Aging - As the Violin, the Wine, & the Silver - We Get Better

[MRD]

I think the brow powders do look more natural. Do the thick park closest to your nose in short small swipes and from the arch outward in one long swipe. I then use a brow brush to go over and blend it. If your brows are unruly, a very tiny amount of hair gel or mousse wiped over them from nose to outside can tame stray hairs. I don't buy the really dark brow powder either. I think mine is medium brown. Better to go lighter than darker. If it's too dark it looks fake.

[Dragonlady]

Does anyone else sometimes have a problem with the physical aging process??
I must admit I really like how getting older has definitely given me more wisdom from experience, I don't sweat the small stuff anymore and at a more peaceful way of thinking, acting etc.
But I think I must be a very vain person and didn't realize it. I'm not enjoying (at all!) the changes in my skin (wrinkles, creapy-ness, couple of brown spots), hair, and the fact that I'm old and past the "desirable category." I used to be very attractive.
I'm happily married, my DH thinks I'm beautiful.....thank goodness......but I know the truth.
I guess that makes me vain and shallow and spend too much $ on lotions and potions that will supposedly make my wrinkles disappear....haven't found it yet.
I lead a very good, happy, active life with a great DH but I miss the old hot broad I used to be. It's not a constant thing but does pop up sometimes.
Tell me I'm not alone. Are there any other shallow and vain people out there?
I'm not thrilled with admitting this.

[Poppy Fields]

Does anyone else sometimes have a problem with the physical aging process??
I must admit I really like how getting older has definitely given me more wisdom from experience, I don't sweat the small stuff anymore and at a more peaceful way of thinking, acting etc.
But I think I must be a very vain person and didn't realize it. I'm not enjoying (at all!) the changes in my skin (wrinkles, creapy-ness, couple of brown spots), hair, and the fact that I'm old and past the "desirable category." I used to be very attractive.
I'm happily married, my DH thinks I'm beautiful.....thank goodness......but I know the truth.
I guess that makes me vain and shallow and spend too much $ on lotions and potions that will supposedly make my wrinkles disappear....haven't found it yet.
I lead a very good, happy, active life with a great DH but I miss the old hot broad I used to be. It's not a constant thing but does pop up sometimes.
Tell me I'm not alone. Are there any other shallow and vain people out there?
I'm not thrilled with admitting this.

Well, I think I've seen a photo of you here? And you are still a very pretty woman, DL. Even so, I know exactly how you feel when you realize that your youthful beauty has changed to a more mature beauty, and you no longer turn the heads of strangers. It makes me feel kind of invisible, and sad. That part of life is behind me, I'm not in the "mating dance" anymore. And Mother Nature is making sure no hot young guys want to be my dance partner, I'm very happily married, but still - it's nice to know you've still "got" it, right? And at 61, for me, it "went."

I have spent a fortune on skin care and costmetics, lotions and potions - but have not and won't invest in cosmetic procedures or botox/fillers. Everything is temporary, and gravity wins in the end. I'm OK with that! I'm happy to be here every day, happy for the way I'm blessed with lots of people who love me just the way I am. I am sure you are, too!

I'm also happy now with how I look in the mirror. I did find a product that is 98% pure, bioactive collagen (collagen that permeates the epidermal matrix). I've been using it since April, and everyone wants to know what I've had done. If you are curious, PM me and send you a website for it. It's not advertised, because it was patented in Poland as a transdermal "carrier" for drugs administered to burn victims. It basically gives your skin back it's old "juicyness," the collagen and elastin you've lost since menopause, replacing the fine lines and blurred contours with firm, redensified skin.

It won't make me a hot mama again. But with diet and excercise it lets me enjoy telling young men I'm 61 and watching the reaction!

[norealityhere]

Does anyone else sometimes have a problem with the physical aging process??
I must admit I really like how getting older has definitely given me more wisdom from experience, I don't sweat the small stuff anymore and at a more peaceful way of thinking, acting etc.
But I think I must be a very vain person and didn't realize it. I'm not enjoying (at all!) the changes in my skin (wrinkles, creapy-ness, couple of brown spots), hair, and the fact that I'm old and past the "desirable category." I used to be very attractive.
I'm happily married, my DH thinks I'm beautiful.....thank goodness......but I know the truth.
I guess that makes me vain and shallow and spend too much $ on lotions and potions that will supposedly make my wrinkles disappear....haven't found it yet.
I lead a very good, happy, active life with a great DH but I miss the old hot broad I used to be. It's not a constant thing but does pop up sometimes.
Tell me I'm not alone. Are there any other shallow and vain people out there?
I'm not thrilled with admitting this.

I cannot stand the aging process either. I agree with Cher. LOL.
I don't think it means we are vain and shallow, but if it does, so be it!

[SugarMama]

Does anyone else sometimes have a problem with the physical aging process??
I must admit I really like how getting older has definitely given me more wisdom from experience, I don't sweat the small stuff anymore and at a more peaceful way of thinking, acting etc.
But I think I must be a very vain person and didn't realize it. I'm not enjoying (at all!) the changes in my skin (wrinkles, creapy-ness, couple of brown spots), hair, and the fact that I'm old and past the "desirable category." I used to be very attractive.
I'm happily married, my DH thinks I'm beautiful.....thank goodness......but I know the truth.
I guess that makes me vain and shallow and spend too much $ on lotions and potions that will supposedly make my wrinkles disappear....haven't found it yet.
I lead a very good, happy, active life with a great DH but I miss the old hot broad I used to be. It's not a constant thing but does pop up sometimes.
Tell me I'm not alone. Are there any other shallow and vain people out there?
I'm not thrilled with admitting this.

I with you, Dragonlady. I was pretty and had what many said was the "perfect" body when I was young. Heads woulds turn when I entered the room, mostly men. However, I always felt ugly and fat, but that was my problem. NOW, I really am ugly and fat, and time is having the last laugh. I get depressed when I look in the mirror, have to try on clothes, or go to the doctor. Just today I was driving somewhere and happened to glance down at my hand on the steering wheel...my, when did they get so OLD looking?

I don't think it's vanity or shallowness. I think it's normal to want to look like we did in our best years...no sags, bags, or wrinkles...no blotches, gray hairs, or unwanted hairs or more hair. I'd love to feel the freedom of wearing a bikini again, a midriff top...heck, a sleeveless top. For me it's just depressing to feel as if I'm not "over the hill" but I'm rolling down it...FAST!

Remember that movie, "Death Becomes Her" - Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep pay for this potion that keeps them young forever? or the movie "Cocoon" where the old folks are made young again? I don't think there's one person out there who wouldn't want that. The question is, what would we pay to get it (if we could)? I'll never find out, it seems.

[ness]

I remember pay phones (they still have them around here) and how we would put a dime in the slots of our penny loafers in high school in case we needed to make an emergency call.
I also learned to type on a typewriter and memorized the math tables. They're getting back to that at our school, by the way.
When I started high school the dress code for girls was still no pants, but during my time there (early 70s) it switched to pants but no jeans and then jeans on Fridays. That was also around the time of hot pants and see-through shirts. Remember those?

DO I???????

YES, I remember hot pants and see-through shirts!

And dress code at MY school meant --- at first --- no pants at all, too. Then, pants, but dress pants that had to be approved of by a member of the Senior Student Council, or you'd get sent home. Jeans eventually made it in, too.

Penny loafers? Yep. Had those, too. In several colors. My absolute favorite pair were red, and I wore those suckers until they literally fell apart. I loved them dearly! I was so broken up when they finally bit it, I think I might've even had a small funeral service for them!

And I think it's GREAT that they're getting back to using multiplication/math tables at your school . . .

Anybody remember those polyester stirrup ski pants?

Or moccasins?

[Gutmutter]

I LOVED moccasins! There's a place here (looks like a teepee) where you can buy them, but my feet need more support now.
I'm sorry some of you are clinging to past measures of your beauty and feeling sad by comparison. I read an article once that changed all that for me. It talked about women in history we all respect and how they aren't remembered for the perfect body or beauty, but for their contributions and compassion. What do you want to be remembered for? I also learned somewhere else that people's perceptions of us are completely based on their own associations and standards which are different for everyone. I, for one, am relieved not to be drawing attention for physical reasons. I had a lot of male attention back in the day and almost no female friends. Now it's the opposite and I treasure my friends like diamonds.

[SugarMama]

Speaking of shoes, my favorites were saddle oxfords. They were hard (I think I might have cracked a mean boy's shin in 2nd grade with those suckers!) but they were so comfortable (once they were broken in). I loved them as a little girl and again in junior high as a cheerleader.

Moccasins, oh yeah! During the Indian/fringe phase. I had a leather (suede) fringe jacket, shoulder bag, and my moccasins. Ponchos were introduced around the same time, Indian beads, and headbands (worn around the head, not over the head). I'm thinking late '60s-early 70's, does that sound right?

I also remember when mood rings and pet rocks were "must haves", along with buffalo sandals and velvet psychodelic blacklight posters (I think it's funny now to see kids go on about blacklights, as if they had invented them ).

[SugarMama]

... I, for one, am relieved not to be drawing attention for physical reasons. I had a lot of male attention back in the day and almost no female friends. Now it's the opposite and I treasure my friends like diamonds.

Oh, I don't care what anyone thinks, and I certainly do NOT want attention (I can't stand to be stared at ) - I'd like it just for my own satisfaction. I'd love to be able to look in the mirror and not have to worry that my knees look like they need ironing. Or that I'm frowning when I'm actually trying to smile.

[Poppy Fields]

I doubt that I will be remembered by the world when I'm gone, much less as a woman of great accomplishments. But I do hope that those who know me remember me as a generous, sympathetic, and humorous woman. It's true that the things that make you beautiful include these attributes.

In the meantime, I know a few women in the 70's and 80's who are timelessly beautiful. They still have a glow about them and they are very pleasant to look at. I plan to be one of them.