, seen from behind.
    Life I Love Being a Mother, But I Hate Having to Fight for My Child on a Daily Basis
     
     
    Russell Brand on Trial at Southwark Crown Court in London
    Life Russell Brand and the Dangerous Double Standard of the ‘Nice Boy Defence’
    AI relationships: Woman lying in bed at night, looking at her smartphone while seeking relationship advice from a chatbot.
    Relationships AI Knows All Our Relationship Problems. Is That an Issue?
     
     
    Latest in News
    New Beauty Launches: Burberry Beauty / Mes Beauty / rhute / Jo Loves / Ziip Beauty
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Jennifer Lawrence’s Unexpected Haircare Launch, Burberry’s Exquisite New Perfumes and Jo Loves Sparks Festive Joy
    New Beauty Launches: Amouage, Haus Labs, XERF
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Is XERF Worth the Hype? Plus, Amouage’s New Body Collection & The Beauty Beat Returns
     
     
    Jeans And Jackets
    Shopping Celine Dion, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sarah Pidgeon Swear by This Trophy Jacket-and-Jeans Formula for Instant Fashion Confidence
    Next
    Shopping NEXT’s Autumn/Winter 2026 Collection Has Everything We Love About Getting Dressed in the Colder Months
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.