More of My Favorite Products

If you've ever read this blog before, you know that for most of my adult life (from about ages 30 something to 58) Aveeno lotion is the only lotion and/or beauty product that I used on my face with its ultra sensitive skin.  While I don't use it exclusively anymore, I will still use it at night when I have any kind of skin rash or problem, or sometimes over a stronger retinol that I may be wary of using.
However, I still do use Aveeno lotion all over my body.  It is hands down one of the best moisturizers that I have ever used, and with a chronic dry skin condition known as icthyosis, that is saying something.  For summer, I use the Aveeno lotion with a sunscreen all over my body.  Cures dry skin and protects it from sun damage. It also seems to "plump" my skin; my skin seems thicker after application.  After using for about 30 years, I have to say it is still a winner!

By now, everyone surely knows about Essie!  If not, here is some good news for your nails, especially for those of us over 40.  Essie nail polishes go on smoothly and last.  They have one of the best choices of light colors that look good on over 50 hands.  The light pink (see below) flatters older skin, a good thing since our hands are one of the first places to show age.  My favorite range from white (looks so clean and fresh, especially in the summer) to a medium dusky pink.  Sugar Daddy and Mademoiselle are almost cult favorites: pale pinks that look good on everyone.  Some of my favorites: Fun in the Gondola, Eternal Optimist, Fiji, Mademoiselle, Sugar Daddy, Ballet Slippers, and Vanity Fairest.
Essie's best invention: No Chips Ahead.  This marvelous topcoat dries quickly and really makes your manicure long-lasting.  I've had a paint job last for a week!  Really!  I love this stuff and will never be without it.  To me it seems to work best with Essie polishes although I've used it with other brands as well.

Donna Cluny Gardner

Two Products I Swear By!

Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara: It Works!

I love finding new products that work!  Two that I've found lately are making my life much happier. Disclaimer:  I am not advertising nor do I receive any renumeration in any form from these two companies or any other having to do with these products.
First, finally a mascara that I can love using everyday.  Through the years, my lashes have grown thin owing to my using extensions for years and years (those things are very, very hard on your lashes and everyone ends up losing some permanently), then using strip false eyelashes everyday for at least 10 years.  Many people swear by products that help lashes grow that you put on at night before bed, but I was always forgetting to put those on.  Coming to my rescue: Revlon's Grow Luscious Plumping mascara.  It has the ingredients that help your lashes grow, but in a mascara that actually looks good.  And since this is mascara, I don't forget to put it on.  I'm wearing it everyday as part of my regular makeup routine.  It's a good mascara that thickens lashes when you apply it, and over time actually helps your lashes grow.  It has minimal flaking, a big plus for me!  And of course, since it's a drugstore mascara, it's relatively cheap, about $7.99 per tube.  I use a tube about every 6 weeks or so.  It will last longer for people who don't use mascara as heavily as I do.

Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Intensive Lifting Makeup SPF 15

Second, a product that will cost you more, but if you measure the effectiveness of a product by how it makes your skin feel and how many compliments you get,  is definitely worth the money.  I am known to be an Estee Lauder fan and have used their foundations, especially Fresh Air makeup base, since the 1970's. While I still think that the oil-free Fresh Air makeup is one of the best ever, ever made, it lacks a sunscreen.   On Saturday, I turned 63 years old.  I need a foundation with a sunscreen, even in the winter months, and even though I use a cream with an SPF of 15 every day. I splurged and bought Estee Lauder's Re-Nutriv Intensive Lifting cream foundation in the Fresca shade.  I though that it was a bit shiny, so I also got the Re-Nutriv finishing powder.  I didn't really need to though since the subtle glow/shine is what I get so many compliments on.  Does it really "lift" (I could use the lift)? I'm sure it doesn't, but for the finish it gives my skin and the comments I've received, it is definitely worth the $75.00 price tag for the jar. A plus, a great range of shades for all skin colors.
Below: my face with only a bit of lipstick, eyeliner, and my foundation.  No blush, basically a blank canvas.  Doesn't my skin look great!?

What I'm Wearing

The shorts are new for me. I'm not sure how  feel about them yet, but after wearing them a few hours, I've found that they are quite comfortable.  I'm trying them out for our trip to Paris.  We'll be taking my grand-daughter to Euro-Disney and I'm thinking that it is going to be too hot for long pants.  And you know how I feel about crops!  These have a cuff and seem a little dressier than most shorts. I'm wearing them today with a turquoise tee from Old Navy, my favorite Franco Sarto snakeskin sandals, and my Hermes Andalucia scarf.  David Yurman watch. Cluny Grey mixed gemstone necklace.

I find that I often wear my hair in a ponytail.  I wear a high ponytail although I've read that at my age, one isn't supposed to.  But it's the most comfortable for me and I think looks better than a lower ponytail (which also bothers the back of my neck).

Below, in keeping with being truly realistic about what I wear and how I look, I have not done anything to the photo below. (I see some messy eye makeup!)

  Estee Lauder Fresh Air foundation; Armani blush in #10; Estee Lauder lipstick. Underneath, Estee Lauder Daywear moisturizing cream with SPF 15. And yes, my hair needs trimming badly!

SPF - Sunscreen is NOT Optional!

Be sure to wear a sunscreen everyday!  As careful as I have been with my complexion, it is not something I have always done.  Going about day to day life, I often used a foundation with an SPF of 15, but often I didn't.  Now I know that you can prevent signs of aging by wearing a sunscreen year round, yes, even in the winter when all you do is hop in and out of your car to do errands. And remember, your foundation may have a sunscreen, but most people do not wear enough foundation to get true protection.  The answer is a moisturizer with sunscreen and a foundation with sunscreen. Wear both - everyday - even in the dead of winter!

Don't Forget Your Ears

One of the often neglected body parts are our ears!  Oh, yes, we adorn them with cute dangly earrings, expensive baubles; we try to keep them clean, but we forget that our earlobes can show age, too.  Every night when you put on that special cream to lift, moisturize, and/or erase your wrinkles, don't forget your earlobes!  They need all the moisture they can get.  In the morning, when you put on daytime treatments, and especially when you apply your sunscreen (you do wear sunscreen everyday, don't you?) make sure that you pull your hair back securely and slather your earlobes and the outside edges of your ears with moisturizer and your daily SPF.

Remember also not to sleep in your earrings since doing so will pull your earlobes down.