Aging sucks, right? Gray hairs, wrinkles, sagging skin, and all the gifts of girlhood gone in the blink of a birthday candle. Certainly according the the beauty business it’s enemy number one. Flip through a magazine and you’ll see just how much money goes into researching—or is that branding?—the latest and greatest anti-aging ingredients. And while few turn up sound science, and others are downright sketchy, women pay out the nose for these products because we seem to have accepted that this is our fate: to fight aging, well, until the death.
Obviously we all want to look our best. But on a recent drive back from Vegas—a strange place indeed—I got to thinking about aging, and why it is that I’m not really buying how bad it is anymore for our looks. And it’s not for lack of vanity: I can obsess over five pounds and that cyst on my chin with the best of them. But in my twenties, it was this idea of aging that really got to me: Every tiny new crease came under the looking glass, every new hair in an unwanted place was bemoaned. And it’s not that any of this has magically stopped, but I definitely don’t dramatize these changes like before.
Then it clicked. The reason I don’t obsess about aging with the same fervor as I once did is because I don’t buy, or buy into, the anti-aging products. My word… Natural beauty, you really are the gift that keeps on giving!
So I slather on the best creams and oils I can find, say a few prayers to the skin gods, try to stress less, eat sardines, and hope for the best knowing that I’m doing my best. And it turns out, if you’re not too worried about wrinkles and gray hair (I’m still a little worried obvs) getting older is kind of awesome. Here are six things I like about it. (Siobhan will do a similar list some time soon!)
And we would love to hear yours! (Note when I say aging, that may mean changes you’ve noticed from 20 to 25 or the things that you’ve learned now that you’re 60.)
1. Your skin is more consistent. Except in more extreme cases like the one I described here, according to our experience and the testimonials of other women, your skin does balance out with time.
2. You’re more comfortable in your body. Putting aside those five pounds or the cellulite on your thigh, living longer in our bodies often helps make us more at ease in them too. We realize sometimes the weird quirks make us interesting, we finally understand that the stuff we’re so unhappy with are things the lovers in our lives rarely notice.
3. You dress your body better too. And luckily these days fashion is all about dressing to the beat of your own drum anyways. Don’t look great in skinny jeans? Me neither! As we get older we’re more inclined to find the uniform that makes us happy, rather than trying to mold our bodies to the latest trends.
4. Unhealthy habits are easier to kick. Personally, my older body is a lot more sensitive than my ten-years-ago one. Case in point: After a few days in Vegas, my lungs nearly collapsed when I exercised, which apparently is what happens when you spend four days in second-hand smoke and scented air. This kind of sensitivity generally makes me less drawn to unhealthy foods, excessive drinking, smoking, and other bad habits I used to relish.
5. You don’t sweat the small stuff as much. With time we realize that even the crappiest of moments do usually shift. People get forgiven, arguments get resolved, bad hair days give way to good hair days. Such is the cycle of life.
6. You’re rewarded for your hard work (on yourself). Siobhan and I talk about this A LOT. If you are willing to put in the work, face your issues, look at what you’re holding onto from the past, you will be rewarded. How? Depends on each person, but maybe you’ll be less reactive, generally more content grateful, and less anxious. Maybe you’ll smile more which, as the photo above exhibits, is a very beautiful thing.
Other reasons getting older isn’t as bad as they claim: Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren, Susan Sarandon and French women. OK, let’s hear what you think!
Whoa whoa whoa. We already told you about how Botox might be blunting people’s emotions because our facial expressions are a big part of how we experience our feelings (which anyone who has ugly-baby-cried can tell you). But now we are learning that maybe it’s making you less of an empath too.
New research is showing that Botox can impair your ability to read other people’s feelings.
Yikes. From the L.A. Times:
Women who received Botox injections in their face were less accurate than those who had their facial lines plumped with an injectable cosmetic filler. The research contributes new evidence to a key theory about communication between humans: that we unconsciously use facial mimicry to help discern and interpret the emotions of others.
Makes sense. Part of how we read and then empathize with other people’s feelings is what’s known as mirroring—an unconscious thing we all do (well, those of use with souls, anyway) when someone shares something with us, or looks sad. Without the ability to mirror, you also lose some of the ability to accurately assess their feelings.
Kind of spooky, no? I asked a friend who’s had Botox if this rang true and she said she was horrified but she was sure her Botox wasn’t making her a bad friend.
Would you do Botox? Have you already done it? And if you have, please tell us if this rings true to you, based on your own experience!
Image via
Wow! A cluster of awesomeness: Autumn, an awesome writer and a regular on our blog who has her own awesome blog called The Beheld, has gamed up for a piece published on another awesome blog, The Hairpin, to test a wrinkle cream for 30 days ON ONE SIDE OF HER FACE ONLY. Great idea, cute pictures, hilarious semi-scientific execution.
We’re not going to give away the ending—you can read it here and even in more detail here. Next time you want to do this one, Autumn, can we send you something natural?
Image via TheHairpin
You know when you meet a new person and you’re so wild about them that even their snoring is adorable? You think about them when they’re not around and find ways to work them into conversations no matter how much of a stretch it is? That’s basically how I feel about the Kahina Giving Beauty Toning Mist, which I’ve been using religiously for exactly a month now mainly because…
It’s not every day one of your favorite brands puts out a new product, and it’s not every day you find a product that is loaded with actives, feels and smells good, and—gasp—works.
A word about the word “works.” This is obviously to a certain extent subjective, but seeing is believing when it comes to skincare and based on what I see in the mirror (even in the super-unflattering lighting in my bathroom) and on the ingredient list (posted below), I’m a believer. I feel almost certain that my skin has been more hydrated, calmer/clearer, plumped and glowy since I started using it—which I credit to the sodium hyaluronate, argan leaf extract, willow bark and rose water. There are also a lot of antioxidants in there.
Here’s how I use it: After my morning shower, where I typically wipe my face with a muslin cloth from Pai (with no cleanser), I spray my face with Kahina’s Toning Mist, wait a couple of minutes, and then apply moisturizer and sunscreen. And at night before bed, after washing, I spray, wait a few, then apply my night oils and an eye cream. It’s also nice over makeup (it sets minerals very nicely) and as a refresher after a long flight. So far, so great.
Plus, 25 percent of the profits are set aside for the Berber women in Morocco who harvest and produce Kahina’s argan oil.
You can get it from their site, for $36. I’m not sure how long it will last but with a month of twice-daily use I have a long way to go before it runs out.
Ingredients: aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice*, aqua, rosa damascena (rose) flower water*, salix nigra (willow bark) extract, populus tremuloides (aspen bark) extract, medicago sativa (alfalfa) extract*, sodium hyaluronate, argania spinosa (argan) leaf extract, oryza sativa (rice) seed extract*, camellia sinensis (white tea) leaf extract*, sodium PCA, glycerin, sodium levulinate, sodium anisate, maltodextrin, sodium benzoate.
Have you tried this mist? Do you have a toner you like?
It’s Friday—holler! Time for a deal, and if our comments section is any indication, many of you have been waiting for this one. But first, since we’re still kind of introducing everyone, a little bit more about this beloved brand Tata Harper…
Tata Harper emerged on the natural beauty scene shortly after the book came out, and well, we pretty much fell in love. We’ve covered them here, here, here and here! The brand provides everything we long for in a real natural product: beautiful and environmentally thoughtful packaging, high-quality handpicked ingredients, attention to detail, and also RESULTS. This is science-backed clean luxury at its best—a true upgrade from synthetics, as they promise—and as such, some of the products are a little bit pricier, which is why offering you guys a deal is so exciting!
So here it is: Starting today (and lasting until midnight next Thursday) you will receive a deluxe sample of Tata’s new Reparative Moisturizer (pictured above in its full—not sample—size) and a travel sized Hydrating Floral Essence with any purchase—no minimum! And by the way this gift is valued at a whopping 50 bucks. Boom!
All you have do is enter the promo code NMDL at checkout and you’re good to go. And! And! Tata ships internationally (but of course the rates vary depending on where you are).
For the record: We both use the floral essence (it smells incredible and is packed with skin-plumping actives like hyaluronic acid) and are dying to try this new moisturizer.
Okay, happy shopping then! And have a great weekend.
