I've been thinking a lot lately about change in general but what about when it comes to beauty and change? Not only do trends, styles, recommendations, treatments and technology change but so does your skin.
As I've gotten older I've really tried to do my best to take care of my skin better by doing the following:
- Limiting my alcohol intake weekly.
- Exercising regularly.
- Sunscreen.
- Moisturizing.
- Exfoliating.
- Cleansing.
Even doing the above on a regular basis can't prevent age from taking it's course. Sooner or later our eyebrows & lips are going to thin, our eyelids are going to be droopier, laugh lines will start to appear. Most of us average income women won't be dishing out money for botox, lip injections, nose jobs and face lifts unless we're wealthy so how do we deal with the ever changing reflection in the mirror?
This is definitely something I've contemplated. I know it sounds vein but I think all women deal with this at some point. I don't want my eyebrows to thin. I already have thin lips so will they just disappear? I've come to terms with my Italian nose so that's not an issue but I don't want my jowls to hang or to look in the mirror and see an older version of myself.
I've never been a huge fan of plastic surgery and how it looks on people. I think it looks unnatural and it's almost too obvious looking rather than just seeing a regular person and thinking "oh hey, that's an old woman." But the pressure celebrities have to look young seems far more extreme than people not in that type of limelight or situation. They are in a category all by themselves when it comes down to it.
All in all the topic puzzles me. While it might sound crazy to you, having been educated in skincare at one of my prior jobs, I've really taken notice of my skin over the years. I've paid attention to how the skin on my body has changed, my face has changed and how it reacts to different things. It's really fascinating to me how certain things effect our bodies so much but I think having been in the skincare industry has made what goes on with our skin more noticeable to me.
What worked for me in my early 20's makeup wise does not work so well on me anymore. The products I was able to use then, I have far outgrown and the products I use now I'll outgrow eventually as well. Time is fascinating isn't it?
All we can do is embrace the skin we have been given and do our best to take care of it. We all need to remember that we are given wrinkles as a reminder of the life we have lived. I want to make sure I have laugh lines versus frown lines. If my lips thin, well I still got a bright smile. At the end of my life it won't matter because it's the life I put in my years that matter more than the lines that life puts on my face.
The irony of this blog I'm writing is I just happened to read another blog similar to it today from a different woman's perspective on aging. She titled the article "Making Friends with my Wrinkles" and I really appreciated her side of things. She has the right attitude. She doesn't want plastic surgery and she's getting older. She debates her options and her attitudes from this point in her life. What does she do, you ask? She decides to accept her ever changing skin.
Really at the end of the day, this is all any of us can do. When you look in the mirror everyday remind yourself of how lucky you are for another day to conquer this life and that change is an inevitable part of it.
