Ageless Beauty Tips From The Late Helen Gurley Brown

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Judi

I ordered a copy of “The Late Show – A Semiwild but Practical Survival Plan for Women Over 50″ in tribute to the late Helen Gurley Brown, who passed away this month. I am raffling off the book to one of my lucky readers (see below), but before I do I wanted to read some of Helen’s words of wisdom. I figured since she lived to 90 and was the editor of Cosmopolitan for umpteen years, I could learn a thing or two about graceful aging from this all-time queen of beauty.

Oh, dear Helen of Cosmo, fairest one of all, what can a boomer girl do to continue to look beautiful during her life after 50?

- Mirrors: On the subject of mirrors, Helen says, “you have to treat them like alligators: Don’t surprise them.” She says that “you should have two types of mirrors at home – a friendly to stay cheerful with mirror and a brightly lit magnifying mirror for putting on makeup. After you finish with the magnifying mirror and look in an ordinary-size one, you look tiny and great.” (Wow, I already practice these tips. I do have a magnifying mirror that I use for my makeup and I do have a very large mirror that I look in afterwards.)

- Makeup: Helen says that “foundation, eyeliner, lip pencil and blush are almost as fundamental as teeth.” She says that “this is not the time to hang up our brushes and look as bare as Mother H.’s cupboard.” (I do use eyeliner and blush. But, Helen, I stopped using a foundation all the time and instead have started using a tinted moisturizer with SPF. You wrote this book in 1993, likely before there were tinted moisturizers on the market, so I hope I’m still okay.)

Skin: Helen advises to “cleanse and moisturize with a Retin-A formula for night-time.” (My dermatologist recommends the same. Uh oh, I ran out of my ROC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Serum, better get back to Ulta and buy some more soon.)

Hair: I read Helen’s tips for Skimpy Hair, as I do have thinning hair, especially around my forehead. Helen recommends shampooing three times a week. She says that “a tiny buildup of debris” makes hair fluffier. She also encourages boomer girls to blow dry their hair instead of air drying. And Helen encourages to never, ever brush thin hair. (Helen, I am going to throw out my hairbrushes right now.)

Cosmetic Surgery: Helen says that “between 40 and 55 is the ideal age for a face lift.” She says that “many women have nose jobs in their 50′s too.” (Ooh, I’m inching up on the top part of that age group. I’m too scared to have any facelift, but I’ve always disliked my nose. Ooh, ooh, ooh, dare I get a nose job? No, no, no.)

Some of Helen’s famous friends shared their beauty advice in the book too:

Lauren Hutton says: “Always sleep on your back. Wrinkles melt right down.” (I’ve always slept on my back, so why do I have so many wrinkles on my face?)

Ali MacGraw takes “10 minutes a day to meditate with crushed green papaya on her face.” (Hmm, hmm, and who recently wrote a blog post about the benefits of papaya? That would be moi. Be sure to read my papaya post if you haven’t already.)

Gloria Vanderbilt “drinks water all day long to keep her weight down.” (Know wonder she is so skinny. Where is my water bottle?)

Phyllis McGuire suggests boomer girls “put warm wet tea bags on their eyes for puffiness.” (Should I use my chamomile tea bags? Will they make my eyes sleepy too?)

Betsy Bloomingdale advises “to never leave home without mascara.” (I use my Cover Girl Mascara everyday, except on the weekends when I’m lazy.)

Dina Merrill’s beauty tip is the best. Dina says “my beauty secret is to fall in love! I truly believe if you love someone and are happy in all aspects of your life – work, friends, health – you look and feel younger.” Of course Helen had a quip for this one, she said “you have to forgive anybody in love for giving slightly cliche, touching recommendations.” However, Helen wanted to know if Dina’s beau had a brother?

Dear Helen, thanks for all the ageless beauty tips for women over 50. I’m sure heaven is a more beautiful place now that you’re there.

Judi

The Beauty Benefits of Papaya

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Judi

“What is that mixture you are putting on my face?” I asked my esthetician D as she slathered on a smooth mask during my facial last week.

“It’s a papaya and yogurt mask,” said D. “The healing enzymes in papaya help exfoliate the dead skin and the yogurt is soothing. A good anti-aging remedy.”

According to D, papaya is a wonderful fruit with many benefits. “Papaya helps with digestion too,” said D. “It’s good to eat papaya after a heavy protein meal.” (I was eager to learn about this benefit, even though my gastroenterologist did tell me that I have a beautiful stomach after he looked down my tummy during my endoscopy last week.) I’ve had irritable bowel syndrome and heartburn during my life after 50, so anything that will help with these issues is a positive attribute.

Dr. Cari Case, a chiropractor from Pennsylvania, writes on her For A Healthy Future blog that “Papaya is rich in many vitamins, minerals, nutrients and antioxidants including vitamin C, folate, potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin K, carotenes, flavonoids, B vitamins, magnesium and pantothenic acid.” Dr. Case says that “the carotenoids, antioxidants and vitamins in papaya can help keep your eyes healthy. In fact, they may also reduce the risk of macular degeneration, an age-related condition resulting in loss of vision.”

Papaya Chunks and Yogurt For My At-Home Facial

After my facial I drove right over to Whole Foods Market to buy some cut up papaya and plain yogurt. D said to keep the papaya in the freezer and defrost a few chunks before eating or using on my face. To make an at-home facial, D said all I have to do is mash up the papaya, mix it with some yogurt, put it on my face, lie down for 20 minutes and let it soak in and then wash it off. I haven’t tried this anti-aging remedy on my own yet, but will let you all know how I do when I do use it.

With my homemade cider vinegar toner and now my at-home papaya facials, I am going to have such fruity and fragrant skin during my life after 50. Ooh, ooh, ooh, but I’ll need to stock up on plenty of papayas to also maintain my fabulous looking and hopefully fabulous feeling stomach.

I wonder with my green thumb if I can grow a papaya tree in my backyard? Let’s see what it says about growing papayas? Ooh,ooh,ooh, I found a website that explains how to grow papaya from seed. It says it is easy to do. Let me just read down a little bit. Yes, yes, yes, I think I can do it. Yes, yes, yes. I think I can do it.

Uh oh! Oh no! The Tropical Permaculture website says “To grow good papayas you need a frost free climate.” With global warming, maybe when I’m in my 80s I’ll be able to grow papayas in the Northeast. Meantime, guess I’ll be purchasing my papaya chunks at the market.

Judi

P.S. – Be sure to participate in my new promo before September 15th. If you leave a comment on my blog at aboomerslifeafter50.com, sign up to receive my blog via email, like me on Facebook @Judi Boomer Girl or follow me on Twitter @judiboomergirl, you will be entered into a random raffle to win a collectible copy of “The Late Show: A Semiwild but Practical Survival Plan for Women Over 50″ by the late Helen Gurley Brown. As you know, sadly Helen Gurley Brown recently passed away at the age of 90. According to the New York Times obit, in Ms. Brown’s advice book for women over 50, she suggests that “as women age and the supply of available men dwindles, they should simply appropriate their friends’ husbands for jaunty recreational sex.”

Blogging Into MidLife

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Judi

I enjoyed the session on “Blogging Into MidLIfe: The Tension Between the Online Spotlight and Offline Invisibility” which was held at BlogHer ’12 earlier this month. It was nice to see some boomer girls on the podium and in the audience. There was a full crowd and we had a lively discussion about blogging about our life after 50.

Lynn Forbes, from employeetoemployme.com, moderated the panel. Lynn said that this topic is important because there are 77 million female baby boomers in the U.S.A. and we are some of the highest educated women. Many of today’s female CEOs are 50+.

Pictured l. to r.: Bloggers Lynn Forbes, Darryle Pollack, Patricia Patton and Ann Dunnewold, Ph.D.

“So is getting older bad?” Lynn asked the panel of boomer bloggers, which included Ann Dunnewold, PhD., from at anndunnewold.com, Darryle Pollack, from blog.darrylepollack.com, and Patricia Patton, from boomerwizdom.com.

“It’s all around us. In phrases like ‘over the hill.’ It implies old is bad and young is good.” said Ann. The awareness factor helps break that trend. Ann encouraged each of us in the room to stop saying negative sayings to ourselves like “She’s too old to be wearing…” and to stop being too hard on ourselves. (I agree with Ann. Ooh,ooh,ooh, but, I do think I am too old to wear a bikini. If Ann is right, maybe I should try one on. First I have to start doing sit-ups and plank asanas in yoga and get my six-pack abs and then I’ll try on a bikini.)

“I’m not perceiving the way I am perceived,” said Darryle. “So much of aging is how we feel.” (That’s so true. In some ways I feel younger today than I did 10 years ago. I have a boyfriend. Yes, I can say it now. I’m growing older and I have a boyfriend who is growing older too.)

As a woman of color, Pat, went into the world without a mentor when she was younger. She dealt with racism and now ageism. Pat told us that she plays tennis with people who are 30 years younger than her. (Go Pat! Go Pat! Go Pat!) Pat calls it “aging young.” “Find out what things in life bring you joy and celebrate that,” said Pat. (I think Pat has the right philosophy. Many of my younger boomlet friends follow my fashion lead, including my daughter A.)

What has blogging done for these women at this point in their life? “Blogging gives you a place to find your power,” said Ann. “I was able to open myself to my authentic self from blogging,” said Pat. (For me, blogging has opened up so many fun and exciting doors during my life after 50. It’s enabled me to connect, meet and learn from so many fabulous, beautiful, interesting, smart, talented women like the ones on this panel, who I never would have known if I didn’t blog.)

The group agreed that how we choose our words can make a big difference to ageism. Instead of saying “you don’t look 60″ say “you look great.” Instead of saying “how do you feel about getting old?” like the new Pfizer Get Old campaign says, you could say, “how do you feel about getting older or how do you feel about growing older?”

What can we do to change our attitude during our life after 50? “Try a reverse mentor,” said Ann. “It’s starts with each of us,” said Darryle, “The important thing is to take the lead.”

Thank you Lynn, Ann, Darryle and Pat for all your advice. I’m ready to step up and be a positive force against ageism. I hope fellow boomer girls will join me.

Judi

P.S. – It’s mid-August, but I am starting my new promo which will go until September 15th. If you leave a comment on my blog at aboomerslifeafter50.com, sign up to receive my blog via email, like me on Facebook @Judi Boomer Girl or follow me on Twitter @judiboomergirl, you will be entered into a random raffle to win a collectible copy of “The Late Show: A Semiwild but Practical Survival Plan for Women Over 50″ by the late Helen Gurley Brown. As you know, sadly Helen Gurley Brown passed away this week at the age of 90. According to the New York Times obit, in Ms. Brown’s advice book for women over 50, she suggests that “as women age and the supply of available men dwindles, they should simply appropriate their friends’ husbands for jaunty recreational sex.”

Key Notes from BlogHer ’12 Key Noters Martha and Katie

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Judi

Fellow boomer bloggers commented on the fact that the two keynote addresses at the BlogHer ’12 Conference were both 50 plus. Over lunch on Friday, we had the opportunity to hear from Martha Stewart and on Saturday, Katie Couric spoke to the crowd. Both shared news about their new television shows which are starting soon.

Martha, Martha, Martha

“Bloggers should be passionate,” said Martha, who was celebrating her 71st birthday on Friday. “You should be good communicators and the better you are the more people will want to read your blog.” (I hope so Martha. I am very passionate about sharing my journey with other boomer girls and learning from my virtual community. Plus, it is so great when I can actually connect in person with some of my readers like blogger Ashleigh Burroughs from Tucson, pictured here. I turned around after the luncheon and she was standing right behind me. I hugged her when I saw her, it was like we were old friends. Ashleigh was shot alongside Representative Gabrielle Gifford last January. She is an amazingly strong woman.)

“If you were to mentor your younger self, what would you say?” asked BlogHer Co-founder Elisa Camahort Page during her interview with Martha. “Encouragement is important,” Martha answered. “I would encourage the young people to follow their talent and abilities.” Martha encouraged us as a blogger community to encourage ourselves as well.

Relating To Katie

I’ve always been a big fan of Katie Couric, so I was especially excited to hear that she was going to be a keynote at BlogHer ’12. Widowed at a young age (like me) and being a boomer girl in her mid-fifties (like me), I can so relate to her perspectives on life.

Katie admitted to being in the middle of menopause. “I’m up at 3:30 a.m. every morning and my eyes are so dry.” (I wanted to tell Katie to call me when she is up during the wee hours because I’m usually wide awake too. And, like Katie, I have to put drops in my eyes three times a day to keep them moist.)

“People are interested in your guns,” BlogHer Co-founder Lisa Stone said to Katie during the interview. (Time out: I wasn’t sure what Lisa was talking about when she asked Katie about her guns. “I can’t believe you don’t know what guns are mom,” said both my daughter A and son D when I told them about Katie’s guns. It’s arm muscles, mom. It’s muscles.) Katie was wearing a sleeveless dress and she definitely has Michelle Obama arms, as my yoga teacher N likes to remind us of when we are practicing our plank asanas in yoga class each week.

How exactly does Katie keep up her ‘guns’ and her leg muscles during her life after 50? “I started spinning. It is an efficient workout in 45 minutes and they also do arm exercises,” she said. (Okay, okay, if I can get ‘guns’ like Katie, I may have to find 45 minutes in my busy schedule to start spinning at my gym.)

Katie had positive words to say about being fifty-something. “Baby boomer women are a very huge and powerful group,” said Katie. “You have to be as vibrant and energetic as ever. If you feel marginalized, then you will be perceived as marginal. You have to be strong.” Katie said that she feels she is a better journalist today than she was before because she is smarter from having had more life experiences. (I agree Katie. I am definitely a stronger person today than I was in my 20s, 30s and 40s. All those life experiences do add up.)

Katie’s husband died of colon cancer when he was only 41 years old. Lisa asked Katie how she balances everything and motherhood. “Brian Williams never gets asked about ‘how do you do it all?’” said Katie. “My kids are 21 and 16. They are my best accomplishments.” (I definitely can identify with Katie on this topic. My husband died at 56 and I am sad that he did not have a chance to see our children grow into the fabulous young adults they are today. When I think about my greatest accomplishments, my daughter A and my son D are are definitely at the top of my list. Yes they are.)

The Katie Show starts in September on ABC. Katie said that she is going to have two seats for bloggers in her audience for every show. Will one of those bloggers be me one day? Oh, Katie, Katie, Katie, this boomer girl is one of your biggest fans. Please save a seat for me. Hope to see you soon.

Judi

To all my boomer girl blog readers who participated in the July promotion and signed up to receive my blog via email, left a comment, liked me on Facebook or Twitter – thank you all. But there can only be one winner of the random raffle of “I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections” in remembrance of the late Nora Ephron. Drum roll please…ta da, ta da, the book goes to blogger Lori from My Evident Faith. Congrats!

Coming soon, I’ll share some news about new products that I learned about at BlogHer ’12. In August, I’ll raffle off some of the swag I received. So sign up for my email, leave a comment, like Judi Boomer Girl on Facebook or follow judiboomergirl on Twitter this month, and you may just win some swag.

BlogHer 2012 Kicks Off In NYC

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Judi

More than 5000 attendees, mostly bloggers, settled in at the NYC Hilton today as the BlogHer 2012 Conference kicked off late this afternoon. This is the 7th year of the conference and there are 5000 attendees. It’s the biggest conference yet .

I remember my first conference when I was a newbie. It was 2007 and I had just started blogging. There were only about 500 bloggers in the audience at the time. Wow, how times have changed. Blogging is definitely trending positive.

Today things started off at 4:30 p.m., as President Obama spoke via satellite to a very large crowd. The bloggers cheered and were excited to hear what our current prez had to say. He wanted to address the group because as he says “Women make up more than 50 percent of the population in the U.S.A. and they are important when it comes to the vote.” He reinforced that “The ability to solve our problems is within our grasp.” (Yes, I do hope so dear prez because if we don’t solve our problems no one else will.)

After the opening session I went to a few of the exhibits and ran into some fellow boomer girls. Seeing my virtual blogger buddies in real life is always such fun.

I headed straight to the Kohler booth to learn all about their new VibrAcoustic bathtub. “This new technology brings the transformative forces of music and water together into a bathing experience like no other,” says the promo. “You just plug in a smartphone, lie back and soak as the sound waves resonate through your body.” My life after 50 will be pretty grand (and likely full of wrinkles all over) if I win the grand prize of one of these tubs. Ooh, la,la. I’ll definitely be blogging from my bathroom, if I win, if I win, if I win.

My second stop was to the Zeo booth where I learned all about the Zeo Sleep Manager Pro tool that can track your sleep. You wear a Zeo head piece to sleep and it records different data on how well and how long you sleep. Zeo also now makes sheets that cool you off. Sounds like a good idea for those nights when I have my hot flashes. Uh, oh, the Zeo advice for a good night’s sleep says “DON’T use the computer within an hour of bedtime.” Their data shows that it can decrease a woman’s time in REM sleep!

I better get off my iPad now and get good REM, as I have a busy day at BlogHer 2012 tomorrow.

Judi