Wow! I can’t believe I’ve been wearing make up for over 40 years. Man, that’s a long time. I’ve seen so many trends come and go. I sold make up and was a make-up artist for a number of years part time. I had a flash back this morning when I was applying some olive green eyeshadow. When I was a sophomore in high back in 1974, my then boyfriends’ older sister rocked a pale green eyeshadow with bright blue mascara that I loved. I adopted that look for the next few years. My senior photo had that same look. I have blue eyes and thought for some strange reason that this would enhance the color. Not really, at least according to my friend Susie Lin. I met Susie in my senior year; I really admired her fashion sense. She was kind of enough to tell me that my green/blue eyeshadow just wasn’t cutting it. She had a plethora of Clinique products she turned me on to. She said I really should be wearing brown eye shadow to enhance my eyes. I looked at her like she had two heads! But she did a makeover on me, and OMG! What a difference!
While I would like to think I’m up on the latest trends, I don’t necessarily follow them. Except for maybe in the 1980’s. Everyone wore a ton of make-up, me included. I see pictures of myself back then and cringe at the amount of eyeshadow I was wearing. Yikes! I was certainly in style. When I sold make up, I could always tell how old a woman was by the color of her eyeshadow. I’ve read studies where when a woman finds a make-up look she feels that she looks her best; she will stay with the look forever. I still laugh when I see someone wearing sky blue eyeshadow. Hello the 1970’s called and they want their look back!
I have several beauty magazine subscriptions, so I’m always up on the latest looks. As I’ve gotten older, I may not be wearing the latest style with my make-up, but I look pretty darn good for my age. One trend that I wish would go away is the need for young women to have to feel that they have to wear a ton a make up to look good. My eighteen year old niece was visiting and I couldn’t believe the make-up ritual she went through to go out. The contouring was out of control. If you need contouring, great. My niece didn’t need contouring; it did nothing for her other than make her look a lot older. I’m all about looking your best, please don’t get me wrong. If you have great skin, you don’t need to wear a crap load of make-up.
Good skin care is critical. Applying a SPF of at least 30 is crucial to long term skin care. I’ve been using a daily SPF for the last thirty years. I stopped tanning years ago. I know some ladies are getting Botox in their 20’s. To me, that is beyond messed up. Again, I’m all about looking your best, so please don’t take offense. The point I’m making is good skin care is the key to long term beauty. My mother always took really care of her skin, and she looked great up until her death at 84.
As we get older, and skin care becomes more advanced, we have an arsenal of tools to keep us looking our best. I would rather spend my money on traveling than having a cosmetic procedure done. Be kind to your skin, don’t smoke, eat right and don’t forget the sunblock! Every single day.
cornfedcontessa 