Beauty

[Annabellethecat66]

@KingstonsMom I do have good genes.  But I was telling someone recently.  My Dad would take my sister (who was 13 years older than me) into his favorite joints and have people guess who was the oldest.  So, I've looked maybe this old for a long time....that's one way to look at it?

9 times out of 10 they'd guess me!  She really looked young for her age.

But I think the reason is because for many years (way back before people even knew about hyhaudralic acid) I would go into health food stores (where they sold vitamins) and use it on my face.

Plus I've always used just warm water and a microfiber rag on my face 2 times a day.

I think I must not have a lot of expressions when I laugh, etc because I don't have the tell-tale little wrinkles.

I'm not bragging, like I said, the rest of me has gone to .....(well, you know).

My hair is thin right on top but I think that's because I don't have a thyroid and when I wear my wig I don't wear the thing under it (rubbing hair).

I don't hide the fact that I wear a wig.  I've even taken it off or lifted it up if people go on about how I don't look old.

I've decided it's because either someone in their life has a lot of wrinkles and THAT's their idea of old age, or they jjust associate wrinkles/no wrinkles with age.

So, let's see.  If you wear liquid makeup you are making your skin all the same color.  Look at teenagers.  Their skin is all the same color.  No age spots, no blots, no red, same color.

Then most old(er) people don't wear mascara, and if they do it's very little.  I wear mascara and line the inner rims of my eyes to make them look bigger.

I also use something (I think it's Two-Face) that has tiny hairs that attach to brows, that keeps them from looking gray.

I remember when my physical therapist was inches away from my face twisting and killing me, she said, "Do you have on false eyelashes"?  I said, "No. why do you ask".

So I thought about it and thought that's because even though I don't line the outside of my eyes when I put on the mascara and the rim it looks like I've lined my eyes.  It works great.  My hand isn't as stead as it used to be and I'm all about putting makeup on in 5 minutes or less (hince, the inner rim).

Phew!  Now I've droned on and on to you.  But I just want you to understand it's right in the face that I don't look 73 (almost).

Anyone can look younger if they 'paint it up'.  Don't you think so?

I've often wondered if the fact that I took HRT (hormone replacement until I was around 63 made any difference too.  

Swear to you, I'd still be taking it but my @#$% Dr said if I wasn't having sex I didn't need it.

I know I felt a lot bettter when I did take it.

[KingstonsMom]

True statement about 'paint it up', that's why makeup is referred to as 'war paint', LOL!

I would think that your HRT did help after menopause, it wards off a lot of menopause symptoms.

I went through menopause in my mid 40's but HRT was not recommended at that time.

[KingstonsMom]

I meant to add, I also can't leave the house without at least having mascara on, otherwise I look like I don't have any eye lashes!

I was always a light blonde, dark blonde now with a Bonnie Raitt kinda gray streak going on and my eyelashes are now gray, my eyebrows are pretty much non-existent.

It's true what they say, 'gettin' old ain't for sissies', LOL!

Bonnie Raitt at her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction (I have the same gray streak, but on dark blonde hair):

[Shanus]

@Annabellethecat66   I hope you don’t mind if I butt in here. In response to your liner and lashes, definitely helps the definition we lose as we age. Not just liquid makeup, but most full coverage foundations are aging and not natural looking. If I use it on brides or photo shoots, I add back freckles, contour, highlight...no one’s complexion is perfect and one shade all over.

My brow “gel” w/ fibers in it is by Benefit. If you haven’t that one, great!!

Estrogen? I still take it 3 times a week. The risks are stroke, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, etc., but I had a mastectomy 20 yrs. ago and hysterectomy before that. My doc feels I’m healthy and not a risk for stroke. She also believes that HRT keeps our skin softer, excess facial hair minimal, better sleep/mood, hair less likely to thin. For me, the pluses far outweighed the negatives. I’d consult another doc. Sex was not even mentioned.

[Annabellethecat66]

@Shanus Good to hear from you.  It is Benefit I use and I recommend it to others.  It's really good.....isn't it?

As far as going to another Dr right now I'm dealing with having cataracts removed and the possibility that I have glaucoma.

I also have started the process of getting my adrenal glands checked out (problems for years).

Anyway, Thanks for your post.  You know when I come here I realize what I've always thought....'the more we're different, the more we're the same'.

[Icegoddess]

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@Shanus wrote:

@Annabellethecat66   I hope you don’t mind if I butt in here. In response to your liner and lashes, definitely helps the definition we lose as we age. Not just liquid makeup, but most full coverage foundations are aging and not natural looking. If I use it on brides or photo shoots, I add back freckles, contour, highlight...no one’s complexion is perfect and one shade all over.

My brow “gel” w/ fibers in it is by Benefit. If you haven’t that one, great!!

Estrogen? I still take it 3 times a week. The risks are stroke, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, etc., but I had a mastectomy 20 yrs. ago and hysterectomy before that. My doc feels I’m healthy and not a risk for stroke. She also believes that HRT keeps our skin softer, excess facial hair minimal, better sleep/mood, hair less likely to thin. For me, the pluses far outweighed the negatives. I’d consult another doc. Sex was not even mentioned.

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@Shanus, my understanding is that short term homone therapy does not have an increased risk of ovarian cancer.  I am currently on Estrogen+Progesterin therapy.  I'm 61 and my doctor just started tapering me to a lower dose.  I have to be off of them by 65.  Her biggest concern is breast cancer, not Ovarian, and my mother died of Ovarian cancer. 

BTW, you mention not being concerned because you have had a hysterectomy.  My mother had a full hysterectomy when I was in high school and yet she still got Ovarian cancer.  The theory was that the tissue surrounding the ovaries is similar in cell structure to ovaries, but I don't think they really know how it happened.  I also wonder if somethng like that could actually happen to people who have had mastectomies.  I worry about people no longer being vigilant becasue they think there's nothing to worry about because the organs have been removed, especially the ones like Angelina Jolie who did it prophylactically.

[Shanus]

@Icegoddess  Thanks for your concern. My mastectomy was done prophylacticly...no cancer genes to even test for back then... lumps, calcifications and even ultrasound could not read breast tissue results if cysts were present. At time of surgery, there were 15-20 benign cysts in each breast. Great decision on my part. Reconstruction was successful. Re: ovarian cancer. Without any family history, ovaries removed at time of hysterectomy, my physician feels I’m at a “slim to none” risk. If I remember correctly, it’s the progesterone (male hormone) that may be the culprit. I was only on that HRT combo for awhile and then just a low dose of estrogen. You’re also 10 years younger than me, and maybe w/ your mother’s history, you’re more at risk taking HRT long term.

[Icegoddess]

@Shanus progesterone is not the male hormone, that's testosterone.  Anyways, I still have all my original parts, so taking the combo progesterone and estrogen is a must.  If you have had a hysterectomy then it's only the estrogen.  Too much estrogen can cause thickening of the uterine lining which can cause usterine cancer.  I had a little scare of that when I started spotting, and I had to have an ultrasound and then a biopsy.  But, we determined that it was more than likely due to the patch I had been using being discontinued and the replacement was problematic for me from day one.  She changed me to a twice a week patch and all my issues went away.  The issue of long term vs short term has nothing to do with my history.  It's based on the Women's Health Initiative study that ended up being stopped early due to the incidences of breast cancer.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/10312-estrogen-dependent-cancers#targetText=Results%2...