This picture was taken on September 1st 2012, 6 months before my 50th birthday. That's right, I am almost 50 but I don't look it. Why? Because I take care of myself naturally. I don't dye my hair, I've never had Botox and I don't use much make-up.
I started taking serious care of myself when I was 14, on my Mother's advice. She taught me to use moisture lotion and to always take care of my neck. The neck will give away a woman's age faster then anything. Look at my neck. Does that look like a fifty year old neck? I didn't think so!
First,you can't underestimate the importance of sunblock. All skin colors can benefit from sunblock as it reduces your chance of developing skin cancer. When I was young (in the '70s, the 1970's that is) tanning was all the rage. I did try it for a while but lying in the scorching summer sun sweating and burning just wasn't for me. My little sister thought I was awful to purposely stay so unfashionably pale. Now these days I look younger then my little sister. Who's unfashionable now! Boo yeah!
Now I hope that you realize that if you've been a serious tanner all your life you won't get the same results if you're already in your 40's. But avoiding the sun at any age will certainly prevent further damage. It's worth a shot if you ask me.
Now let's talk about make-up. I have never used liquid make-up. I have long believed that all of those creamy concoctions cut off the oxygen to your skin and promote premature aging. The make-up that I use these days when I need it is mineral make-up.
Loose mineral make-up doesn't contain parabens (which can be carcinogenic) mineral oil or artificial dyes and fragrance. And when I use it, it gives me the same glow I have as when I've been to the spa only cheaper. I'm all over that!
Of course doing things like exercising, eating right and not partying contribute a lot to keeping anyone looking younger. You feel better too.
Now I know that the next 10 years may not be so good and my age may catch up with me but that's just nature taking it's course.
Embrace aging! Be the crazy cat lady! Drive your Jazzy cruiser in the middle of the road! Make your relatives bail you out of jail once a month! I plan to!
Check out my Etsy site where I sell handcrafted beauty products.
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Shoes are something we all have and they tell you a lot about a person. Even a person without legs will wear shoes.
For example, when I was younger ( O.K. much younger ) I loved high heeled shoes. At one count I had 25 pairs of shoes. Not all high heels mind you. Some were clogs, some were sneakers, some were boots( high heels and flats as well). Boy did I love those shoes! No matter how much I teetered in them or how much they hurt if they were pretty, I would wear them.
But after nearly falling forward on my face during my pregnancy, I gave up those high heels in favor of flats. I still love to look at high heeled shoes but my wearing taste is now more practical.
Now I love athletic shoes!
Since my favorite activity is hiking I have quite a few pairs of athletic shoes. I never realized how much difference the right shoe can make until my husband badgered me into buying shoes made specifically for hiking (luv you honey!).
What an amazing difference! My Adidas trail hiking shoes are like walking on a cloud. And they have terrific venting that lets cool air in while you're walking.
My Adidas trail running shoes(which I mostly walk in) feel like part of my feet when I put them on. I can walk farther, faster and leap small objects at single bound in those wonderful shoes.They also make me feel sporty and athletic, even though I've got a belly like a six month pregnancy.
I still love to see those high heels on women these days but secretly I'm glad that if I'm ever in a public building and a fire breaks out, I know who's getting out first. Yep, me and my flat shoes!
Check out my Etsy site where I sell stuff. www.etsy.com/shop/gaiaterra
These days seems like everyone is fascinated with vampires, werewolves and other scary supernatural stuff.
You want to see something really scary, look up the symptoms of menopause! Weight gain, sleep disorders and ahhhhh, night sweats!
Horrifying isn't it?
So here I am in perimenopause, oh joy! That's what you get for years before you actually stop menstruating. Nobody knows how long it will last or when you will start but here's a good guideline: If you started having your periods at a young age perimenopause will start earlier, if you started your periods later perimenopause will start later. If your PMS was bad or not so bad perimenopause will be about the same for you.
This is just nature taking it's course but still it brings a lot of unpleasantries. My favorite is sleep disorders. I'm still young enough that I have to work, sleepless nights or not, so there I am all night, off with the blankets, on with the blankets. If only I could go back to the days when I was cold all the time. Sure, I complained, but I didn't know how good I had it.
So I set about trying some remedies to ease the transition.
I found out that vitamin E cools the hot flashes (which I just like to call flashing, it's more fun that way). I've never been one for being warm anyway but at least when I'm flashing I've got a nice rosy glow that's completely natural.
Diet and exercise are always recommended by health professionals. You may not want to hear this but they work. For some it can mean the difference between managing your symptoms and your symptoms managing you.
I try to keep things as natural as possible and I've heard a lot of good things about herbs but have yet to try them.
My remedy of choice is Amberen. It's all natural, doesn't cost a lot of money and it works.You can find it on their website at amberen.com I take the lowest dose and I don't plan on increasing it. I don't want to be 70 and still be flashing.
It's O.K. to let menopause happen. You can only slow it down so embrace it!
In fact, embrace aging in general! Be eccentric! Embarrass your family with this once in a lifetime opportunity. I promise you won't be sorry.
Check out my Etsy site where I sell stuff. www.etsy.com/shop/gaiaterra
