From the Magazine Digital Covers Tracee Ellis Ross Says She Feels 'Fantastic' at 50: 'I'm the Sexiest I've Ever Been' The Girlfriends and Black-ish star opened up about her new goals and confidence By Michelle Lee Michelle Lee Editorial Assistant, Style & Beauty, PEOPLE People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 10, 2023 01:11PM EST Photo: Tracee Ellis Ross/instagram Tracee Ellis Ross is reveling in her new decade of life! In an interview on Today, which aired Monday, the Emmy nominee opened about the joys that've come with turning 50, a milestone she reached back in October. Comparing her enthusiasm to Molly Shannon's Saturday Night Live "Sally O'Malley" bit — in which the comedian exclaims, "I'm 50 years old and I like to kick!" — Ross said she's stepping into her confidence. "I think I'm the sexiest I've ever been. I feel fantastic and I feel like the world is my oyster," she shared. Ross also recalled her 16-year television run, which includes the 2000s sitcom Girlfriends and ABC comedy Black-ish, as she revealed that she's "closing the chapter" and is ready to live out her own storyline. Yet, the actress said that she still has a bucket list filled with things she wants to accomplish and see in her next stage, such as starring in an action film, writing a book — and finding a lifelong partner. In regards to her criteria for the latter, she concluded: "Listen! He's gonna come, he's not gonna come — in the meantime I'm gonna live my life and have a ball!" (In short: It's her world and we're just living in it.) Tracee Ellis Ross Rocks Floral Bikini in Makeup-Free Vacation Photos from Jamaica Getty Tracee Ellis Ross Says New Docuseries 'The Hair Tales' Is a 'Love Letter to Black Women' But Ross has already perfected one bullet point on her résumé: beauty entrepreneur. This week she launched three new additions to her curly hair care brand Pattern Beauty — The Blow Dryer, the line's first-ever heat tool, and its complementary Heat Protectant spray and Shine Spray mist. In speaking to PEOPLE on the new drops, Ross shared that the whole philosophy behind her brand and its products really speaks for self-expression, which is an outlook she picked up from her mom and fashion icon Diana Ross. "That was the way I saw beauty used growing up when I watched my mother [Diana Ross]. It was a way that she transformed herself into a different version of herself that was more about 'this is me' than 'look at me.' And so I have always felt that beauty was an expression of your internal self," Ross said. Tracee Ellis Ross Launches First Heat Tool for Pattern Brand: 'Dream Come True' Also inspired by activist Alok's definition of beauty, which Ross recalled is "the imprint of the soul," the Pattern founder and CEO shaped her own. "So I believe beauty is about a holistic experience and self-care and that's what I've brought into Pattern because I feel that hair care is self care. It's one of the ways we actively love ourselves," she explained. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. "It really is about a form of self-expression and embracing who you are and your legacy. And so that's what I feel about beauty and that's, I think, the reason why as I've gotten older, it hasn't felt like a daunting thing, but actually a very exciting and fun thing to sort of explore what this experience of beauty is," she concluded.