Not listed in order of importance…because they ALL are important:
FACE… (don’t forget your ears!)
NECK…
Do you know how I can tell the approximate age of women? By looking at their necks. Next time you watch TV and you see a female news reporter or celebrity, you marvel at their beautiful, smooth face. Then you look at their necks. Aha! It looks like a young person’s face stuck on an old person’s body. I will not name names.
DÉCOLLETÉ…….(coined term to mean the area of the neck/upper chest that is visible when wearing a low-cut top or dress)
…..and last but not least…..
BACK OF HANDS
Speaking of the last one, I was chatting with an older man one day and the subject of age came up. Well, I have nothing to hide and am very open about my age. When I told him how old I was, he said that I did not look my age at all. Then he followed that comment by saying that you can tell the true age of a woman by the backs of her hands. Whaaa??? I flashed a glance at my hands and shuttered. First of all, I can’t help the fact that I have prominent veins on my hands…..because I work out and that is normal: http://www.ibtimes.com/pumping-iron-bulging-veins-workout-mystery-explained-699569. Then I have the issue of “sun spots”….yep…..I grew up in Southern California and fried myself at the beach as a teenager. Years down the road….well, the evidence is clear (Mom told me that would happen but I poo-poo’d her….lesson learned the hard way).
It is beyond me why some married women let themselves go. One friend told me once that she didn’t have to maintain herself anymore (e.g. weight, etc.) because she already had her man. OMG! My apologies to you men out there. I know that you are visual creatures. Marriage lasts a lifetime (well, it is supposed to according to God’s holy ordinance) so you women out there, and you know who you are, snap out of it. Do it for your man as well as for yourself! I do it for myself because it makes me feel good, and with all the ugliness in the world these days, there is nothing wrong with that. So again, I do it for myself and not to attract men. Geez. Honestly, the real thing that attracts men in the long run is what is in your heart and your actions. But that comes later. The looks come first. Fact of life.
It is never too late to fix things to some extent!
You can’t stop the wrinkles from coming…..and gravity is NOT your friend. But you can keep the big stuff at bay. I was in the pharmaceutical industry for 23+ years. If you are searching for a product to reduce fine lines and wrinkles, forget the advertising hype and go right to the ingredient list. Then do your own research. A number of products state that they reduce wrinkles but when you get down to the meat, it’s just a bunch of fancy words for “moisturizer”. The easiest way to research this…..and I say this because my eyes glaze over when I stand in Sephora looking at all of the facial products…..is to create a table; then list the product and the main ingredients. Then you can do a side-by-side comparison to determine what is best for you. Check out my list in the menu for this section.
I lived in Palm Beach County….close to Worth Avenue….the Rodeo Drive (Beverly Hills) of the East Coast. Here you will find all sorts of EXPENSIVE skincare products…..stem cell treatments, etc. You have to decide if you can afford to go whole hog, or find a happy medium. I found my happy medium in Peter Thomas Roth’s Peptide Skinjection Moisture Infusion Cream (daytime; also note that they keep revising their products – mostly the name but same general ingredients) and their Mega Rich Intensive Anti-Aging Cellular Crème (nighttime). Trust me…..I’ve tried a bunch before that…..but I like the results I’ve been getting so no need to change. For those on super tight budgets, Eucerin Skin Repair Dry Skin Lotion or Cetaphil Restoring Lotion with Antioxidants for Aging, Sensitive Skin.
Epicuren also has some great products. I use their 10% Glycolic Lotion Skin Peel on my face/neck/décolleté 3 times a week. I think we all know the benefits of exfoliation (men and women). A salt scrub for your body and something delicate for the face is a must. Anyone bothered by those little bumps on your skin, such as your upper arms? That’s because you need to exfoliate regularly.
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Sunscreen!!!
Hmmm….yes, I’m going to talk about it but I admit I am not your role model for this. I’ve already mentioned how I baked myself as a teen/young adult. You know. Baby oil with iodine in it. We did such crazy things as kids. And now 20-30 years later, we are experiencing the rath of the Sun god. Age spots. Wrinkles. Skin cancer. Oh, so attractive.
Back in 2011, I had the Mixto laser treatment done on my face. It was wonderful in that it erased the sun damage and softened a few wrinkles. Would I ever want to do that again? No way! Heavy duty stuff. Out of commission for a week. Itched like crazy during the healing process. Miserable. But worth it. So to preserve the damage repair, I decided to use a sun block on my face that would also keep me from tanning (white face, tan body? A simple stroke of bronzing powder works like a charm). In researching this I found that the ONLY products that provide a complete, 100% block of UVA (tanning rays) and UVB (burning rays) are those made in either France or Japan. So I found my perfect product – Shiseido 50+. Passed the baking-in-the-sun-in-St.-Thomas test!
http://www.ewg.org/release/Sunscreens-Get-Flunking-Grade-for-UVA-Protection
Here’s more of the scoop: http://sun1support.blogspot.com/p/national-standards-for-sunscreen.html
Going back to me not being a role model…..uh, the rest of my body. I swim twice a week…..outdoors for 40+ minutes….without sunscreen on my body. I admit I like a little color versus looking pale and sickly. Now if I’d never baked in the sun and my Irish skin was still lily white, that might be fine. But once you’ve “gone there”, there’s no going back to whiteness again. Also, I’m not going to spend 20 minutes putting sunscreen on, and letting it dry/soak in for 15 minutes before going to swim for 40 minutes. Even in the South Florida summer I have never burned while out swimming. BUT…..I ALWAYS put sunscreen on when going to the beach for a couple of hours or more…..and I keep that 100% aloe vera gel on hand just in case I goof up.
So yes, I deal with the rare occasion of a basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer. I just pop into the dermatology office and get it taken care of…..and go back out in the sun. 
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March 2018
Hands (in general)
Yeah, I’m not exactly writing this when the subject came up. Hey, life happens. You know. So I’m on it now.
Last November I was at a football game with friends. It was an exciting game and we were doing our usual high-fiving after a touchdown. My friend said to me, “Your hands are so soft.” Hmmm. Never thought about it before. Guess I just took it for granted. So in retrospect, I thought about it and here is my routine:
- I use a bar soap for washing that has aloe, etc. and little granules that act as an exfoliant. I also use a bar soap with shea butter.
- When I use a salt scrub in the shower for my whole body, my hands are doing the work.
- On occasion I use Mary Kay Satin Hands as a scrub, followed by Mary Kay Extra Emollient Night Cream, and put gloves on.
- During the day, I apply any old hand lotion….whatever absorbs well and is not greasy. Makes my cuticles happy.
- At night before crawling into bed, I apply Gold Bond Healing Hand Cream with Aloe (any thick cream with shea butter works). Then I pop on the gloves. I wear gloves to bed every night; year round.
- When cleaning or doing dishes, I ALWAYS have my gloves on. I love the ones from Williams-Sonoma because they fit well and protect from hot water temps….and they don’t get holes in the fingertips like other gloves do after multiple uses.
- When I work out with weights in the gym, I wear weight-lifting gloves to prevent calluses.
When our hands are happy, we are happy!