The Mature Woman: In Style Fashion Looks

In one of my last posts I was moaning about the dearth of fashion advice and shops that cater to those of us who are aging gently.

Well, since then I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find I was wrong on both counts! While searching on the Net for age-appropriate jeans, I came across Vibrant Nation (www.vibrantnation.com) , a U.S. website that features fashion advice by like-minded women. And what’s more, the brands they comment on are mentioned too. They have done articles on “What to Wear After 50”, and “Best Jeans for Women Over 50”, amongst many others. And I love the name of the website, too, because it epitomizes how the mature woman wants to be seen. If any of you out there have your favourites websites, please let me know about them. I am sure there are many hidden treasures yet to be discovered. I’ll continue to search them out, too, and keep you posted.

Now, on to my favourite (local) shops! While driving around town the other week, I just about screeched to a halt when I noticed a Zacks store. They at one time had several outlets in my vicinity, but the economic downturn in the 1990″s forced some of them to close. I really thought all the branches had closed. so imagine my delight! Zacks is a local store that was established in 1921 – that’s a lot of years to be in business. Also in the same plaza is a Vivian Lee boutique, a Tweed & Hickory store (www.tweedandhickory.com). In Canada, that’s www.tweedandhickory.ca. In the same plaza, there’s an upscale shoe store named Lashbrook’s.

Onto on my shopping adventure! For my first foray into Zack’s, I purchased this neutral Conrad C blazer and Zack’s label brown patterned blouse. I already had a lovely orange scarf that toned with this outfit perfectly. The added bonus was a 25% discount on my next visit! And did I mention I got 25% off the jacket?

Obviously I wanted to return and take advantage of that discount. I had my eye on a jacket and top I had spotted on my first visit. I purchased another Conrad C blazer and Tribal multi-coloured top. Again, I had a scarf that matched the outfit very well. And I got 25% off both items!Next I purchased these beautiful SAS black patent leather loafers with silver buckle detail. Easy to dress them up or down. I love classic pieces, but sometimes with a twist, like the chartreuse jacket

Needless to say, I was delighted with my purchases. You don’t need to spend the earth to look chic. The mature, vibrant woman is alive and well!

Age-Appropriate Makeup for the Mature Woman

As we age, our hair colour and skin tone change. The older woman often requires a brand new makeup palette,,,in softer, more flattering shades. Makeup application requires a lighter touch. This applies to both foundation and eye makeup. No harsh black eyeliner anymore! So how do we achieve the fresh, dewy look we all want?

Here are a couple of tips:

ALWAYS use primer as your first step. This is especially important for women with dry skin, like me. The primer will add a dewy look to the skin and allow you to achieve a flawless application of foundation or tinted moisturizer.

Next, use spot concealer to hide age spots or imperfections.

Instead of trying to combat wrinkles with heavier foundation (this will only make wrinkles appear deeper as the foundation sinks into the skin), apply it with a light touch, blending well.

All very well, you say, but what exactly does this mean for me?

Lucky for us, then, that internationally renowned UK makeup artist Lisa Eldridge has made a series of tutorial videos (that have gone viral, by the way), for different types of makeup application. Now we can all have fresh, flawless faces! Here is her tutorial on how to apply makeup on mature skin. Enjoy!

http://www.lisaeldridge.com/video/25644/glowing-youthful-make-up-look-for-mature-skin/

The Mature Woman is Alive and Well!

Today I’ve added an important new category to my Blog: The Mature Woman, with sub-categories on Beauty & Makeup, and Style. For those women, like me “d’un certain age” (in their fifties, sixties and beyond), there seems to be a huge gap in the market for clothing (retailers: take note!), and articles on beauty and style.

A recent photo of me, in case you’re interested.

And, yes, just because we’re older, doesn’t mean we’ve given up the ghost. We still want to look chic and well put-together, with age-appropriate makeup.

Some posts I’ve already written, such as fit into these categories. And I’ll be writing more articles, and giving tips as we go along. I’ll repost any relevant articles I find by others. Very important to me is your Feedback. I want your take on these issues, suggestions where to shop, and your great tips.

The Mature Woman is indeed alive and well!

The Latest in Skin Care: Oxygen Facials

As a “mature” woman, I’m always on the lookout for the newest thing in skin care treatments. Yesterday, when I was in my fave beauty spa, I was offered an Oxygen Facial as an upgrade to my regular facial. As it was a special promotion (on for half price), and as I’m always ready to be a guinea pig, I thought, “What the hey” and went for it. Now for those of you who haven’t heard of this treatment, it’s something Madonna highly recommended on her website last year. Since then, a number of celebs (Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, amongst others) have tried it.

What is it exactly? This new technology uses the revitalizing power of pure oxygen to stimulate cells. Aging and free radicals reduce oxygen supply to the skin which then appears dull and shows signs of wrinkles and age spots. This treatment is supposed to accelerate cell regeneration, and to restore the skin’s hydration and plumpness.

The Machine

What’s involved? My particular treatment involved nutrient-rich serums being misted onto the skin, followed by pure oxygen infusion to massage and stimulate the cells.

This is not me.

The results? Well, in my case, I was really pleased! The skin around my eyes looked as if I’d had an eyelift; my eyes were more widely open than they’d been for years. The rest of my face looked hydrated, plumped and refreshed, no longer a dull tone.

So, yes, I’m sold, and I might even purchase some anti-aging oxygen skin products.

Makeup Junkie: Skincare

As you can probably tell by now, I’m a makeup junkie. Enabled by my daughter, who edits a cosmetics magazine, I get plenty of freebies, both skin care and makeup. Today I’m going to talk about a few of my favourite Skin Care products.

It’s important for aging skin (tending to be dry)  like mine to be sufficiently hydrated. Maintaining a radiant complexion  and incorporating a good anti-wrinkle cream are also important factors.

Here goes:

My Morning Routine

My first step is to cleanse my face. Estee Lauder’s Soft Clean Tender Crème Cleanser for Dry Skin and companion Toner are so gentle on my skin and really do the job.

Next step is Lancôme’s Energie de Vie Daily Cream. It promises “dullness relief” and an “energy recharge”. With its fresh “green” scent, I adore using it in the morning for a refreshed feeling on my skin. I sometimes use an anti-wrinkle product, such as Vichy’s LiftActiv UV Moisturizing Cream. UV and SPF protection is so important , which is why I make sure an SPF factor is in my foundation (my personal favourite is Lancôme’s Renergie Lift Makeup).

There’s nothing so refreshing during a hot summer day as using a Toner right from the fridge on your skin. Ah, cool relief! Even is you have to reapply your makeup, it’s worth it.

My Evening Routine

First, the same cleansing  routine as in the morning. Next for skincare:

My favourite evening anti-wrinkle product right now is Neutrogena’s Ageless Intensives® Anti-Wrinkle Deep Wrinkle Night Moisturizer.  It has a combination of Retinol SA and Hyaluronic Acid, two strong anti-wrinkle fighters.
 
Next up is Estee Lauder again: I just love their Renutriv line because my skin is fairly dry. My daughter gifted me with the Renutriv Replenishing Crème. Love it, love it, love! It feels so luxurious on the skin, and has an Omega 3 Phyto Complex containing lipids to keep the skin hydrated and supple. This line is expensive, but to me, it is worth every penny to nurture my skin.
And, yes, I do use eye cream: my new fave is Lancôme’s Ultimate Rejuvenating Eye Contour Collection, which includes Ultimate Rejuvenating Eye Balm Elixir and Ultimate Eye Patch, again from my lovely daughter.

Well, there you have it. Just a reminder: this is my personal skincare routine. I do not endorse these products for anyone.

Organizing Your Makeup: Go Acrylic

If you’re like me, with an absolute mania about cosmetics, you’ll likely have little palettes of eye shadow, blush, and foundation scattered all over the place. That used to be me, until I read a Post from my fellow blogger, All in the Blush. She suggested organizing one’s makeup in acrylic storage cases. Well, I was sold!

There are all kinds of sizes and prices – some to about the $300.00 range as used by Kim Kardashian in “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. Now, I’m no millionaire, so I wanted something that looked nice at an affordable price. I found what I wanted on eBay, and you can too. Here’s the one I bought. It’s a simple 4 drawer case, with two smaller drawers at the top, The second and third drawers run the width of the case.

Now, on to organizing my makeup. I’m going to go drawer by drawer here, so you have a visual of what I did.

First up – the top two drawers. As you can see they were both used for eyeshadow palettes. I sure do have a lot of eye shadow!

In the second long drawer, I put…OMG…more eyeshadow. Yikes!

Finally, in the last drawer, went my blushes, and eye liner and eyebrow pencils.

But what about lipsticks and foundation, you ask? Well, I had a solution for that as well. I used an acrylic lipstick container that I already had, filled it with my lipsticks, and placed it top of the Makeup Case that I had just filled. There was also room for some stand-up items, such as mascara. Placing it on the left-hand side of the case, I found I still had some room, so on top went my foundation.

Et voila! Here’s the filled case.