I’m always eager to learn ways to look younger. That’s why I was keenly interested in the beauty feature in this month’s InStyle magazine on “10 Ways to Look 5 Years Younger.” So, what did the 10 beauty tips say? And if I follow them, will I look like I’m 46 instead of 51?

1. Brighten Up with Concealer - According to the makeup artist Mally Roncal, who is quoted in the story, if you use concealer “People will start asking who your surgeon was.” (Yes, I do use concealer under my eyes every day. However, no one has ever asked me who my surgeon was…which is good because I don’t have one.)

2. Be Careful With Color - By color, they mean hair color. According to New York colorist Louis Licari, who is quoted in the story, “If you over-highlight your blond hair, you lose the golden tones that keep it looking youthful and pretty. And hair that is dyed too dark is unnatural.” (I am careful with my hair color. I have a fabulous colorist who puts just the right amount of highlights in my hair and doesn’t dye my hair too dark either. Ah, glad I am complying with Lou’s suggestions.I agree with you Lou. I do. I do.)

3. Perk Up A Saggy Butt - This tip says that ‘our bottoms tend to be less buoyant as we age…gravity pulls them down.’ Susie Crippen of J Brand, says to “check the label of every pair of jeans before buying to make sure they have at least 2 percent stretch, like Lycra. Pants with more than 98 percent cotton can stretch out as soon as you wear them.” (Wait, J Brand is the brand of jeans that my daughter A raves about. I should listen to Susie, she must be smart when it comes to perking up saggy butts. I do love my Not Your Daughter’s Jeans which also perk up my butt.)

4. Shine On – This tip says that years of blow-drying and styling our hair can leave it lackluster…that adding conditioning gloss or a shine serum can help hair sparkle. (I’ll have to try the conditioning gloss. As for the shine serum, I already have that product in my repertoire of haircare products and it seems to weigh my hair down rather than sparkle it up.)

5. Find the Perfect Bra – According to New York stylist Annabel Tollman, “A good bra elevates your chest to a higher altitude, giving you a longer, slimmer-looking waist.” (Hmm, hmm, maybe I will have to listen to Annabel and go to Victoria’s Secret and buy one of those new Miraculous bras.)

6. Give Some Lip Service – This tip says that our lips lose volume as we get older and that dark matte lipsticks accentuate our aging lips. It says to switch to pink gloss to look younger. (Okay, after I go to Victoria’s Secret to get my new perfect bra, I’m going to go to MAC and buy some ‘pink gloss’ for my lips.)

7. Fake An Eye Lift - Ooh, ooh, I think I am practicing this tip already. Yes, I am. I put my eye makeup on just like the tip that N.Y.C. makeup artist Paula Dorf says. Sorry Paula, I learned this tip from the MAC makeup lady when she did my colors several years ago. I think it was when I was 5 years younger and I’m still practicing this tip. I do ‘use a light-colored shadow near my lash line and a deeper shade in an arc above the crease where my lid is dropping.’

8. Get A Little Cheeky – The Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Gabriel Chiu says that “as we age the fat pads in our cheeks fall” and that to defy nature you can either get a filler or you can use a bright pink blush, which illuminates the cheekbone and draws the eye upward.” (No fillers for me. I’m not putting any fillers in my cheekbones. And I’ve tried bright pink blush once before and it doesn’t look good on my cheeks. Guess I won’t be practicing this tip. I wonder, if each tip is worth .5 years and I practice all the other nine tips, will I look 4.5 years younger? You think?)

9. Lose the Powder Makeup - Paula Dorf says that “As you get older and your skin produces less oil, dewy makeup is more flattering.” (No wonder why the makeup artist at Bobbie Brown recommended that I start using an oil based foundation when I had my 50th birthday makeover. It’s been almost two years since I had my 50th birthday makeover and I’ve been practicing this tip ever since.)

10. Mix Things Up - This final tip says to “always throw in something unexpected, like messy hair, a casual jacket, or flats with a fancy dress.” (I can do messy hair, I have several casual jackets in my closet. I don’t like flats with a fancy dress, they tend to make my pear-shaped body look more hippy. Personally, I like pumps with a fancy dress or a sandal.)

My yoga teacher N, also had a few yogi cures for aging that she shared with us during tonight’s yoga class:

Yogi cure #1 - The first yogi cure for aging is to do a 10 minute inversion every day. An inversion can be a head stand, or a hand stand, or the dead bug pose (which is my favorite. I look like an upside down dead cockroach when I do this pose.)

Yogi cure #2 - Massage your face outward every night. Start at the top or bottom of your face and stimulate your skin and then put your moisturizer on your face. Stretch out your neck too by pulling your face forward. (This will add an extra step to my evening skincare ritual, but I’ll try it if it will help me stay forever young.)

If I can find 10 more beauty tips to help me look younger, I wonder if I can look 10 years younger? Wait a minute…wait a minute. How does the chorus in the “Forever Young” song go? Think I need to stop, breathe, and sing…

Forever young,
I wanna be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever and ever
Forever young I wanna be
Forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, forever

Judi

I’m back to work. My staycation is over. Glad that stressful week is behind me.

I’m sleeping better. My shoulder muscles are less tense. (Of course, it could be due to my weekly massages, they are likely helping. Thank you to my massage therapist D. You are so helpful.) Will have to see what my chiropractor says about the muscles in the lower half of my body when I visit Dr. A tomorrow. The muscles in my backside (which I didn’t even know existed) were very tense during last week’s office visit while I was on my staycation.

Now that I’m back to my normal high powered work routine, I seem to be much better.

I’m rising early when the alarm goes off at 6:00 am. Showering and putting on all my face creams. While I was on my staycation I went to see my esthetician D to get my eyebrows waxed. While I was there, I talked to D about all the dark brown spots that seem to be cropping up on my face lately.

“Soon I will have 50+ spots on my face to match my age,” I told D. “And I’ll look like a brown and beige dalmatian.”

“It’s your beach house that’s causing those extra spots,” said D. “Too much fun and sun. You need to use more sunscreen when you are out in the sun.” (My condo on the corner at the shore is a major contributor to brown spots on my 50+ year old face. How can this be? I love my condo on the corner.)

I always thought that a good moisturizer with SPF 30 was enough sunscreen. All summer long, I never put extra sunscreen on my face. Uh oh! And I didn’t use a hat either because I don’t like flat hair. And my super duper beach chair with the awning didn’t work too well, so my face did get a lot of exposure to the sun. Uh oh, uh oh!

“Not to worry,” said D. “I have a new all natural skincare treatment from Osmosis called Enlighten that can help fade those spots. You just use a little bit each morning and again at night before you go to bed.”

I was on my staycation, so $50 for a 1 ounce bottle didn’t seem too steep a price to pay to help my brown spots fade away. Plus, D gave me a free sample of Osmosis’ sunscreen. (What a bargain this turned out to be, free sunscreen included.) However, I didn’t think about what this extra step would do to my morning and evening skincare regimen.

Then an email arrived from the public relations woman from Avon. “Avon is introducing a landmark discovery to reactivate the skin’s repair process to help women reverse the look of wrinkles,” said the press release.

Reverse wrinkles. Are you talking to me? Are YOU talking to ME? ARE YOU…ARE YOU…ARE YOU…TALKING TO ME?

We’ll send you a sample said the nice PR woman.

“Sure I’ll try your new ANEW Reversalist Serum and Night Cream,” I wrote back. I am always on the lookout for new anti-wrinkle creams. I wasn’t thinking about what these extra two steps would do to my morning and evening skincare regimen – I was on my staycation.

I have such a busy morning and evening skincare regimen that I almost didn’t have time for breakfast this morning. I had to dot my spots so my brown spots would fade and then follow up with the new serum (over time, it says that 88% of women agreed that their skin looked dramatically younger after using this serum…hmm, hmm, I guess it is worth the time…I hope my skin will look younger). Then I had to put on my regular moisturizer on top of the other creams and then brush on my foundation and apply my under-eye concealer (which is especially needed due to the lack of sleep since my evening skincare regimen now takes quite a bit longer before bedtime too), and powder my face.

“Your skin looks good,” said a colleague at work today. And well it should, I thought to myself, and well it should.

Ooh, ooh, it’s 11:20 pm and I have much to do before I hit my pillow. Speaking of my pillow, I think all this skin cream and serum is ending up on my pillow as I toss and turn each night. My pillow definitely may end up being more wrinkle and brown spot free than I am. If my face doesn’t look better after the next several weeks, at least my bed linens will be nice and smooth.

Judi

P.S. – Coming soon is my new review site titled: A Baby Boomer Girl’s Raves, Rants, and Reviews. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready.