Last month I caught up with an old friend I hadn’t met in years. We have stayed connected over the years thru email and networking sites but the anticipation and thrill to actually see her, hug her and sit down for coffee and gossip face to face is something Skype can’t replace.
The first thing she said was why I hadn’t colored or got highlights for my hair. Now this is something almost everyone I know comments on. My answer about looking ones age is briskly brushed aside with a “you are as old as you feel”. And that’s my point exactly. I am as old as I feel and so why should I be judged on how old I look? Well turned out for me simply means clean and fresh and dressed according to the scene that one is getting in to. But apparently now it also has to mean clean and fresh and laser polished and streaked/ colored.
Appearances do matter, yes I know. They have mattered since the Neanderthal guy with the broadest jaw and the longest locks got the girl. The vibrant plumage of birds is ample proof that appearances matter in evolutionary selection in non humans as well. Ask the Peahen.
Beauty regimes and spas have been a constant feature in all civilizations since ancient times. If Cleopatra were to sit down with Helen of Troy for a chat, exchanging grooming tips would be definitely top of the agenda. And I am sure it would be an important point of reference between a Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony jaw-jaw. But the fine line between grooming, and wanting the perfect face/figure as well as a youthful appearance, is now getting blurred. Twenty somethings are worried sick by advertisements that tell them that ‘skin starts showing signs of aging after 20+’… Come on now… Really? I am sure this bit of information stresses them out to the extent of taking monthly detox and meditation classes.
We all want to cheat Father Time, but Mother Nature sneaks up on us. The clock ticketh away ever so slowly and steadily, and why be afraid of it? The only antiaging formula that actually works, comes from within. Embrace your age and live healthy.
another antiaging method (NOT RECOMMENDED) 🙂
itchy neurons 
great thought… well expressed….
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thanks dear 🙂
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i love white hair, they look beautiful when they appear with age.
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same here 🙂
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I am part of your club. But not all age gracefully….
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True,… to each his own 🙂 Thanks for visiting. Rgds..
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I remember going into a department store and a lady at the beauty counter focusing somewhere on my cheeks before giving a slight moue and offering me some wonder-pen that would sort out all those shadows she finger-wavingly pointed out to me. The cheek of it! That said, I do find myself approaching forty and scanning the anti-ageing creams while feeling conflicted by the knowledge they probably do nothing for wads of cash and the desire to stem the tide. Hopeless really. Just goes to show how powerful the forces of society are in shaping how we feel unless we consciously identify those feelings and develop and stand up for our own point of views. Now, back to the glass of wine before slapping on some face fade nightcream as thick as butter…
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ps I love the name of your blog!
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Thanks 🙂
The cosmetics and grooming industry has been very successful in marketing aging as a ‘disease’ … and thus we lose our laugh lines to botox….
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I have a skunk-streak of grey that bugs some people. I kinda like it.
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Thank you for a great (grey) post. As a silver fox who has been going grey since his twenties and is now totally silver, I’m always getting the ‘why don’t you use Grecian Formula’ statements. Well, I feel younger than most of those who comment and can run rings around them, so why should I mess with my hair I say? You go, lady!
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