Tag Archives: Beauty

Growing Old Gracefully

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Okay… growing old gracefully. What does that really mean? Is it a real thing? Can it be avoided? I wasn’t really sure what it meant so I asked Google and this is what I learned.

Being accepting of your age and keeping a youthful spirit. Watching your diet and exercising, maintaining your looks the best you can, keeping your style of dress suitable for your age. Staying interested in life around you and people of all ages. Not getting stuck in a rut and learning new skills, developing new interests.

Embracing your age– accepting gray hairs and wrinkles.

Letting your hair go gray, or away, starting to wear sweaters more, eating the early bird dinner at Denney’s and quietly proceeding to the nearest retirement home for BINGO and early bedtimes.

Growing old (or growing older) gracefully means accepting the past as the past; a place to remember, nut not a place to live in. And it means accepting the place God has put you in, as the place you are meant to be.

Hmm….

growing old gracefully

 

This is a list of a few of the things that I’ve noticed about growing old.

  1. Wrinkles are inevitable no matter what lotions & potions you slather all over your face. I’ve tried a lot and those damn wrinkles never go away.
  2. Your metabolism takes a major nose dive. This means that when you’re young you can eat anything you want all day (like a king size Reese’s peanut butter cups & Clearly Canadian water or Diet Coke for breakfast) and it doesn’t do anything whereas when you get older you have to merely lick a Reese’s and there an extra 5 lbs on your thighs.
  3. Femstache. Yes, it is a real thing and it’s terrible. I’ve often seen women out there who have a stray hair or more and wonder what was up with that… did they shave it or something? What I didn’t realize is that it’s part of getting old! Yea… I’ve found one of those stray, dark hairs! It scared the hell out of me too.
  4. Dressing suitable for your age…. this makes me very sad. I realize that I’m not a 20-something anymore… hell, I’m not even a 30-something. But I can and should still be able to wear what I like as long as I don’t look like a street walker, right? I kinda like those Miss Me jeans but my kids told me I can’t wear them…. those and a few other things because I’m too old. I’m sure not ready to turn in my regular jeans & pants for the high-waisted,  elastic at the waist, no back pocket grandma jeans! I don’t think I’ll ever get to that point… and if I do I would hope that one of you would would shake some sense into me.
  5. Gray hair is also inevitable and with dark hair it really stands out. I will admit that I am vain and will color my hair till the end of time to cover it up! My hair is thick and course and if I let it turn gray I’ll look like that crazy witch with the bobby pins flying out of her hair in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.

I’m not really clear what it means to grow old gracefully still but what I do know is that I have experienced everything in that list in the past couple of years and it sucks… big time. I hate the idea of growing old, turning gray, and letting things just go their own ways because I know that if I try hard enough I can hold it off for a while long or at least hide it really damn well.

What do you think about this growing old gracefully thing? 

Are you just accepting all the things that come with age?

How are you battling age?

Looking Luminous with Pond’s

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Finding a bit of time all to myself is a challenge with a husband, four kids, and full time job. Of course it’s the same for just about every mom out there, right? We spend so much of our time taking care of the kids, the house, and everything around us that we sometimes forget or just don’t have leftover time for ourselves.

Every couple of weeks I take a bit of time just for me. How? I go and get my nails done during my lunch hour. I know it’s not much but it’s an hour with out kids, work, or anything else and I can just relax and chat with other adults. Even better than that is when I get a few hours and I get a pedicure, facial, and my nails done!

That kind of day happens so rarely but they’re amazing! I’ve only had a facial once and let me tell you… it was pure heaven and I can’t wait until I am able to get back in for one. For about $60 I had an hour of massage (head & feet), facial scrubs, masks, and moisturizers all in a dimly lit room complete with a heated bed & lovely scented candles. It was definitely something that I could get used to.

When I left my skin looked incredible and between the pedicure and massage my legs and feet were feeling pampered.

One of the questions I left with, besides when would I be able to get back and do it again, was how could I keep my skin looking that good?

I’ve tried so many different face washes, creams, masks, lotions, and potions. My goal… look great all the time and refuse to look old. I haven’t found the perfect solution yet but what I have found is that Pond’s Luminous line is pretty good at getting me close to my goals.

Ponds Cream Ponds Exfoliating
Every night before bed I use the Luminous Clean Exfoliating cleaner followed by my regular eye cream and night cream. When I wake and shower in the morning I use the Luminous Clean Cream cleaner followed by the Luminous Moisture Day Lotion.

What I’ve noticed… my skin looks smoother, I’ve had fewer breakouts, and it’s less oily. That last one alone… well, that is amazing because my skin has always been oily and less than half way through the day my face looks like an oil slick.

Honestly, I feel that this new routine that I have with the Pond’s Luminous line is really helping! Of course it doesn’t compare to a day at the salon getting a facial.

Ponds Logo

What do you do to feel luminous?

How do you find a bit of time to yourself? 

Do you have a beauty routine that you’ve found to be just about perfect?

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Share a picture of how you look luminous on the Pond’s Facebook page for a chance to win a $500 gift card to Walmart, the new Pond’s Luminous Moisture, and the entire line of Pond’s Luminous Clean Cleaners.

I participated in this campaign for One2One Network. By posting, I am eligible for incentive. I received product to facilitate my post, but all opinions stated are my own.

The tables turned

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Physical beauty.

It can open doors – and can also shut them.

Write a scene in which a physically beautiful character is somehow impacted by that trait. If you are doing non-fiction, you can write about yourself or someone you know.

She was beautiful. She knew it and she used to get ahead in life no matter whom she stepped on along the way. Hers was the kind of beauty that caused people from all walks of life to stop and look… classic, elegant, and timeless all at once.

She was ugly. On the inside she was manipulative, conniving, cold, and calculating. It was the kind of ugliness that was well hidden or masked by the fake laughter & smiles that she handed out like it was nothing at all. But every thing done was well thought out.

She was two sides of the same coin. Good and bad. Night and day. Ying and Yang.

She was able to get any man that she wanted and of course she used her looks to that advantage. She had set her sights on a specific man and wasn’t going to let him slip through her clutches. Her sights were set much higher than she’d ever had them before, but this time it was for life… or until she got bored with being married.

She had her work cut out for him since he had just recently broken up with a long time girlfriend and didn’t want to be a rebound girlfriend or a one-night stand. To her that would be the ultimate insult after all the work she was planning. Yes, she had done her homework and she’d done it well. She knew exactly what to do and how to get it done.

She joined various groups in the city and went to charity functions that his mother & sister attended. She made friends with the right people (the ones he knew of course) and his family. It wasn’t all that difficult for her given beauty and charm.

Eventually, his mother introduced her to him in an official manner. She was sweet, charming, and more than beautiful and he was enamored with her.

Time passed quickly and she was able to wrap him around her finger without any trouble at all and almost in the same amount of time she was able to piss off his sister and show her true colors.
She became jealous. Worried. Because like her he was an incredibly good-looking man and was able to garner the attention of many women and he used his looks in many of the same ways she did.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that his feelings for her were just as shallow as hers once were, but it was to late because she was truly in love with him.

The tables had turned. She found herself in a position that she was unprepared for and it was a position that she usually left her boyfriend of the moment in. She had to create a new plan, one that would cement her place in life by his side. Something more than just a pretty girl on his arm.

The situation pissed her off and more than that his attitude towards her in recent weeks. He’d started acting aloof, distant, and often flirting back with the women who caught his attention.

The day finally came when he dumped her and she felt her world crash down around her in a million pieces. This is what they felt like… this is what she did… this is when she knew that she had to change.