The 4 Tricks Jennifer Beals Uses to Stay Youthful Looking (Or So I Imagine)

I hate Jennifer Beals. Wait. Let me re-phrase that. I am exceedingly jealous of Jennifer Beals. There, that's a more accurate assessment.

Forget that she graduated from Yale with honors and has had an extremely successful career and personal life, the woman is a freak of nature. She's 47 (47!)-years-old and looks every bit as dewy and nubile as she did in that ripped up gray sweatshirt a hundred years ago. (OK, 30, but still, "Flashdance" came out in 1983. Holy cow.) Why am I painfully aware of this now? Beals has a new cop show called "Chicago Code" premiering on FOX this month and has been doing a lot of press for it while looking fantastic.

My point is, she either made a deal with the devil or she's been taking much better care of herself than I have. The woman's got several years on me and looks like my baby sister. Furthermore, it's not because she's pumped her face full of fillers -- she told "More" magazine that plastic surgery and cosmetic treatments are "not what I wish for myself."

After consulting with a few in-the-know peeps, and doing a little reading up on her, here are the four things we think she must be doing to stay looking so great. (Unless, of course, there's an aging portrait of her hanging on a wall somewhere.)

No. 1: Wearing sunscreen: Duh. There's no way her skin would look this even-toned and youthful if she'd baked herself in the sun like ahem some of us did/do. She's obviously all about the SPF. (Check out the 11 best sunscreens for your face.)

No. 2: Eating well: JB probably never met a fruit, veggie or lean meat she didn't like. With skin like that, she has to be loading up on the antioxidants, vitamins C and E and those Omega-3s. (These are the 7 vitamins that'll make you look younger.) And, because she was diagnosed with the Epstein-Barr virus in the '90s, she shuns sugar, wheat and caffeine altogether.

No. 3: Exercising: Not surprisingly, her beautiful skin and spry body/svelte figure can be attributed to yoga, swimming and doing Pilates. Beals has also said that she hikes with her dogs and ice skates with her husband.

No. 4: Getting enough sleep: Despite the fact that she's shooting a new show and has a 5-year-old daughter to contend with, Beals must be clocking her requisite eight hours a night in bed. Bet she doesn't need these tips on how to look well-rested every morning.

What are YOUR tips for looking your most youthful? Do you use anti-aging products as a preventive measure? (This is my to-die-for favorite neck cream.) Is sunscreen your friend? Or are you just going to worry about it when it happens? (Kinda like Scarlett O'Hara...and me.)