BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .

Subject: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Brian May
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 06:02 AM

When I see today's adverts showing some young lass's flawless skin and bright eyes selling an anti-aging product, I am amused to wonder:

Where are all those earnest young women now, the ones who said 'Oil of Ulay', 'Nivea' and all the expensive slop (if it costs more, it must be better eh)? The ones from 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s and yesterday . . . ?

I am not slagging moisturisers etc, they do help the skin, why wouldn't they? But '83% of women agree xxx defeats the signs of aging and wrinkling around the eyes etc'. Then you read in VERY small print (from a survey of 136 women [who probably work for the company anyway]).

That's why I admire artists like Joan Baez, EmmyLou Harris etc for growing older gracefully - it's inevitable so why not accept it?

Why can't we, as human beings, just be happy to have the opportunity (especially in the West) to be ourselves, without this constant crap from advertisers who try to convince the less confident to try and be what they're not?

Ah well, if I keep this up I'll end up cynical.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 06:09 AM

"without this constant crap from advertisers who try to convince"

It's called 'Unrestrained Capitalism', or if you are more cynical "Crass Commercialism".

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 06:36 AM

Agree with you 100%. Trouble is, these days people are being judged more than ever about their appearance, men as well as women. And it's not just the journo's - with the advent of blogging, everyone can slag off everyone, loudly and publicly. And they do. I don't see this problem getting better, either.

Where are all the old models? Hidden from view, that's where. Put out to pasture by the PR merchants who carry on their relentless pursuit of the New and the Young. There's an eternal supply of youth they can exploit, and by the time "youth" catches on to what the game is, their shelf-life is over anyway and they're on the heap. Next...

Joan and EmmyLou have natural beauty as well as stunning talent. But a lot of other folks aren't so fortunate, and I suppose it's their desperation that makes them pay outrageous sums for potions and lotions claiming to do things that scientists all tell us is impossible. Those who can profit off their fears & misery aren't going to stop milking it any time soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Rockhen
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 07:56 AM

I look at some of the beauty products on sale and cannot believe the cost of them. I do use some of the cheapest moisturisers etc and I do use some make up but I get annoyed with myself that I have been 'brainwashed' into feeling better when I do.

There are adverts for mascara that actually say in very small print that the models eyelashes have been 'enhanced' ie false ones added or the photo falsified in some way. Why is this allowed! It is crazy! So many other instances must occur when you are presented with totally manipulated images...It is interesting to listen to the exact wording of adverts because often, they say absolutely nothing in lots of fancy words. Many of the slogans are just emotive...not factual etc etc.

Like many women and maybe men, too, I don't have particularly good self esteem about my appearance. I KNOW it shouldn't matter but I can't help being influenced by all the glamorous shots of women in daily life, bombarding you everywhere...I KNOW it is all pretend...but I still manage to feel inferior, appearancewise...I KNOW looks aren't important, but but but...
One of the things that makes people feel better about themselves, is attention...if someone tells me they think I look nice or says something positive about me as a person rather than appearancewise...I suddenly feel 10 times better. Maybe they should sell a pot of compliments (genuine-ish!)...everytime you open the lid it says something really nice about you?!
I guess some people find the politically correct society a hinderance and are afraid to be considered too forward...what a potty world we live in!
Ban the photoshopped photos, let the models eat chocolate or at least digest their lettuce and start smiling :-)
Hmmmmm.....Ashamed to admit...I still use oil of Ulay but it is Oil of Olay now, lol, (and if you are on the ball, you can get it when it is on offer at the supermarket and not that expensive! :-D

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: artbrooks
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 08:55 AM

Oh, some of them have done pretty well...or should that be, "still pretty"?

Bo Derek at 56

Kirsten McKinney at 46

Twiggy at 60

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 10:42 AM

As quite an old woman, I resent terribly the suggestions (or even outright statements) that any form of ageing is ugly, unacceptable and should be kept at bay at any cost, up to and including 'cosmetic' surgery. The normal process of maturing and ageing cannot and should not be interfered with or masked. It is perfectly natural, and should thus be unremarkable to all. Why I should feel obliged to 'do something' about my wrinkles, greying hair etc I cannot imagine. What worries me is that increasingly younger and younger women feel anxious about this process, and are prepared to spend a lot of money on products or procedures. Each age has its beauty and dignity. Leave yourselves alone and enjoy actually LIVING!

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 11:14 AM

I worked in this industry, for several years, in an R&D Dept.

Did you know that:

You can only ever moisturise skin temporarily?

Healthy skin will equilibrate and find its own preferred moisture level no matter what you slap on it?

The most effective moisuriser is Vaseline because it traps moisture under a greasy film ... which is a problem because people don't really like a greasy film on their skin?

If you could really introduce a lot of moisture into your skin it probably wouldn't be a good thing - think how wrinkly your skin goes after soaking in the bath!

'Dry' skin doesn't lack water! So-called dry skin is caused by a break-down of the desquamation mechanism, i.e. healthy skin is continually losing cells from the top layer but when the desquamation mechanism breaks down the cells stick together in clumps and are not shed so easily - leaving a dry, flaky feel. This tends to happen in cold, dry weather and can be temporarily alleviated by a moisturiser of the occlusive film type (like Vaseline, for example).

All soaps and detergents dry the skin - but some dry it less than others. Don't believe advertising claims which describe a shower gel or bodywash as 'moisturising'.

Did you also know that people who work in marketing depts. tend to have giant egoes, tell consumers a load of rubbish but mainly because they don't know much about anything themselves and tend to believe the bullshit spouted by their opposite numbers in other companies?

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Jeri
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 11:33 AM

That was interesting, Shimrod.

I've never been "pretty", so aging isn't really changing my self image that much. A person's self esteem shouldn't be based on what OTHER people are doing. We all compare ourselves, but if we're well-grounded, we know we're all different.

While I've never been pretty, I like to look at pretty things and pretty people. It's an aesthetic thing, and I won't be any more ashamed of that than I am of not being the aesthetically pleasing thing/person. I can look at a pretty woman or her clothing, and not think "I feel terrible because I don't look like that" in the same way I look at beauty in other places and not feel bad because I'm not a beautiful flower, an awe-inspiring mountain range or a breathtaking sunset.

I think if we're diminished by the beauty of others, there's something wrong. I will sit here in my comfortable, average-or-larger sized clothes, eating spaghetti, and watch "Project Runway". I'm OK with that.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 12:51 PM

I was stunningly pretty as a young woman. Turned heads when I walked into a room. Now they turn the other way - LOL. After much agonizing, I stopped coloring the hair and went greyish brownish something. At 63 my skin is still oily enough to produce occasional breakouts so only my deepst wrinkles show. In short, I now look my age. Add on years of extra pounds and I am me. For health reasons I would really like to drop the weight but all my beauty is in my eyes and my soul now. Certainly not in a jar of cream.
Project Runway leaves me laughing out loud. Trying so hard to be different and they all look the same. Go wash your face and put on some comfortable shoes girl! They toddle around on stillettos looking as if they are about to teeter over. Then the younger girls in the real world copy them. I see them every morning navigating icy sidewalks in three inch heels - even their boots have three inch heels.
Rant over.
I must be getting old and sensible.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 12:53 PM

But on another note:
Who would have believed that cheap sticky Dippity DOO would ever be re-packaged and sold for a small fortune as a styling gel for spiking your hair?

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 02:53 PM

Of course the very worst thing that you can do to your skin is to expose it, for long periods, to strong sunlight; excess UV is much more damaging than (imagined) lack of moisture.

On the other hand you need sunlight so that your skin can manufacture Vitamin D (I've heard tales that the pampered offspring of well off parents, in the south east of England, are developing ricketts because they are so slathered in high factor sunscreen that no sun beams ever reach their precious little skins).

Common sense, moderation and a keen nose for bullshit - that's what it's all about!

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: olddude
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 03:05 PM

The native Americans used Boiled down bear fat ...
I wonder how well it worked ...

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Jeri
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 03:18 PM

Bear fat would work great to seal in moisture, but just like vaseline, it would make for a fine crop of zits. I used to inspect carcass beef, and because my hands were in beef fat for a while, they were nice and soft all winter.

For the record, "Project Runway" is not about models. It's about the designers.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: gnu
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 03:21 PM

Bear fat was used as fly dope, Dan.

To the ladies who have posted above... bravo... great posts... REALLY great posts.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: JennieG
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 04:17 PM

Those of us who were never gorgeous when we were young have nothing to lose as we get older. But I have noticed many women my age become more self-deprecating. It's our way of coping with the vicissitudes of aging; we have to laugh at the effects, or we would cry! Most of us don't want to be young and lovely again (slender again would be nice, but age, genetics and hormones have kicked in so it's very unlikely) but we don't like being ignored or treated like "little old ladies" who must be humoured. If an older bloke jumps up and down about an issue he is seen as being assertive; if it's an older woman, she is seen as just being grumpy.

Himself and I laugh when we see Sweet Young Things advertising anti-wrinkle anti-aging goodness-knows-what-else products......!

As for plastic surgery, do the people who have had it honestly think it makes them look good? The permanently surprised look is not good and I reckon many of those who indulge in surgery come out looking like a caricature of their former selves; Dolly Parton, for example. I'm too much of a coward to think of going under the knife in pursuit of something that isn't going to happen - getting younger.

Could go on for hours on this one.......

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: gnu
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 04:35 PM

Dolly? Hey... don't mess with Dolly. I don't care a whit what Dolly does or doesn't. She is one special lady... down to earth, personable, comical... blah blah blah... she is just nice. So, if she wants to get any surgery she SURELY does not need, I don't care.

Yes, of course, I do find it odd that she may do so.

My Point? Hmmmm... I really don't know...

The only surgery I ever had that really made me feel better about myself was performed by a lawyer.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Brian May
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 05:26 PM

I would think a rub down with Bear fat works as a great contraceptive too ;o)

Can I just say ladies that responded, good on you. My wife does colour her hair, but that's about it. I love her for being her, because what I see is all real and we've both grown that way together. She has grace, intelligence and loving, the downside is she has very poor taste in men . . .

Mind you, she's blind in one eye and I sleep that side . . . hmmm

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: mauvepink
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 05:27 PM

There is not enough money to buy the amount of plastic surgery I would need to look close to pretty. I cannot afford concrete deliveries either. It has always been easier to make granite look beutiful more than me.

I am almost sure though I would look a lot worse had I not regularly moiturised

I'm not a vain person but that does not mean I do not wish I could look prettier. I just watched South Riding and thoroughly enjoyed it but also spent quite some time admiring the simpler cosmetics and wonderful female fashions.

For those who are good looking and pretty. Good luck to you. Enjoy it while you can and may it always remain. Alas, you certainly must have got some of my share ;-)

mp

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 06:32 PM

If I had used moisturiser for years I would probably be glad I had, and think it was the reason I look as I do, but I wouldn't know what I would have looked like without it. As it is, I could never be bothered with 'skin care routines' - just washed it now and then, so I know what I would look like. I would look like I do. Sometimes when I look in the mirror I am quite pleased with what I see. Sometimes I think 'Who's that old woman? Where did she come from?'

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 10:41 PM

Mhy exhusband said that sometimes he looks in the mirror and wonders what the hell happened.

I always looked forward to getting old enough that nobody expected me to be pretty. (The fact that some women are beautiful at 80 didn't really figure into it.)

I really no longer care what I look like - as long as I don't have deep frown lines. :)

I don't suppose it is age that is at work in me- my oldest sister is 86 and she is still vain. It's kind of sweet, actually.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 10:42 PM

I wanted to add that when my daughter was 17-18 she started using rouge. I told her that the reason older women use rouge is so they have a chance at looking like an 18-year-old.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 10:53 PM

Well folks, here are some beauty products from "back in the day," courtesy of the late Harry Hyatt's "Folk-Lore From Adams County, Illinois" (where I grew up, such as I did). I've included the number of the entry, just so you can look it up.

If you eat chicken feet, you will become handsome. (3856)
Stand on your head in the corner of the room and eat a chicken gizzard to make yourself beautiful (3858)
If you wash your face each morning with your first urine, you will be attractive. (3882)
If you want to take off freckles, cover your face in cow manure. (3906)
Eating raw pork will give you pimples. (3926)
Bathe between Christmas and New Year's Day and you will remain clean the whole year. (3898)
Swallow a raw chicken heart to acquire beauty. (3861)
Clean your teeth with cigar ashes to preserve and to make them white. (3039)
If you dye your hair often it will injure the brain. (2952)
Placing quicksilver on your head will give you bad luck. (2883)
Bite off a butterfly's head and you will get a new dress the color of its wings. (3574)

(Reading some of these I can't help but think that my ancestors were having a good time at Hyatt's expense.)

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 12:29 AM

I turned 59 last week & my good friend freda started a birthday thread by describing my ivory skin, long legs & great mane of hair ...

Well, altho I never spend time in the sun, my arms are a very pale brown, I do have long legs - under a white goddess-sized torso, & I can almost sit on my mane of brown, grey & white hair! I laughed.

I get offered seats on public transport by younger folks & am eagerly awaiting my Seniors Card next year!

I look my age, tho my dermatologist tells me my skin is younger than most woman of my age. I've never taken special care of it, just avoided excessive doses of the vicious Australian sun.

I used to work with a woman who was a few years younger than me. She was one of our managers & always dressed beautifully, was perfectly made-up, & had regular Botox & annual plastic surgery. Her face looked like a Japanese mask. Our union delegate couldn't understand why she argued the management case very forcefully without any expression (she was very anti-union) until I told him the reason.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 02:03 AM

Both sides of my family turn gray very late- so far as I know, none of them ever had white hair, even though they typically live to between 85 and 104. My father when he died at 93 had some gray hairs at his temples but most of his hair was almost black.

My point being that I have some gray hairs but it is still mostly brown. I made the dismaying discovery that at age 75 I am old enough to be the mother of most of my white-haired friends. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 03:56 AM

well i like those ads. I always have.

I confess I never knew which twin had the Tony. I never noticed the eyelashes of the Rimmel mascara girl as she jumped on the bed in her leather mini skirt.

It was bloody obvious that a dab of calvin Klein's Obsession , or even (in the remote possibility) that you were worth a jar of Jenifer Lopez's snake oil, that Old Spice wouldn't turn me into a life guard.

BUT

who wants live in a world where every one is brutally honest. There is enough brutality in the world. The truths about getting old are uncomfortable and inevitable. As the song says, tell me lies- tell me sweet little lies...

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 06:53 AM

Oh, how boring - I preferred the image that "snake" called up in the imagination...

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: DMcG
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 07:05 AM

There's a lovely scene in John Wyndham's "Trouble with Lichen", the basic story of which is that two research scientists discover a genuine cure for aging. The man is pretty stuck what to do, but the woman sells it as an anti-aging cosmetic (the logic being to introduce it in a subtle way, rather than making oodles of money.)

Anyway, she is called to task in an interview when the effectiveness is revealed and wasn't she being deceitful selling such a powerful treatment without telling people? Her response isthat she did tell people and that the case against her seems to be that she had claimed it worked and it did, whereas everyone's else claimed their treatments worked but didn't, and the interviewer was accusing her of deceit? "I think you are on shaky ground there."

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 07:12 AM

Bonnie ...all those years in Ireland are starting to affect you. Irish women always have a great line in sexual innuendo...

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 07:35 AM

Well, it rains a lot here. Gives people something to do -

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 05:12 PM

Well now Rapparee, on my bookshelf is a copy of "Australian Etiquette, or the rules and usages of the best society in the Australasian Colonies, together with their sports, pastimes, games and amusements" first published in 1885 (my copy is a facsimile reprint from 1980). To judge from some of the terms and spellings I would say it was first published in the USA. Some of the "toilet receipts" are wonderful. Here is a small quote, with the sub-heading "Baldness":
"Long flowing hair on a man is not in good taste, and will indicate him to the observer as a person of unbalanced mind and unpleasantly erratic character - a man, in brief, who seeks to impress others with the fact that he is eccentric, something which a really eccentric person never attempts."

I have a blog in which I ramble on about all sorts of things, and each time I post on my blog I include a quote from this book. I have had all sorts of positive responses, and none negative.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 07:13 PM

Long flowing hair on a man is not in good taste

I disagree. If a man's young and his hair is beautiful, I think it's in perfectly good taste to wear it long. Unfortunately, hair gets dry, looses its suppleness and gets messy with age.

I wish both men and women would realize that there comes a time in life when it's time to get rid of the long hair and to quit wearing shorts.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 08:40 PM

JennieG, I think the guys who wrote the book in 1885 must have been bald and unhappy about it.

People wear shorts because they're comfortable, and my hair's growing out because it's probably my best feature. I may be falling apart in other ways, but I can grow me some hair.

If things bother you and others don't have a problem or even LIKE them, you're just one voice... at least that's what I have to tell myself when some of my friends wear black socks with sandals.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 21 Feb 11 - 09:31 PM

there used to be this soap advert on the tv. It had a jingle that went:-

'You'll look a little lovelier each day, with fabulous pink Camay....'

I wonder if there came a point, when the population said, Hey - this stuff really isn't working!

I used to be quite keen on the Vosene Shampoo girl in a towel. And the Silvikrin girl.

As in (jingle): Whose the girl with the beautiful hair? Silvikrin hair! and....Show them you're a Sivikrin girl!

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: JennieG
Date: 22 Feb 11 - 06:54 AM

Jeri, I wear shorts too. And I have long hair......and I wear my sandals with bare feet, rather than black socks.

"Preserving a youthful complexion.
The following rules may be given for the preservation of a youthful complexion. Rise early and go to bed early. Take plenty of exercise. Use plenty of cold water and good soap frequently. Be moderate in eating and drinking. Do not lace. Avoid as much as possible the vitiated atmosphere of crowded assemblies. Shun cosmetics and washes for the skin. The latter dry the skin, and only defeat the end they are supposed to have in view."

It's probably as true today was when it was first published in 1885.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 22 Feb 11 - 08:25 AM

"- a man, in brief, who seeks to impress others with the fact that he is eccentric, something which a really eccentric person never attempts."

I have often found this to be the case with men who wear, not long hair necessarily, but large hats.
[Not in every case, of course - Terry Pratchett can do no wrong.]

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 22 Feb 11 - 08:46 AM

And then there's Hannibal Lecter...

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Becca72
Date: 22 Feb 11 - 09:57 AM

Lacking a natural ability to tan, I have avoided the sun most of my life. I still use moisterizer, though, because I do wear makeup. I wear makeup because I like it and for no other reason. I certainly don't spend tons of money on it, either. I have never thought of myself as pretty, though I do think I have really nice eyes so I use makeup to enhance that feature.
As for the hair, I have colored mine since I was a teenager. My natural color is booooooring; what my grandmother would call "dishwater blonde". To me, coloring my hair is a fun way to spice things up a bit. Having a sister in the business is wonderful! I never leave the shop with the same thing twice. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Alan Whittle
Date: 22 Feb 11 - 03:00 PM

my grandmother would call "dishwater blonde".

I hope you called her something back!

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Genie
Date: 22 Feb 11 - 06:00 PM

I think the tendency for people - especially men - to be sexually attracted to youth and beauty has a natural basis that works toward perpetuation of the species. Not the tendency to be attracted to bean-pole women or to consider a 35-year-old woman "old," but the tendency to be attracted to those who seem to be capable of producing children and to be attracted to healthy-looking individuals.   That means it's probably not culture that makes men find "senior citizen" women less sexy than younger ones.

This, however, does not explain the desire/need for "news anchors" and political commentators or political leaders to be in their twenties or at least look like it. And I don't think we would expect that if so many media celebrities didn't have so much plastic surgery, makeup, etc.   (Nobody disrespected Walter Cronkite or Franklin Roosevelt for not being young or looking like movie stars.)

As for the beauty product ads -- ever notice that the models they use in the anti-aging products commercials are almost always actually in their teens, twenties, or early thirties?
Even assuming I believed the ads were honest, I'd be far more persuaded if I saw how the product worked for someone over 50.   

And I'd be much more impressed with how well some celebrity was "aging," if I knew they had not "had work done" and the image I was seeing was not one of someone heavily made up being "shot" with a soft-focus lens. : D

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Feb 11 - 06:30 PM

Joyce Tenneson, photogra[her, imo, has done more than anyone to promote and honour true beauty in older women, esp. through her book Wise Women which a Mudcatter sent me when it came out in 2002. You may click on the images link and read the women's words and see the photos. She also has many more books with incredible photography. She also has one of Amazing Men.

I used to dye my hair because I identifed with my natural red so much; I missed it as it faded, but these days I have decided I'd rather have it long, if I colour it, it has to be trimmed too often adn it is harsh on my hair. I've thought of keeping it short and red, ala Lucy (not her shade, though!) but short hair just isn't me.

When I was younger I worked in Health and Beauty Aids in a store and I had fun checking out all of the different products, though I did not use very many of them. I did use a lot of different kinds of rollers to try to get some curl in my hair, besides sleeping with the ends rolled up in sock strips.:-) Never worked...I couldn't sleep with them in and they looked funny anyway. My 16th b-day was very memorable in that electric rollers were the new thing and my parents bought me set. I was thrilled and they still work to this day, though I very rarely use them. Straight, longish, very fine and thin with a white strip in front and white, gray, reddish something in the rest. That's me.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Feb 11 - 06:42 PM

Actually, Becca is quite stunning - not run of the mill pretty but truly beautiful with incredibly large eyes and a blooming blushing clear complexion. Really lovely in all shades of hair.
Auntie SINS, who always tells the truth and could not let that go by unchallenged.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: freda underhill
Date: 23 Feb 11 - 12:22 AM

Ageing happens in cycles, attitudes ebb and flow and sometimes I trick myself into feeling redundant or worn out. Being a wage slave surrounded by ambitious young things doesn't help.

It's easy to get sucked in to simple solutions. Creams, potions, lotions, drops and oils. The real solution is keeping creative, and staying involved with life. I didn't use anything til my late 40s, when I spent a bit of time putting whitening cream on my face, until I realised it was going red from hot flushes! (oops!)

The Australian sun is pretty tough, and I spent a lot of time outdoors as a child, including in Darwin, and so have very sun damaged skin. I went grey prematurely, and my hair which was dark brown has gone through the various stages of grey to .. mostly white! I occasionally put light pink or blonde in it if I'm feeling creative. :-)

I find it interesting watching how my friends age - dealing with it psychologically. Most of them are pretty inspiring. A fantastic woman lives next door. She's in her late 70s and looks like an Amazon. Over six foot, athletic, she's an artist and has lived a very interesting life including living in Papua New guinea in a grass hut for some years with her husband and daughters. They also lived on a boat for a few years sailing up and down the coast of Queensland. Last year she had an exhibition of her art in a big gallery in the city. On the weekend we had a neighbourhood cleanup and she was just as involved as any of us, lifting and moving unwanted stuff onto the truck. She has a strong, tanned handsome face, and a lovely smile. My brother in law is in his 80s. He is a big, strong man and sailed alone til a couple of years ago. A retired farmer, he is also an artist and still painting. Last year he auctioned some of his paintings to raise money for the Pakistani flood vistims - he sent across a check for $28,000.

I admire people like this and hope I can keep as fit and functional as they are at their age.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 23 Feb 11 - 06:46 AM

It also depends on the genes too. I've known women in their late 30s to have heavy crows feet and lined faces and others of 60 something with hardly a ripple it all depends what cards you have been dealt. Obviously if someone is going to lay and fry in the sun for long periods (which isn't wise anyway) it is bound to do some damage let alone the skin cancer risk. Although this is only UK summers I find that when it finally arrives it seems to have a worse affect than some of the hotter countries I have been. For me cream and sometimes a layer of make-up is more for an extra sun barrier than anything and it doesn't have to be the more expensive kind E45 suits me fine and vaseline for lips.

As a younger girl I used to like an add for Pears soap which was a retro magazine advertisement at the time which had an old picture of Lily Langtry as a small girl on it with tumbly brown hair and pink cheeks and I really believed that all I had to do was use this soap to become a rosy cheeked brown haired beauty and not need make-up.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Becca72
Date: 23 Feb 11 - 08:33 AM

Thank you, Auntie Sin. You've made my day.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 23 Feb 11 - 09:03 AM

My mother and I have forever been at logger heads about curling hair. I've kept my style more or less the same uncurled 1960/70s long that can be scraped back into a ponytail or twisted into a topnot should I feel like it but mum has always had this 40s notion that I ought to put a curl into it or sleep with the curlers in overnight. My ex-husband did too and bought Carmen heated curlers which were pretty good at the time apart from the grips to fasten them in as they tended to stab the scalp.   

On the whole I think laughter is the best beauty product going.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Maryrrf
Date: 23 Feb 11 - 11:31 AM

Interesting article about how appearance can impact your paycheck: Women who wear makeup make more money... .

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: JennieG
Date: 23 Feb 11 - 04:56 PM

When I was working I wore make-up every day. We were given to understand that appearances really counted. Since I have retired it's a special occasion thing.....and when I sing with the choir, I wear it then. I think of that as stage make-up.

Last week I had a little 'thing' burnt off my forehead, the penalty those of us with ancestors from the British Isles pay for living in sunny Oz. I'll be glad when it heals, because it feels like a headlight on my face.

And last year I felt ready to stop colouring my hair - it hasn't had any colour in since April, nigh on 11 months ago now, so it's an interesting brindle mix of colours.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: freda underhill
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 05:24 AM

I have to say that living in Oz, it's pretty compulsory to wear sunblock at certain times of the day. and it makes a difference!

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 07:35 AM

My wife decided to color her hair after she got tired of being ignored in stores. To sales people, gray hair equals old and old equals hard to please pain in the ass. So, she dyed her hair and now she gets waited on.

Subject: RE: BS: Yesterday's beauty products . . .
From: billybob
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 07:54 AM

Bit scared to admit here that I am a beauty Therapist and aromatherapist! However the hype by all the big cosmetic companies is tradeing on insecurites in women . You dont have to spend a fortune on skin care, protect the skin from burning in the sun and drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration.Most important cleanse your face every morning and before going to bed. The products I use in my salon are manufactured in scotland, made from fruits and flowers, contain no harmful parabens or mineral oils or sulphates and are resonably priced.My oldest client is 92 and has a wonderful skin. Any lines she has reflect her beautiful personality and the beauty she has within!If you smile you develop smile lines, if you are angry all the time or are disagreeable it shows in your face!
Aromatherapy massages are the most relaxing treatment you can have ,soothes away tension, gives you a wonderful feeling of well being and helps with skin conditions such as acne ,excema etc.
Been doing this for over forty years and have never had a dissatisfied client!
Wendy :-)