Every so often I have my so called boomer beauty days. I go to a store like Ulta and I buy some beauty treats for myself…to me it’s more fun than chocolate and less fattening (although I know a few friends of mine would disagree).

I take all my beauty ads that I’ve collected and I purchase some of the many products that have extolled their promise of quick wrinkle remedies and quick fixes for my face or other part of my body. And I purchase these products and I take them home and have a baby boomer beautiful afternoon or evening as I try them out. Sometimes these beauty afternoons and evenings last for days…depending on the steps required by the product.

Yesterday, was one of those days. I went to Ulta to purchase my Olay Regenerist cream that I had used down to the very last drop. (These facial creams that are a few ounces are so expensive that I actually open up the squirt pump and shake out every last bit of cream before purchasing a new bottle).

When I arrived in the face cream aisle, I could not just purchase one cream. I had to look at all the other new creams that were on the shelf…such as new creams that promised to take away my wrinkles or give me a tan or provide a quick face lift or treat my brown spots.

Ka-ching went the cash register…ka-ching, ka-ching. And before I knew it I had succumbed to a few additional at-home remedies in the hopes of making my fifty-something face more youthful.

First, I bought the Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream. It says that this intracellular hydration volume and shape across skin’s 10 million surface cells (ooh – do I have 10 million surface cells – wow), progressively lift and micro-sculpt to help: firm sagging – prone areas, even the jaw line (I do have a sagging jaw line), smooth skin’s surface, and restore elasticity (I wouldn’t mind if my face was smoother and was more like a rubberband so it could snap back into shape…especially after my many sleepless menopausal nights). This product came with a step by step brochure to teach me how to use the cream to massage my face and neck.

Next, I bought Olay Total Effects 7-in-1 Anti-Aging Moisturizer. While I was surprised to find out when I arrived home that one important ingredient called SPF was missing from this super duper moisturizer, there were seven other important ingredient attributes…so I figured it was worth the price. Yes, this new cream for mature skin therapy (as the package said) would provide me with younger-looking skin even with the aging effects of menopause (ugh, aging effects and menopause in one sentence…say no more…I was sold.) Line Minimization, intense moisturization, tone enhancement, gentle exfoliation, pore refinement, free radical defense (got to love those free radicals), and subtle lifting (okay, I’ll take the subtle effects, but my face could really use some substantial lifting).

Now that my face was taken care of I decided that I wanted to have shiny hair…the same shine that I get when the hairdresser washes, cuts and styles my hair at the salon (don’t you always wish you could style your hair like the beautician does…my hair never looks as good as the day I get it cut…now that would be a good marketing campaign for a new shampoo or conditioner…”look like you came out of a salon every day”).

“What can I use to shine my hair,” I asked the sales woman, “What hair product do you have to give me some shine?” I said. “We have many,” she said, “the one I would recommend is Redken’s Vinyl Glam 02, a mega shine spray.” I had the sales woman tell me exactly how to use it and exactly what to do so my hair would shine. In the basket it went and I went to check out…enough beautification for one day.

As I got to the counter I noticed a sign that said “Free Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara with any Olay purchase. Ooh,ahh, ooh, ahh…it was my lucky day…another new product to try…and it wasn’t even another face cream…this beauty product was going to max out each and every lash leaving me with the ultimate big lash look as the package proposed…and it said it was hypo-allergenic too.

Ooh, ahh, ooh, ahh…I slid my credit card through the checkout…the sales person put my items in a bag and I headed home. I couldn’t wait to massage my skin, fix up my menopausal face and neck and boost up my eyelashes. Enough beauty products for one day…the new OPI nail polish colors would just have to wait for my next boomer beauty day. This day was focused on the face…next time I’ll have to move to the nails and hands…so many aging body parts to take care of…so many body parts.

Judi

Also, be sure to check out my recent post on the 50 Something Moms – A Flash of Midlife Madness blog:Mama Bear’s Beach Chair