Donna Mills Isn't Shelving Her Beauty Routine In Her 80s & She's Rightfully Vocal About It

Some beauty rules are meant to be broken, so Donna Mills is changing the narrative that older women can't rock full glam. The "Knots Landing" star recently vent viral for clapping back at an Instagram user who commented on one of her videos that she wore "too much makeup" for a woman her age. Mills, 85, responded to the user in epic fashion. 

The actor began her response video in a sleek leather jacket with teased out blond curls and her signature smokey eye, quipping, "I guess I didn't get the memo." Mills then snapped her fingers, and a new clip appeared of the star wearing a gray wig tied in a low bun, wire-framed glasses, and a white button-down shirt with a high ruffled collar to create a look that one fan in the comments dubbed "colonial librarian." "Did you want me to look like this?" Mills asked. "Sorry ... Not sorry." The video cut back to Mills in full glam, where she emphasized that she won't be changing up her style anytime soon. "I like the way I look. This is my style," Mills said. "And style doesn't have an expiration date, does it?" 

In the comment section of Mills' viral Instagram reel, fans gushed over the actor's stunning looks. "You were my inspiration as a teenager to love makeup because I loved how beautiful yours always looked," one commenter wrote. "If your makeup artist did this gorgeous and chic look I would love to know who they are! You are vibrant and elegant with the smoky eye, (which is your trademark) and the neutral lip," another said. The '80s star has been a beauty icon since her "Knots Landing" days, so its no surprise that fans are still asking Mills for makeup tips today.

There are many style trends from the '80s that are still just as cool today as they were back then, and the same goes for beauty and makeup of the era. Soap opera icon Donna Mills, known for even being able to make smokey eyes work in the spring and summer, is one figure whose makeup has stood the test of time. 

During a "Knots Landing" reunion panel in August 2025, Mills recalled fans writing her letters to request makeup tips in the '80s. "At that time, you couldn't text or do any of that stuff ... So I said, why don't I just do a video about it and show them? And so I did. I got a whole production crew. I shot at my house. All on my own dime," said Mills, who typically did her own makeup for the show (via People). "And then I thought, I can't distribute it. I don't have the wherewithal to do that, so I took it to Universal and they bought it and they distributed it and it went platinum." 

Mills' 1986 makeup tutorial, "The Eyes Have It," is available to watch today online, and still garners comments every few weeks from fans raving over Mills' tips. On Instagram, Mills regularly creates content providing simple yet effective beauty tips for her followers of all ages. In a March 2026 video, Mills pointed out one of the most important places to be using highlighter that most people probably miss. "For mature skin, after you finish your makeup, dot highlighter on the apple of the cheeks, tip of nose and chin. This trick wakes up the whole face. Skin first, sparkle second," Mills wrote in the caption.