
Looking back at skincare at midlife... The local drugstore may be a thing of the past! Let's revisit the blog. How long can a middle age woman continue to shop at discount superstores or drug stores for beauty products. Well, the answer is complicated after speaking to several specialist in the field of dermatology and a midlife make-up artist. Drug store brands and salon products can have the same ingredients but the amounts of those ingredients are different. Here in lies the problem and where it gets complicated. Over the counter brands may have the same effective ingredients in a product, but in lower quantities. Meaning they probably don't have the amount of the ingredient needed to be effective, especially as you get older.
I have always been a Neutrogena/Oil of Olay, basic no fuss kind of girl. So you could say I haven't changed my beauty habits since I was in high school. Let's see, does that make sense? Do I wear the same type of clothes I wore in high school? Nope. Do I have the same hairstyle I had in high school? Nope. (I will also throw out there that I got rid of the blue eyeshadow thank heavens.) Then why the hell am I still using the same skin care? No wonder when I hit 40 my face looked like an acne ridden teenager. That's how I was treating it! Time to accept my age and rethink my routine.
Let's start with skin care... at 40-something I need to be using a non foaming cleanser, SPF (and don't think because you have skin of color you don't need SPF. That's a myth, you need it sista!), Retinoid & Peptide Rich Serum and lastly Moisturizer with Glycerin. There is truly Skin Care for Every Age and if you don't adjust as you age you are in for a rude awakening. The good news is that no matter what age you are it's still usually just 4 basic products when it comes to skin care. The bad news is the more active ingredient help you need (aka the older you get) the pricier it may be.
So even though you may want to go down kicking screaming and fighting father time, embrace your age and accentuate what makes you beautiful. Even when it comes to make-up you need to make it age appropriate in reverse. Less is More... Lighten up on the thick eyeliner, instead of Black Noir by day do Brown or a thinner lighter line. Put more mascara on your outside lashes to make eyes look brighter and lift them upward. Focus on your brows, not make-up that targets crows feet. Lighten up on your foundation maybe a light bronzer to dash out by day. Save dark colors, shimmer, glitter and heavier foundation for special occasions or evening events where hard bright lights don't hit you directly. The word of the day is Change! Your smiles, lines, bags and coloring are changing. Your skin is getting thinner and drier. Change your products and your skin will keep up with your beautiful changes. Its time to say... Bye Bye Drug Store, I'm a big girl now.
Keep looking forward so you don't miss what God puts in front of ya!
Matuschka's Midlife... Telling it like it is...above picture by www.cent-ir.com