Which brings me to wonder; what exactly is a woman in her forties with children supposed to look like? Are we supposed to look old? Are we supposed to be sexually invisible? Are we supposed to not care about how we look anymore? So with those questions in mind, I listened to what the media is telling us. It would seem we are not supposed to look our age. It is not attractive to have wrinkles. It is our fault if we don't look younger than we do. And the biggest lie of all; it is possible to stop the aging process. I am a little surprised that us women in our forties or older, haven't completely lost our minds and punched quite a few twinkies in their noses.
On the contrary, women I know my age are, for the most part, strong, confident, and independent who have realized that sexiness and attractiveness is not at all how you look. It is in how you feel and in how you carry yourself. I never want to feel like I did in my twenties again! That being said, I wouldn't mind looking like I did in my twenties and if I had that figure again, you would have to pay me to put my clothes back on. Maybe it is a good thing that I don't look like that now. You wouldn't be able to deal with me! Hay dios mio!
As per usual, I digress. As I was walking through Nordstrom's for "market research", I noticed that there weren't any all natural skin care lines. I saw products with "ingredients derived from natural products." Can I just ask, "What the heck does that mean?" High fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils are derived from natural products. Does that mean they are good for you? What does putting those chemicals on your skin for the sake of anti - aging do to you in the long run? So many of us are cognizant of what we eat, yet we will still put chemicals on our skin, all for the sake of looking younger.
I understand that and would most likely par take in the purchasing of some miracle anti-aging cream if it weren't for the reason that I am also a cheap skate at heart and a skeptic. Do I actually believe that any of those anti-aging creams work? Not enough to where I would spend $200 on it. It may diminish my fine lines and wrinkles, but would anybody else notice? Not likely. They are called "fine lines" for a reason. They are fine and usually only noticeable to ourselves. And at that price, I would most likely analyze my wrinkles and skin more then ever to see if there is a change, making myself hyper aware of my aging. So is putting all those chemicals on our skin actually worth the price, economically, physically, and psychologically? Most likely no. Not to me anyway.
Which brings me to a conversation I had with a young man in his twenties a while back. He asked me, "Why is beauty equated with youth?" I couldn't give him an answer. He was a little angry in this question. He said, "I like older women. They are usually drama free and come with a plethora of understanding, wisdom, and humorous stories to share." He decided that rather than anti-aging, we should focus on pro-aging; aging naturally and healthfully. He is right. To me, my friends are all beautiful and I find an older woman who walks into a room with her head held high and obvious confidence extremely attractive. I think most men do to. So why is beauty equated with youth?
Another conversation I had with a man in his late thirties came to my mind. He said that he found women in the late thirties and forties extremely sexy and fascinating. He continued that these women don't change who they are to please others anymore. They know what they want and they make it pretty clear. To him, obviously, beauty was not equated with youth. These conversations with these two men, in different stages in their life caused me to reflect on aging. That beauty really is not equated with youth. The most beautiful and sexy women I know do not look like they are in their twenties. So why is a topic of conversation between me and my fascinating friends often about aging and how it is pissing us off and how it can be prevented?
Here is what I propose. Accept aging as a natural process. I know! I know! A big pill to swallow! I don't mean let yourself go and get old. I mean focus rather on the prevention and maintenance of, not the reversal of aging. Bring life to a simpler stage. Stress is a part of life, but as I am becoming a wiser, older woman, I realize a lot of stress is self inflicted. Do what you have to do and let the rest slide. Emotional stress is the real ager. How can you minimize this? These are harder changes to bring about over night and often take a lot of self reflection and change. So how about I give you some simple tips to bring your skin care back to the basics? There are some very simple ways to make the best of the skin you already have.....without chemicals or magic solutions.....and working with what you already have.
Your skin is your largest organ. You need to feed it properly. It needs to be hydrated to look its best. Drink plenty of water. Sipping water all day long is the best. Your kidneys are like a Britta Filter. It can only filter so much, so drinking a bunch of water at once is not very beneficial. Sipping water all day long is the best. Your body can process it and you won't be running to the bathroom having to piss like a race horse. Don't like water? Sip herbal tea....without sugar. Put a cucumber and fresh mint in your water bottle. Sounds crazy, but tastes amazing! And stay away from processed food. Your skin is a reflection of all you do. If you eat Lean Cuisines, (which are very bad for you) your skin will tell on you!
Sunscreen! Sunscreen! Even in the winter! Don't forget the hands! Getting a little sun if fine. Getting sunburned is not. We have all seen those tanning bed goddesses whose skin look like leather. There is a reason why. It is soooooo bad for you! If you must have a tan, I have perfected the tanning cream regimen, although I don't do it anymore because of all the chemicals. E-mail me and I will let you know my secrets.
All natural skin care! Using gentle cleansers that clean not strip your skin of its natural oils really do work. My skin care line is simple and effective. http://www.blackettbodybasics.com/#!blackett-face Skin is different from person to person. Use what works for your skin, just make sure that you can recognize the ingredients in the products. Be wary of skin care lines with ingredients "derived from natural products."
Exercise! Exercise! A 30 minute walk every day has shown to help prevent all sorts of weight related diseases, without the loosing of the weight. Exercise gets the blood flowing to the largest organ of the body; your skin. It feeds it with all the good nutrients that you have been eating. Go ahead work up a sweat! Even for 30 minutes. And make sure you wash that sweat off your skin with all natural soap that is made of glycerin. I can tell when my man is not using my soap and is using cheap soap by just looking at it and by the way it feels. If I were to offer you a drug that prevented obesity, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, and was anti aging, would you take it? Well, guess what? Exercise is that drug and it can be as simple as taking a 30 minute walk every day. This website breaks down the science beautifully. http://devour.com/video/23-and-a-half-hours/
So here is my anti-aging skin miracle. 1. Drink water and eat right. 2. Use sunscreen even in the winter.
3. Use natural skin care products. 4. Exercise.
It may take a little shift in our paradigms on aging. I am going to focus on prevention and maintenance rather than reversal. If I were going to spend that much money on chemicals to diminish my "fine lines" by 30%, I would rather just save my money, use natural products, and get a face lift where the difference would be permanent and noticeable to other people other than myself. Or.....I could make the changes necessary to maintain my skin as it is, live a healthier and simpler life, and walk around this world like I own it! Now that is sexy!
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