Shannon Storms Beador, 62, has named the lower facelift as the procedure that produced the biggest change in her appearance, days before cameras rolled on the Season 20 reunion of The Real Housewives of Orange County. On NewBeauty's The Beauty Authority podcast, the 13-season cast member also flagged Thermage as her go-to non-invasive skin-tightening option.

What does single life look like for Beador?

Beador's daughters have left home, and she is now defining her days on her own terms. "It was tough at the beginning," she says. "I was a person that I always defined myself by being in a relationship. So here all of a sudden I'm completely by myself."

She has since reframed the transition. "I kind of like being by myself," she says. "I only have to worry about me now. So it's good." Beador plans to revive wellness practices she previously let slide. "I really want to dive into all this new stuff," she says. "I used to do the colonics, I used to do acupuncture all the time. You get so busy and I'm going to go back to that."

Which in-office treatments does she book?

Her treatment shortlist is short and specific:

• Lower facelift — the surgical result she credits above all else
• Thermage — her preferred non-invasive skin-tightening protocol
• Lymphatic massage — used to manage fluid retention

"The thing I was worried about doing, but the thing that helped me the most, is getting that lower facelift," she says. Of Thermage, she adds: "What I have found that I like the best for skin tightening is Thermage. I notice a difference when I've had that done."

Lymphatic drainage supports the rest of the routine. "I tend to retain fluid and I'm a little bit puffy," she says. "You just gotta keep up with your skin."

Why is she turning to hormones now?

Beador has spent more than a decade in front of HD cameras and is now confronting the body shifts that arrived with menopause. "I'm 62 years old and I have literally tried so many things for this belly area right here, and I'm really not figuring it out," she says.

Peptides have not solved the issue. "It's like, what the flip with my stomach? And I don't eat that much," she says. "I'm trying certain peptides, but they don't really work."

Hormone evaluation is next. "As I get some more free time in the next couple of months, I'm really going to look into the hormones, and I want to share about it because a lot of my girlfriends are going through the same thing," she says.

How is her on-camera approach to aging shifting?

Beador joined RHOC at 49, so viewers have watched her age on screen for 13 years. At 62, she is leaning into a more relaxed aesthetic. "Sometimes I'll just look at myself with no makeup and go, 'Yeah, you're fine. Just film,'" she says.

Her philosophy centers on small interventions, not full rewrites. "The bottom line is embrace who you are," she says. "Just be who you are. Get a little tweak here and there." With Season 20 about to air and a hormone research phase on her calendar, Beador is positioning midlife wellness, not relationships, as the subject of her next chapter on the show.