Christie Brinkley Talks 'Accepting Certain Wrinkles' and Gracefully Clapping Back at Online Haters (Exclusive)

Christie Brinkley is not here for negative talk.

When the supermodel posted a selfie to Instagram in June with the caption “Downtown Girl,” she received plenty of praise — and a surprising amount of hate. 

In response to the hurtful comments, Brinkley updated her caption with a poised response.

Referring to the commenters as “The Wrinkle Brigade,” Brinkley wrote, “It must be some form of compensation for something they are lacking.” Then she thanked those who chose kindness for “restoring her faith” before wishing her followers a great day.

Speaking to PEOPLE ahead of her 70th birthday on February 2, Brinkley shared that she felt compelled to respond because it seemed the commenters “went out of their way to try to make me feel bad.”

“I don't think that we should be doing that to each other,” she tells PEOPLE.

Brinkley says that when it comes to how she desires to look now, “I want to accept certain wrinkles. That’s the way I’m approaching aging.”

“Sometimes when people get older, and they overdo it, they can look waxy and — I don’t know what the word is — preserved or something. I want a little life to show on my face, you know?”

Brinkley adds that for the most part, injectables aren’t for her. “I’ve Botoxed my forehead two times. It did look smooth as could be but the first time it gave me a droopy eyebrow."

Having never gotten the results of the first try out of her head, she then decided, “I'm just going to roll with the punches when it comes to my forehead, you know?”

While she’s also not fazed by her laugh lines, Brinkley says that once in a while, she gets an injectable to smooth other lines around her mouth: “But probably just once in a year, as opposed to back in the day when I would go in several times during the year to say, ‘Make sure fix this or fix that.' "

These days, “I'm kind of more comfortable just letting it be,” Brinkley says.

With her focus on skin health, Brinkley adds that she also gets skin-resurfacing Fraxel treatments twice a year to help with previous sun damage.

After years of being encouraged to get a tan, and modeling on beaches all over the world, now when Brinkley soaks up the sun, she makes sure her skin is protected. 

On a recent trip to Parrot Cay, she says, “I slathered on sunblock religiously while I was there, and I kept my shirt on and wore a wide-brimmed hat. I can't express enough how much better my skin was coming home this time than any other time I've come back. Usually, even though I would try and do some sun protection, I would kind of feel like the old piece of leather of a pirate’s shoe.”

Brinkley wants to “feel as good as I can on my big 7-0” — and says that process is more than skin-deep. 

The decades-long vegetarian remains devoted to plant-based meals (right now she likes Sakara’s delivery program), and she’s an ambassador for RYZE adaptogenic mushrooms, which claim to reduce the effects of stress on the body. “I put it in my coffee in the morning,” she says. 

“It's so good. And the way that I use it is I make my cup of coffee, and then I put a big huge tablespoon of RYZE in it, and then I put oat milk, and my coffee's like this powerhouse drink in the morning.”

She’s also a fan of its matcha tea powder, which she combines with almond milk, as well as its newly-launched hot chocolate with melatonin and overnight oats. “Before you go to bed, you simply put in whatever you like to mix the oats with. I like to use oat milk and walnuts so I get a little extra protein. And then you just put it in the jar and you shake it up.”

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Brinkley, who has always incorporated exercise into her routine, says she likes to start her day on the move. 

“When I'm in a place where I can get on a bicycle and just go for a long ride, I love doing that, but I also like to jump on a Peloton or to take a spin class of some sort. I do a 20- or a 30-minute class several days a week, and then I'll do some of the floor exercises and arm and core [the other days]. I truly love my Total Gym because it's at home equipment and for me, I find that if it's in my home, I'm going to do it.”

“These are all the things that I'm doing to start off 2024 and my new decade really, boom!”