Ahh, the effects of being a woman over 50. We have wrinkles around our eyes, fuzz on our faces, sagging boobs, expanding waistlines, and gray hair. It’s harder to find a decent pair of jeans that fits, we prefer house shoes to high heels, and clothing seems to be designed for either our mothers or our daughters. Looking great definitely becomes a bigger challenge.
But there’s nothing that says we have to embrace our looks and accept our bodies just because we’re aging. In fact, there’s a whole new you that can be uncovered with just a few changes in your makeup and wardrobe. Not the changes you get from a plastic surgeon–we’ve all seen women who looked much better before they had “just a little work done.” But minor tweaks that we can make in things like hair, lipstick, skirt length and even nail polish to make us look younger and feel better about ourselves.
I recently began reading How Not to Look Old by Charla Krupp. Charla has been the beauty director at Glamour magazine and an editor at In Style, as well as appearing on television countless times on The Today Show, Oprah and Tyra. I’ll share her pointers with you here over the next few weeks as I explore ways to look younger while staying away from the doctor’s office. As Charla says,” We’re going to fight aging, and we’re going to look great doing it.”
The first thing Charla recommends is evaluating your “maintenance level.” Are you high, medium or low maintenance?
- You are high maintenance if you never leave the house without a full face of makeup, you wear business attire when traveling, your favorite store is Neiman Marcus, you would spend your lottery winnings on a facelift and your crow’s feet are all gone.
- You are medium maintenance if you never leave the house without some lipstick and mascara, you wear pants and a nice sweater when traveling, you shop at Sephora instead of Neiman’s, you would spend your lottery winnings on a whole new wardrobe and your crow’s feet are a constant source of worry.
- You are low maintenance if you never leave the house without a clean face, you wear whatever is comfiest when traveling, you choose Williams Sonoma over Ann Taylor, you would spend your lottery winnings on a new car and crow’s feet never cross your mind.
Are you a purist, or a mix of all three? Whichever category you fit in, there are beauty tips just for you. You can look like a high maintenance beauty even if you’re a low maintenance gal. Follow along for a younger-looking you!
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When we think of aging we think of grey hair and washed out skin tone. Two very easy to correct symptoms of old age. Caused by loss of pigment. there is no such hair color as grey, it is the mingling of a few strands of natural dark among the new white that causes the effect. As our hair whitens our skintone lightens to accomodate the lack of color framing our face. That is why a once lovely young lady with raven hair, can look hard and mask-like when she dyes it to look as it did.
Foundation should be less heavy with warmer pastel shades to enhance the eyes and lips. Eyes, no matter what the color, should be smudged in grey or brown liner,never black. The same with mascara and none on the lower lashes. Look into the eye, for your choice of shadow and only apply it to the center of the upper lid. The rest of the lid should be taupe if you have blue eyes, mauve if brown, a sage green, for hazel. A little bronzer can make you look healthy and younger.. Don’t just do the cheeks. Remember less is best.
Hair can be colored a light to medium brown with red/gold highlights or a dark blond with lighter gold highlights. If you are one of the few lucky ones to have 100% pure white hair, too much coffee or tea will destroy it. Remembr beauty at any age comes from with-in. There is nothing homlier than a cranky, crabby, rude senior.
Any ideas of how to remove dark spots on your face? Low or no cost? I have used Retinova but that seems to work for wrinkle, not brown spots…
Hi,
I recently read if you rub yogurt on dark spots, aging spots, that it makes them go aways! Maybe this will help for you! : )
Thank you. I will try it!
I had mine removed at my deramatologists office with a squirt of liquid nitrogen. The age spot forms a scab and when the scab falls off age spot is gone!!! Awesome
Wonderful tips! You’re way ahead of me–I’ll be covering some of these in the weeks ahead. The more insight, the better. Thanks!
I still think it has so much to do with ATTITUDE. If you walk around thinking life is over, because you see a little bit too much of your Mother staring back at you in the mirror, then you might as well go eat the early bird special and space out in front of the boob tube.
I think it’s funny how many writers are making a fortune off these “Lets fight aging” books….Not just books but cosmetics, vitamins, prescription drugs etc…They are getting RICH off of convincing us that OLD is BAD!!
I can’t wait until this obsession passes and we go back to embracing the next FABULOUS stage of our lives!
Wrinkles and all….
I disagree with your comment no for what another people opinions if not for my mirror opinion what is nice and lifting to your spiritual live to see a face fool of lines ,dart spots , and dry skin , a simple clining , moisture and toning prevent all this and look in the mirror and feel more happy and the cream and product to do this should no be expensive because you can use natural products that you have in your kitchen .
You make a good point. Take care of your skin with natural products! My thought is…You have to have a positive attitude about aging! It’s not emotionally healthy to obsess over every wrinkle, age spot etc… that you see in the mirror. Running out and buying expensive products that promise to erase the years isn’t going to “fix” what’s wrong. It is the way society views the mature woman in this country that concerns me.
If you look into the mirror, try different faces: sad, mad, worried, scared…then try a smile. See the youthfulness? It is scary how our facial expressions impress others in a negative way and we don’t even realize it! SMILE everyone!
How true! I heard John Tesh say that research even shows that smiling while we talk on the phone affects how we sound on the other end. Subconsciously, the tone of our voice reflects our body language, so smiling will make you sound more pleasant to the person you’re talking to. Tandy is right–smile!
I agree!!
I agree, I think many advertisers invent “problems” that only their products can “fix”. I have let my hair go grey, I have age spots and wrinkles, I refuse to buy a lot of gunk to put on my face and hair and adds toxins to the body. We are women, and all women are beautiful. All we need is a sweet disposition, a kind heart, and a ready smile. All of these things are free.
I am generally low maint. but here’s the thing. my hair. I know I look older when I don’t dye it. I’m 50 50 now with the gray. I HATE having to dye it. I hate paying for it to be done ($50 every couple of months). But even I have to admit that I look older if I don’t do it.
hello
I started having grey hair when I was 14, so yes I do dye it. It does make you feel better.
Smile while you are doing it, smiling is wonderful.
Change your mind, old isn’t defined by looks. It’s defined by attitude. Usually old is one who has given up on dreams, and doesn’t grow anymore. I have seen 90 year olds that are not “old” and 20 year olds that are “old”. Think what you could do with an extra $50.00, maybe get a massage or take up a new hobby?
Taking care of YOU does more for a youthful look than anything. Exercise, healthy diet, staying socially active and cultivating friends of all ages, embracing your strong points, wearing a smile (especially when negativity threatens), cherishing your age and the wisdom life has brought you…. All these things communicate youthfulness and positivity. You are only “your mother” if you allow yourself to be.
Lizbet,
You said it all beautifully. We can embrace our age, enjoy the wisdom we have gained and be as beautiful as we choose without denying who we are! There is nothing wrong with treating drying skin or coloring one’s hair, but we should take pride in our phase of life and the power and richness it brings us. How many of you would really want to be 20 again? Not me! Sure the body of 20 might be nice, but the angst, worry, struggle and lack of experience? No thanks! This is a wonderful time of life, albeit, one than makes us take a hard look at what we want from the time left. We can spend it chasing our youth…like the magazines would like…..or we can spend it discovering new ways of expression built on our wisdom and experience.