Real Chicagoan, Real Beauty

By Laura Oppenheimer in Food on Feb 12, 2007 7:00PM

Yowza! Forest Park's Athena Uslander is looking hot as one of the models featured in Dove's new "Pro-Age" advertising campaign. Ulsander is joined by four other "real" women in the advertisements, who are all proudly featured wearing their birthday suits and not much else.

The 52-year-old mother of three is the owner of Athena's Silverland Desserts in Forest Park, where she cooks up some amazing-looking baked goods, in addition to shelling out words of wisdom.

"Now that I'm in my fifties," Uslander says on the Campaign for Real Beauty website, "I feel more confident, centered in my emotions, and secure in every aspect of my life than ever before." Amen, sister. We hope we look as good as she does 30 years from now.

Dove made waves two years ago with the kick-off of their Campaign for Real Beauty campaign featuring real women. Strangely, some members of the local media didn't take a liking to real woman saying it loud, and saying it proud. We don't care what the naysayers say; the Campaign for Real Beauty is one of the most intelligent — and frankly most convincing — advertising campaigns we've seen in a number of years. We hope Uslander keeps doing her thing; representing for Chicago, moms and ladies over 50, and looking fine while she does it.

Image via Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty.