Getting older is getting very expensive!

[JMAngel1]

Anyone else feel like this?
I’ve always been high maintenance since my teens but in the last year or so, the list of what I need to keep me looking well presented and feeling “normal” seems to be getting longer.

This morning I’ve just placed orders for what I now consider essentials - plumping serum, vaginal moisturiser, hair dye, neck and chest cream, hair styling cream, 4 different supplements and progesterone cream. I’m 48 and my budget seems to be going more and more on these types of products and there is less and less for clothes and pretty things like make up.

At this age I thought I would be shopping at Jaegar and John Lewis and buying Bobbi Brown or Charlotte Tilbury. Instead I have to buy from eBay and Primark and most of my makeup is MUA or NYX.
Anyone else feel like this?

Does anyone use makeup on their neck and chest area?

No, just moisturiser (when I remember)

@ageingdisgracefully

Does anyone use makeup on their neck and chest area?

Wouldn’t it spoil your clothes?

I just put foundation just under my chin to blend it. I do actually always put my Matt bronzer type stuff on my neck out of habit.

When I have spots on my chest I use concealer if my top shows them. It generally I prefer not to wear tops that show them. Not got any currently.

Wow this thread is still going.

I do enjoy my 10 mins in the bathroom am and pm pamper myself with skincare - I do think I’ve been misrepresented about my spend on skincare - it’s all very cheap and I predominantly use The Ordinary/Hado Labo/Etude house.

My most expensive product is the Prai neck and throat. I don’t know what’s in it that does it’s magic but it really is like a scaffold for my neck and chest!

My day moisturiser is 6.66 from Amazon. I would never spend a lot on a moisturiser as I just see it as a layer over my active serums.

I tried to get an appointment with GP but was told that there weren’t any slots for new HRT patients only existing ones - I was made to feel a bit guilty for even asking tbh!

I think something that hasn’t been discussed is the impact of weight on need for skincare - the bigger the fat layer under the skin, maybe the less noticeable sagging/lines are? I’m borderline low weight (BMI 19 so not terrible) but my face can sag for England if I don’t keep it lifted with potions

It’s true. You do have to choose between your face or your arse as you get older!

Just go back to basics wash face with soap moisturise with nivea. No other treatment. See yourself a challenge with that and see how you get on bet you don't need all that extra faff

I tried to get an appointment with GP but was told that there weren’t any slots for new HRT patients only existing ones - I was made to feel a bit guilty for even asking tbh

They have no right to deny you an appt for whatever it is you need.
GPs are not that busy now by all accounts.

Also why did you need to say what the appt was for and how does a receptionist have the power to choose who sees a dr?!

I'd call again and not say what you want to discuss- none of their business. If they ask, just say it's personal and you would rather not say.

Also why did you need to say what the appt was for and how does a receptionist have the power to choose who sees a dr?!

This is standard practice.

Yes, you are not an "HRT patient", you are a patient who wants to discuss an issue affecting her health.

*I am 55 but not menopausal yet which probably helps a lot

Oh my God, I want to be you! I am 47 and dreading menopause. You give me hope ( I have also researched ways to delay menopause and live that).

@Janevaljane

Also why did you need to say what the appt was for and how does a receptionist have the power to choose who sees a dr?!

This is standard practice.

Not really. Mine ask for a "general idea, no need to say exactly". Those are the words they used last time I booked. I was happy to tell them it was for back pain. But for this I might just say I'd rather not discose, or the horrible "women's issues".

Obviously varies by practice.

Yes, you can refuse to say, but all surgeries here operate a triage system - appointment or call back from gp.

I think something that hasn’t been discussed is the impact of weight on need for skincare - the bigger the fat layer under the skin, maybe the less noticeable sagging/lines are? I’m borderline low weight (BMI 19 so not terrible) but my face can sag for England if I don’t keep it lifted with potions

So do the potions help then? I am borderline underweight, and my face is really sagging now! Been considering a facelift.

@Janevaljane

Yes, you can refuse to say, but all surgeries here operate a triage system - appointment or call back from gp.

Yes, the key word in your post is "here". My surgery, here, doesn't do that.

@neversayalways

*I am 55 but not menopausal yet which probably helps a lot

Oh my God, I want to be you! I am 47 and dreading menopause. You give me hope ( I have also researched ways to delay menopause and live that).

Trust me you don’t want to delay the menopause. It’s one of the most liberating things that ever happens to you. The joy of getting rid of the hormonal rollercoaster and all the mess is immeasurable.

It all sounds very expensive and stressful I don't think I could cope I use face cream on my chest or occasionally Burt's bees hand cream and I don't think it looks too ba d for 49

The discrimination , because you are a woman @JMAngel1 and want to discuss menopause is appalling.

Are these GPs saying the same to men who might want to discuss prostate issues or ED? No I very much doubt it. Is the gate keeper being told to turn them away?

You are being told you cannot have an appt because you are a woman and menopause and whatever treatment you might need is considered unnecessary.

I would complain. Loudly.

Its taken me 4 male gp's and finally a female gp to get HRT gel 🌺

God it’s a minefield.
I will have to persevere then

Yes the skincare I use definitely keeps everything “up”

I like this thread, I’m glad it’s still going!! I’m enjoying chatting about stuff that might help us all to age gracefully.

One thing I did get recently that I love is a plasma pen to get rid of the skin tags and raised ugly skin things that you get as you age (I can’t remember the proper name. It was £20 odd quid on amazon and it works like a dream. Now I can run my hand over my neck, chest etc abs it’s all smooth. DP tackles my back for me. I also had red dots called cherry angiomas and it zapped those too.

I’ve just googled and they’re called seborrheuc keratosis

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seborrheic-keratosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20353878

omg please link to the pen! I have loads and i hate them. Did it really work??!?

justanotherneighinparadise Yes, please, please link. I looked at a load on Amazon and was a bit , thinking they would burn your skin or something. Would love to have something like this, a local beauty salon wanted to charge me £50 a skin tag!!!!