Fashion over 50: Hair, Skincare and Makeup

I’m back today for Fashion over 50 with another top I found at the Goodwill for $5 and change.  And today I’m sharing what I do for my hair and makeup regime.  I thought it would be fun to share pics of myself over the years.  I love to see pictures of celebrities and how they have aged over the years, don’t you.  Time goes so fast and aging is part of the process of getting older and it’s sort of fun to look back and see where I was 10-20-30 years ago.  I feel like I’m aging pretty well and I think that has to do with good genes, trying to eat well most of the time, exercise and staying out of the sun (which I haven’t done so well with this year, having too much fun floating in the pool or lake).

So, take a look back with me at my hairstyles over the year.  Since we’re talking about hair today, you can see how my hair has evolved too.  I shared a post about my 8 years of blogging hair, but these pics go back way further than the start of my blog.

Age 17: High school graduation pic.  I wore glasses since 4th grade and the summer I graduated from high school, I got contacts, which I still wear.  That changed my life dramatically, no more glasses!  I started off with blonde hair as a child and then it moved into darkish strawberry blonde by the time I was in high school.  My dad is a red head, so I got lots of red highlights from him.  You can see I have always had a lot of hair.

Age 18:  First year of college.  I discovered blonde highlights at this time and never looked back.  I’ve been a blonde ever since.  Farrah Faucett hair was all the rage and mine did pretty well in this style.  I used a big round brush to tame my curls.

Age 24:  Vacation in St. Thomas.  Still lots of big hair and curls.  I think I was sporting a sunburn here too, which I got way too often back then.  Remember the days of iodine and baby oil or Hawaiian Tropic with NO sunscreen?  We weren’t educated on the need for sunscreen back then, which wasn’t good.

Age 27:  Lauren was 2 years old and it’s fun to look back at her at that age, since she will be 33 this month.  I had already started working out by this point (at age 25) and going to the gym regularly.  I was always known for my big hair and when it was really in style, I had it naturally with no hair products to get it that way.

Age 28:  Vacation in Hilton Head.  I had a layered bob haircut.  All I did was style my hair and add a little bit of mousse or gel.  All the layers brought out my many natural curls.

Age 33:  Vacation in Italy.  I had let it grow out a bit from the shorter bob by this point.

Age 37:  I let my hair grow out even more at this age, but it was definitely harder to style and keep it looking good.  My big hair tended to take over my face. This is Easter 95, with my mom, sister and niece, Lauren.  Lauren was 12.

Age 40:  My sister threw me a surprise 40th birthday party.  My hair was looking like a helmet this year and not very attractive.  Still big and curly.  Those jeans could use some help too.

Age 46:  I had gone shorter by now with much less volume.

Age 47:  This was 2003 and Lauren and I went on a cruise together. We had so much fun dressing up. I don’t really love my hair this short, but I think the length I’ve settled on now works best for me.

Age 52: This was 2 years into blogging.  Still layered and I used a round brush to pull out the curl.

Age 53:  This picture was taken out at the Pioneer Woman’s ranch and I forgot my hair dryer and didn’t realize it until after I washed my hair. So, the curls took over once again.  A stylist helped with her curling iron too to tame it into place.

Age 56: I finally found my hair stylist I have now and she does a great job.  She is the best stylist I’ve ever found for my hair type and now with the invention of the flat iron, I can have sleek straight hair, something I’ve always wanted.  This was in Nashville with my friend, Vicki, two summers ago.

Age 57:  After baby Parker was born in February 2014.

Age 57:  Grove Park Inn with Lauren in November of 2014.

Age 58:  Back to beachy waves in my hair for summer.  I found this White House Black Market top at Goodwill for $5 and change.  It’s been fun to find these deals along the way, just by looking.

Cropped pants are from TJ Maxx and the brand is Max Studio (Max Jeans).  Sandals are from Target.

I love black and white and have collected lots of it in my closet.  I got that mother of pearl necklace at a yardsale years ago and wore my other mother of pearl jewelry with it.

I love stacking bracelets. I do have more of a tan this year from being out in the sun more.  I usually don’t do that, but this year I have been determined to enjoy the summer and with that comes being in the sun more, floating in the pool and the lake.  So, that’s part of it, getting more sun than usual. I do use a 30 SPF spray and I haven’t burned at all, but I do know that sun exposure is not good for you.  I had skin cancer over 20 years ago and my dad has dealt with skin cancer on his face for many years.  So, I’m definitely a candidate for it and have to be careful. I do go and get screened at the dermatologist pretty regularly and have had many precancerous areas frozen over the years. I have skin just like my father’s, freckled and fair.

I do cover my face and wear a visor when I’m outside floating.  And I wear at least a 30 on my face too to protect it from sun exposure.  Another thing I’ve always done is to wear sunglasses when I’m outside.  My blue eyes can’t take the sun and for comfort, I just have to wear them, so I think it’s helped protect my eyes.  Not that I don’t have crows feet, but they aren’t too deep.

I do love these flat black leather sandals from Target a lot.  Just found them this year.

So back to the hair.  My hair tends to be on the dry side and I do use a conditioner on it every time I wash.  I wash my hair no more than 2 to 3 times a week and honestly when I let the waves come out like this, it feels like it needs washing more often than when I use the flat iron.  I can go days without washing when I flat iron my hair.  My hair is cut longer in the front than the back.

Since I got a keratin treatment at the beginning of summer to help with the frizz when I flat iron my hair, it does make the curl relax more.  So sometimes my hair is curlier than this.  I’ll talk about products below, but when I let my hair go natural, I just add some curling cream, and use the blow dryer on low and sort of scrunch and pull my hair to get the waves set.  It take a little bit of fluffing with the fingers to style it like this, but I’m used to that over the years. I don’t use a brush at all, when I’m letting it dry curly.  I will usually start with the blow dryer and then let the rest dry naturally.

I really liked it when it dried in this pic.  This was adding curling cream and then drying on low.  It can change from day to day too, with the changes in humidity making the difference.  You can see my freckles and tan here, so I need to be careful with that.

I took a few shots of the back of my hair so you can see how it dries. It’s mostly wavy when I do this method.

Another shot of the back.  I have less layers with this hairstyle, so it won’t be nearly as curly as it was in my older pics.  The layers make a big difference in how my hair curls.

And another shot after styling with waves.  See how it looks different all the time?  If you have hair like mine, you just have to play with it to figure out what works for your hair.  Mine is very thick, coarse and wavy/curly.  The humidity each days plays a big part in how it looks, but I’ve gotten lots of compliments on it since I’ve been wearing it like this for a couple of weeks.

It’s great to have options, so I’ll go back to using the flat iron again too.  I enjoy it both ways and especially like the relaxed waves for the summer months.

I use Garnier Fructis Style cream gel styling cream.  I use about a quarter’s worth size in my palms and pull it all the way through my hair from top to bottom.  Then I use the blow dryer and fluff with my fingers, letting it air dry at the end.

If anyone has some tips on products to use to combat frizz for curly hair, please leave them below. We can all use more tips on that!  Someone on Instagram told me to try Loreal Beach Waves, a styling spray.  I did buy a Beach Waves spray that was called Sea Salt, but I hated it. It literally felt like my hair had been dipped in the ocean and dried.  Not a good feel at all!

The Kenra Silkening Mist is what I use when I flat iron my hair to protect it from the heat and give it shine.

Now on to some beauty and skincare products.  I am by no means an expert on skin care.  I’ve tried inexpensive and expensive skincare products over the years, from Arbonne to Rodan and Fields, as well as the popular Oil of Olay.  I honestly cannot tell a huge difference in the expensive products, even though I gave them a good try and would have loved to have fallen in love with something that worked.  But, I just couldn’t see it, so I do not spend a lot of $$ on skincare.  I use the basics.  I’m using a Neutrogena foaming cleanser right now.

Right now I’ve got Aveeno moisturizer for my daily moisturizer. I have always had oily skin, which I’ve heard is a good thing for aging better and now it’s mostly oily in the T-zone.  So I use a bit of moisturizer and a primer on my skin before putting on makeup.  At night, I have been using Boots No. 7 products that can be found at Target. They are from the UK and I’ve heard good things about them over the last few years, so I’m trying them out.  I use the serum and night cream.  Are they working?  I have no idea really, but I feel better just using something at night.  I use an eye cream when I think about it.  I also bought a Clarisonic Mia 2 skin brush last year.  I had heard some of my friends talk about this, so I decided to buy one too.  I don’t know if it’s really helping a lot, but I figured it would help with exfoliation which is crucial for our skin to stay fresh, so I use it most nights in the shower when I’m taking off my makeup.

Boots No. 7  Night Cream (affiliate link)

Boots No 7 Filler/Primer (affiliate link)

For my makeup routine, I keep it pretty simple these days too. I used to wear more makeup than I do now and spent way more time on it when I was younger.  Now, I can put my makeup on in about 10 minutes max.  I use a good under eye concealer.  I have 2 that I like, Elizabeth Arden and Nars.  They are both creamy in consistency and do a good job with under the eye circles.  I’ve been using Bare Minerals for probably 7 years now and love it too.  It’s not heavy coverage, but allows the skin to show through and just looks more natural.  With oily skin, it’s really good for summer too.  I use a little blush and to seal it all in as a finishing powder, I use the Bare Minerals Mineral Veil.  It sets everything and keeps it looking glowy, the Mineral Veil has a bit of shimmer to it so I like that too.  That little Kabuki brush is what I use to apply the foundation mineral powder.  These are both mineral powder products and I love them.

Nars Concealer – I use Custard, but check out all their colors. (affiliate link)

Elizabeth Arden Concealer – I have medium (affiliate link)

Sometimes in the summer, I will use a tinted moisturizer and this one is Oil of Olay.  It’s a color and moisturizer in one and has an SPF 15 in it too, so somewhat protects the face.  If I’m in a hurry, I’ll just use this for the day.

For my eye makeup, I use a simple pencil eye liner. The one I have now is Almay in Brown and I bought the Naked palette by Urban Decay and love it.

With my blue eyes, I look good in browns and soft earthy pinks, so those are the ones I use the most. This eye shadow palette has lasted me a long time and a little goes a long way.  They have come out with different colors in their palettes, so you can take a look if you’re interested and see which ones you think might work for you.

Here’s the Urban Decay Naked palette I have.  (affiliate link)

These Clinique lipsticks are my fave for summer and I usually buy these on Ebay.  You can see that these are the freebies that Clinique gives away and there are a lot of them sold (brand new) on Ebay.  Or see the full size ones below.

Clinique Raspberry Glace from Nordstrom (affiliate link)

Clinique Glazed Berry from Nordstrom (affiliate link)

These are my every day hair, skincare and makeup ideas, so I hope you got some tips of your own.  I don’t do anything really outrageous, but just consistently use these products and sometimes try new things to see how they work.  I used to buy much more makeup than I do now, but I’ve honed it down to these for the most part.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my hair pictures from the past!  It’s fun to look back and see what’s changed over the years.  Sigh….life keeps on moving, doesn’t it?!  There’s nothing we can do to stop the aging process, but I’m doing my best to keep looking as good as I can as I continue moving forward in age.

 

Don't Miss a Post, join my list!