Look Your Best

     Standing tall, feeling confident, believing in yourself — these are all important ways to feel your best. But as any woman who’s ever stood in front of a mirror can tell you, beauty secrets count too! While the way we look may be only one part of who we are, it is still a part of us. And feeling that you look your best can be a real confidence booster.  Looking your best doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, either.

Experts say most of us really only need to pay attention to a few basic beauty secrets  essentials that can help you look and feel great without spending a lot of time or money.

To help you find the beauty tips that really work I created this guide, which is divided loosely into your 20s, your 30s, your 40s and your 50s and beyond but remember that what you do today has an effect on tomorrow.

  Beauty Tips in Your 20's

1)  Eyebrows:   Oust the over plucking. So many young women over tweeze in an attempt to create bigger arches.  If a woman continues to over pluck her brows starting in her twenty's, by the time she is in her fifties the root will be shocked and the hair will not grow back.

Tip:  Hold a pencil straight up against the side of your nose where the pencil crosses the brow marks the ideal start of the brow.  Next, pivot the pencil to the out eye; This is where your brow should end.  Only tweeze hairs that fall outside those imaginary points.  Keep the area between well groomed to frame your eyes.

2)  Wardrobe:  Your probably single and dating.  This is the perfect time to flaunt your body with curve hugging jersey dresses and high heels, lingerie inspired blouses, and hip hugger jeans.  Have fun with your wardrobe and take chances because you can get away with a lot more in your twenties.

3)  Hair:  Trend are great and your 20's is the perfect time to test them all out.  Try a daring new hue in a shade that compliments your complexion.  For olive skin tines, try burgundy shades or chocolate browns.  If your skin has pink undertones, try a rich red hue.  If your skin has yellow undertones, try copper and gold hues.  Whatever the case may be just have fun and experiment.

4)  Nails:  Think Pink and break out of your nude-nail habit and have fun with this season's incredibly gorgeous roses and purples.

 

5) Skin:  Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen! Even sun damage acquired in your 20s will show up later in life as wrinkles and age spots. A good cleanser and eye cream are essential to your daily routine.  

 

6)  Makeup:  Concealer disguises dark circles the morning after a late night.  Use a lightweight tinted moisturizer to even out skin tone and a stick foundation that matches your skin tone exactly to cover blemishes.

Beauty Tips in your 30's

1)  Skin:  Continue the sunscreen habit.  Start exfoliating, fine lines make an appearance and skin loses its glow in your 30's.  A slowdown in cell turnover is party to blame making exfoliating more critical than ever.  Try Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA's).  They speed up the natural exfoliation process helping to diminish fine lines and give skin a brighter look.  Try to find gentle scrubs and moisturizers containing AHAs.

2)  Hair:  In your 30's it will start to loose moisture especially after childbirth.  If you color your hair, hydration is critical.  Condition with every wash and use a deep conditioner once a month.

3)  Wardrobe:  Invest in a suit, one that moves well from a conference to a cocktail party. 

A long, lean, well-tailored pantsuit, preferably in a light, cool wool or wool blend, flatters most women. Get alterations to achieve a perfect fit.  A little tuck here or hem there is well worth the time and money spent.

And take stock of your bras. It pays to go for a proper fitting, either in a specialty shop or your local department store. Some lingerie departments have at least one person on staff that has been trained to fit.

A bra should fit best on the middle hook to allow for weight fluctuations

4)  Makeup:  Focus on your pout.   Stay fresh without looking as if you're trying too hard by applying a vibrant, creamy lip gloss, Keep the rest of your makeup natural with a bit of black liner and mascara. Two blushes--one that blends effortlessly into your skin and a brighter shade to wake up your face--are the surest way to instant pretty.  Always have a neutral lip color handy that you can put on without looking in the mirror.

Beauty Tips in Your 40's

1)  Skin:  Continue the sunscreen habits, and if you haven't been wearing sunscreen, it's not too late to prevent additional sun damage. Use Vitamin A repair to repair.  Loss of resiliency -- many women in their 40s are looking for skin-repair solutions. Vitamin A, marketed as tretinoin in prescription products or retinal in over-the-counter products, can be effective. As we age, the epidermis (the uppermost layer of the skin) thickens from years of sun exposure, while the sub-dermal layers of skin thin (as cells weaken and fall over). Vitamin A is fat-soluble, so it bypasses the epidermis altogether and heads straight for the juicy sub dermal tissues. There it performs the nutritional equivalent of a double-header. While vitamin A works away at rebuilding the misshapen cells that form the skin's support structure, it also encourages natural exfoliation, sloughing off dead, dull cells to make room for plump new ones.  Spot apply foundation to cover redness and even out skin tone.  Try eyeliner and mascara to add definition to eyes. 

2)  Makeup:  Your two best friends are concealer and Blush.  A good concealer  will cover up your shadows, while a little blush will give you a much-needed lift.  Blush Tip: For a fresh, flushed cheek, concentrate blush on the apples of the cheeks and blend up to the temples. Choose pale pinks if you have pinkish skin, light plums if you have an olive complexion and peach-pinks if your skin has a hint of yellow.

Play with color in your 40's.  Brighten your eyes with shimmering shadows.  Try eye color in  Fondant, Peach, and Sky. Dust the blue or sea foam across your lid, "and use the light peach to highlight the brow bone and inner corner of the eye.

3)   Hair:  Create more shine. This is the decade that you notice your hair really beginning to dull. Arm yourself with a good shine serum or spray. Look for one containing silicone, which smooths and seals the cuticle, creating shine. Apply it from mid shaft to ends, keeping it away from the roots, where it may weigh hair down.Don't be afraid to experiment with hair color. A few highlights or all-over color to cover gray can brighten your face.

4)  Wardrobe:   Your wardrobe is well-grounded with classics. Well, now it's time to throw a curve ball. For so many women, turning 40 is a really big deal, push your comfort zone. Try things you wouldn't normally try. You can change the look of a black suit entirely by pairing it with a pair of killer boots. Invest in knockout shoes or boots in a punchy color such as red or amethyst.

5)   Life:  The 40s are about reaching your stride," says Rubin. You feel powerful and energetic. The trick is to maintain momentum without tipping the balance so that you feel like you are back in your 30s -- scrambling and scattered. Forty-something women should pay attention to energy levels and practice saying no when reserves are depleted. If no is a hard word for you, try: Let me recommend someone else, or, I can do that, but not right now.

Beauty Tips in Your 50's

 1)  Skin care: Alipoid. That's what dermatologists call skin that is lacking in oil. Alipoid skin is common in one's 50s, when sebum production grinds to a near halt. Replacing that oil is vital, so you'll want to start carefully reading the ingredient panels on those bottles of moisturizers .Take your moisturizer up a notch, and use an extra-rich formula to make skin look fresher and lines less noticeable.  You're looking for moisturizers with ingredients such as jojoba oil, evening primrose oil or even sesame oil. The consistency of the creams will also tip you off; you want thick, rich creams over milky lotions.

2)  Makeup:  Add a creamy foundation with moisturizing ingredients.  Hopefully you've long banished shimmery shadows from your makeup kit, and it's time to go easy on face powder.Anything too frosty will accentuate lines, but a fine, luminous texture will help diffuse wrinkles. It's the more sophisticated matte- or satin-finish shadows for you. You'll also want to make eyeliner a makeup staple to give your eyes definition. Make the switch from powder to cream blushes, and instead of dusting powder, try blotting films. Eyeliner tip: Using a stiff angled brush and dark eye shadow, apply a thin line of eyeliner right at the lash line.

3)  Hair: Soft lines and color.  The old adage that hair has to go shorter is old hat. Long hair to the collarbone, with texture and movement, embodies youth, exuberance and femininity, the most popular cut among his fifty something  is a layered 'shattered' bob with volume and height on the crown, and side fringes to frame the face. If you're covering grey, avoid harsh one-color processing, which emphasizes age spots and skin demarcations, Instead, opt for soft highlights --  and try trendy shades such as caramel and butter-blond (for blonds); mocha and honey (for brunettes); and cinnamon and copper (for redheads).

4)  Wardrobe: You want to invest in quality pieces that take your wardrobe up a notch, whether it's a special bag, fabulous trench coat or real pearls. Choose accessories that make a statement and that are an expression of your self-confidence.

5)  Life: Who am I? Where am I going now? These are the tough questions many fifty-somethings are asking. The 50s are a time when your children are beginning to have lives of their own or are moving out of the house, all of a sudden the pace slows and the focus turns inward.

Beauty Tips in Your 60's

 

1)  Skin care: As you lose melanocytes (the cells that give us color), skin becomes mottled. You may even find that your complexion becomes slightly yellow or grey. Products containing hyraquinone (a bleaching ingredient) may help, but exercise caution; bleaching can be easily overdone, resulting in burned skin. Some  skin care lines use natural or holistic ingredients to inhibit melanin production and brighten. And don't forget good old vitamin C -- a natural lightener found in a variety of skin creams.

2)  Makeup: As hair and skin start to lose vibrancy, adding some punch with lip color really lifts the face, but be careful if using orange-based reds: They can make teeth appear more yellow, so you might want to look into teeth whitening. Or opt for blue-based reds, plums or even bright pinks. And because lips gradually lose their shape as we age, and appear smaller, you can try slightly overextending the natural lip line with a lip liner pencil (preferably in the same colour as your lips) to cheat fuller lips. Liner tip: Start at the outer edge of the upper lip and pull the liner up toward the bow of the lip. Then trace a line from the middle of the lower lip toward the outside of the lip. Place the liner on the outer edges of the natural lip line to create the illusion of fullness. Your skincare and makeup formulas should be rich and creamy, so they glide over wrinkles rather than settling in them. Brighten up your cheeks. Create a more youthful appearance with a sheer cream blush. Avoid pressed powders. Try to find a cream blush containing marine-collagen filling spheres to help smooth wrinkles, and blend it high on the apple of your cheek

3)  Hair: Make sure your hair color lightens and brightens rather than darkens. Get a no curler need hair cut.  Hooked on classics. For women in their 60s, bobs or wedge cuts are the equivalent of a black cocktail dress. The look is timeless and elegant.  If you're grey and and not coloring your hair ask your hairdresser about special brightening shampoos and conditioners for grey hair that neutralize yellow tones and add shine.

4)   Wardrobe:  Give your wardrobe a color boost. Clear, bright hues will give your whitening hair and paling complexion a much-needed jolt. So pair those greys and browns with reds, pinks, blues or greens. Find your best feature and play it up, If you've got great legs, shorten those skirts to graze the knee.

5)  Life:  Women in their 60s are often faced with the prospect of mapping out a new life. They have largely been freed of responsibilities.  For some, this is exhilarating; for others, daunting. In your 60s you may be dealing with the loss of a mate or kids that have moved away.
Facing life alone can be frightening.  Join clubs, volunteer, find hobbies and make every effort to reach out to friends and family. The 60s and 70s are also great decades for open-ended dreaming.  Blue sky, visualize, allow yourself to get excited by possibilities.

Beauty Tips in Your 70's and Beyond

1)  Makeup:  Let yourself age gracefully and avoid anything shiny or  metallic and restrict yourself to using muted natural shades only. Even on your lips the color choice should be neutral. Use a rich moisturizer or balm every day even on days you decide not to wear makeup.   Heavy foundations can look like a mask on older skin so switch to lightweight formulas sheer foundation and tinted moisturizers, like you wore in your twenties.  Fill in eyebrows using shadow and an eyebrow brush.

2)  Hair: While the occasional perfect-all-over silver does exist, only a handful of people can pull off the completely grey look. Just because you're in your 70s doesn't mean you can't go to a hip salon. Be sure your stylist is up on the latest trends and techniques because you will benefit most from a well-thought out cut and color. Be sure you also nourish your hair.  Youthful hair is glossy and full of life, where as aging hair can look dull and De-hydrated and this is all down to the lack of oil our hair glands produce. To bring the life back into your hair, treat it to a deep conditioning treatment.

3)  Wardrobe:   Find a style icon and use them as inspiration when choosing an outfit each day. Think, Diane Keaton, Katharine Hepburn or Isabella Rossellini. Your closet should reflect quality over quantity, enabling you to choose stylish and tasteful ensembles that reflect your personality. Avoid clingy fabrics and don't overdo the trends. Sample one simple trend at a time and think minimal rather than overwhelming. You can't go wrong with a tailored long-sleeved oxford in a pinch

4)  Skin:   Stimulate your skin.  If your complexion is looking dull and tired, revive it by treating your skin to a facial massage. Don’t head down to a beauty salon, you can do this all in the comfort of your own home. Using your moisturizer, gently massage it into your skin with your fingertips using upwards and outwards strokes. This will help work the product deep into the layers and give your skin a wonderful glow.

5)  Eyelashes:   Grow your eyelashes.  As with hair, your eyelashes might look a little sparse as you age, but you can give them a helping hand. There are plenty of lash growing mascara’s available.

Bottom Line:   

Radiance comes from within and each woman has their own special radiant shine that is as unique as your fingerprint. We each carry our own mystery, or at least we should. For some women, it’s the feel of a new pair of shoes; for others, it’s knowing under the conservative suit is a set of racy lingerie. Maybe it’s seeing your favorite color of lipstick sipping on a glass of wine or batting a fabulous pair of false eyelashes. It could be the kind act you performed or the donation you just made to your favorite charity. Whatever makes you love the body you’re in, whatever secret you create for yourself, let that I know something you don't know attitude shine through your radiant smile.