Bloom into you

“Hi, beautiful woman. Sorry, but how old are you?” A European woman wrote to me on Instagram two weeks ago. 

“Wow, tu es belle,” she said after I told her.

“Tu es trés gentille,” I responded.

“Do you usually feel old?” She switched back to english.

“Good question!” I answered. And I loved the “usually”. 

“Truly, at every stage of life we can feel all kinds of things. I am more happy and engaged and satisfied with my life than ever before. Yes, I have times of wishing certain parts of my body were younger, but honestly, I wouldn’t trade how relaxed and free of worry I am at this age for my youth. I believe it is important to learn to live the life you love - that’s the secret.” I went on to say. And then I reflected on what were the beginnings of seeking out the life I might love?

None of us have ever been the age we are now. Read that again. Right. No matter what age we are becoming, we have no experience yet of that age. Sometimes the age we are turning doesn’t feel like much on our richter scale. Other birthdays, can be like, whoa! The earth shook! Seismographic quakes in the areas of where we think we should be in career, in love, in our bodies. 

Where do we get our information on what this new territory will be like? How do we stay on our own track and not be pressured into competing or comparing.

I remember early in my adulthood beginning to notice women ahead of me in age and thinking, I’d like to be like her…. or, I don’t ever want to look or act like that! It was the beginning of seeking out a vision of my future self at each twist and turn of growing into the next stage of my life. 

One fine summer day in Northern California, in 1968, I was playing in our front yard. I was ten years old. I stopped whatever I was doing when a cream-color sports car pulled smoothly into our driveway. A Pagoda Roof 250SL Mercedes with enameled wheels. I will never forget it. That was one of the first feelings of that is me. 

My Aunt Lil stepped out of it. She was trim and had a thick, luxurious salt a pepper coif brushed into a flip, large stylish glasses that did not come from a five and dime, was smoking one of the perpetual long white Newports she carried in her large black handbag. 

“Hi, kid,” she addressed me.

Lil had presence. She looked like Jackie-O crossed with Anne Bancroft. With the style of the former and the worldliness of the latter. I wanted that too. She taught mathematics at a local private school and was an artist in her spare time. She lived in a very Eichler-esque home in the coveted area of the Orinda hills on her own until she met and married an uncle of mine late in life. He moved in with her.

She became the first of a succession of alternative mother-like roll models I was to collect over my entire life. I still am collecting them. Who catches your eye? Who do you want to be?

Inspiration from this Instagram conversation to be continued in my next blog post.

Let's Go Shopping

My passion for skincare began as a teenager. I suffered from acne. Not only on my face, but also, to my embarrassment, on my upper arms and back. The woes of hormone changes. This was in the 1970’s and choices for creams and cleansers were not plentiful. My mother used Ponds Cold Cream and Ivory soap for make-up removal and washing, with no moisturizer that I could find in her arsenal of skin-care products. 

I began to look at Seventeen Magazine and Vogue, with Veruschka and Twiggy gracing their covers. My hair was frizzy, unlike their satin smooth tresses; and my skin was not like theirs either. I was darker. I recall taking a complexion survey in one magazine and the only box I could check on what type of skin I had was “ruddy”. Really? Ruddy? I don’t think any beauty company today has a cream or cleanser for anything called, ruddy complexion.

Noxema and Neutrogena began making their way into my life; however, when Open Sesame health foods store set up shop in my home town, that is when I began trying a new wave of ‘natural’ products. The price tags on products at counters in department stores were not in my budget, but at the health food store I could experiment without going broke. Rachael Perry’s beautiful graphics on her skin-care line enticed me. And the fresh fragrances and ingredients in her products inspired me to use them for many years.

Well, I am no longer in my teen years. I have the great pleasure, as you do, of living in this wonderful era which offers an incredible array of products that address nearly whatever a health and beauty enthusiast would like to have at their finger-tips for great skin.

But it’s a jungle out there! Department store counters and beauty supply shops stock an enormous collection of brands, each with an endless assortment of cosmetics and skin-care choices. And as soon as you enter their vicinity the representatives are working to get your attention. It can be intimidating. Who has good advice? Organic? Vegan? Where to begin?

We are all different and have different needs for the type of skin we have, so proceed as Magellan would, and set out to explore with enthusiasm. And, please, a good dose of common sense. 

My tip for beginning is to seek information and products from companies which have a focus in skin-care products. When shopping for luggage, one does not usually have a successful experience buying a roller bag from a perfume maker. And when one wants a great perfume, better to go to a company with many years of experience in distilling fragrances.

• I purchase my makeup from companies with a history in that specialty and do not expect them to create miracles in exfoliation or lightning creams.I like companies that focus a great deal of development in skin care, specifically.

• Start slowly. We all know what it’s like to go home with an expensive purchase that ends up being intolerable in fragrance, or non-performing. It’s defeating.

• Approach a skin-care representative and tell them you are trying to find a (cleanser, exfoliator or moisturizer) that will be right for you. You need at least a three day supply to try it effectively. If they do not have a sample, would they please make you one. They will! 

And then be responsible. Don’t misuse their good will. Go back and give feedback. Buy something you like and then explore something else.

It makes sense.

Introduction

“Wow, you have amazing skin,” the finance fellow said as we shook hands.

“Uh, thank you.” My mind was on dotting i’s and crossing t’s. I was buying a used car and had a stack of paperwork sitting before me. 

“Do you mind me asking what you do? What you use?” he asked. I found myself blushing. 

“No, of course I am happy to talk about it,” I said, warming to the subject.

“Can I ask you how old you are?” Umm…

This blog is born from several kind inquiries from men and women, models, stylists, art directors, Instagram followers, new acquaintances and friends who have, over the years, asked me about my skin. Such a funny word, it comes from Old Norse, skinn, related to Dutch, schinden (peel). It’s an important thing. The largest organ in our bodies, it comes in many textures and colors. It is vital and personal and can bring us great joy, and well, some concerns. I am here to share what I have learned in the hope it will help others on the journey to love and care for their skin.  

Directly related to overall health and beauty, the subject of skin is impossible for me to talk about without including many facets of outer and inner self-care.

I am not an esthetician, nor a dermatologist. I am a model, mother and grandmother who has been a health-enthusiast for a very long time. Now in my sixties, I am simply happy to offer what my experience has taught me and share which practices and products work for me in the search for healthy vibrant beauty.