What to do About Wrinkles?
It happens. You look into a mirror one day, and there they are. Staring back at you with that blank, guess what, honey, you are aging, monologue. What do you do? You can have a mid-life crisis meltdown, (check), buy the best anti-aging serum on the market, (did that one, too), resign yourself to fate, (queue temper tantrum), or you can decide to take a more balanced and temperate perspective that includes inner and outer love and care. In this video and blog post, I will give you some specific guidelines to dealing with aging on an emotional level and also on how to apply makeup to aging skin.
Give Love to your Wrinkles!
It’s so easy to be hard on yourself about getting older. Our society tells us that aging is bad and that we are to look young as long as possible by whatever means necessary. Many of us take that seriously and cave to all the various modalities on the market to inject, cut, and peel off our droopy lines. We admire women who are age 70 and look 12, and we feel bad about the parts of our bodies that we fail to tuck into a more presentable shape. My approach to all of this madness is to take a breath, step back, and give love to my wrinkles. One of the most effective ways of doing this is mirror work. Every single time you look into a mirror, walk past a mirror, or see your reflection in the window, tell your face and body how beautiful it is. Say something like this: “Suzy, you are a gorgeous woman and even though you have wrinkles (or are overweight with jiggley thighs, have age spots, grey hair, etc, whatever is your criticism of your body or self), I completely and deeply love and accept you. I am so proud of you and love every part of you.” If you do this, you will notice the frown lines diminish, and the sparkle in your eyes light up. Your battle is not with the world, your battle is with your inner critic that needs re-training in what it means to love yourself!
Taking Care of Your Skin
Now that you are softening up on the inside, what can you do externally? There are so many practical things you can do to help diminish wrinkles. The deciding factors are things like budget and comfort level. I have many acquaintances who get Botox on a regular basis, and others who would never poke needles into their faces for love nor money. Personally, I feel great about getting facials, using quality skin care products, and also being in-tuned with eating well, fitness, and taking Omega 3, 6, 9 oils. What are your own goals and boundary lines with anti-aging? Here are a few pointers anyone can follow:
- Never use soap on your face. Ever. It strips your skin and depletes it of valuable nutrients.
- Use sun block every day. The sun is a major contributor to aging!
- Avoid sugar, smoking, and eating anything with preservatives. Put only pure foods into your body and your body will respond with the glow no anti-aging skin care serum can provide.
- Use skin care with a high percentage of active ingredients; read the label, buy wisely. Check the EWG (Environmental Working Group) website for toxic ingredients.
- Be happy. My mom Sherry is age 71, and beams more brightly now than ever. Her beauty is from her heart and reminds me that love is the most beautiful anti-aging aspect of all.
Some Basic Makeup Tips for Wrinkles
- Buy light coverage foundation and avoid medium to full coverage. Foundation powder is to be avoided as it highlights wrinkles. You’ve been warned.
- Buy quality concealers for your under eye area, or don’t use it at all. If I can see the concealer on your face, it’s too heavy. On well-hydrated skin, a good concealer will meld into your face and be barely noticeable. I use Cover FX concealer, you can buy it here.
- Stay away from too much contour or bronzer. Nothing ages a woman like a bunch of orange bronzer poorly applied to her cheek area. Less is more.
- Avoid adding lines to your face with lip-liner, eyeliner, or eyebrow pencil. Instead, soften your pencil liner with either a soft brush, or a powder liner on top blended out. If you are confused, watch the video.
- Watch out for garish shades and stick to softer tones. At times I love a bright lipstick, and to make it not look harsh, I use a neutral lip-liner and soft blush color. As we age our faces become more angular, so softness is the key word in makeup.
I hope this has been helpful to you to know what to do about wrinkles! Feel free to comment and ask questions down below. To contact me directly email info@thebeautyshaman.com. Happy aging!
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