Deciding to get older naturally…..

[TeaforTheWins]

I’ve tried Botox, filler and hair dye in the past but getting to 40 I’ve felt more comfortable being natural. However sometimes I feel “scruffy” or different especially at something like a wedding. I do wear makeup and I like stylish clothes but I just don’t want to get into the loop of dying my hair, getting Botox etc. I’d rather spend my money on a massage or something which makes me feel better.
I know I look fine - just maybe not polished… anyone else?
NB I have absolutely no judgement on anyone who does have tweakments, dyes their hair etc - each to their own!

I'm 52 and allowed my hair to go grey about 4 years ago as I was fed up of it being in bad condition and the effort involved. I've never had fillers or Botox as I've never really felt I needed them.

I feel both better and worse for the grey. It's very obvious that it reads as 'old' to a lot of people and I get treated differently because of it - mainly in a good way.

The biggest challenge is trying not to look too washed out - meaning I generally wear make up more often - but at the same time my skin has changed texture and the way make up sits on it is not the same. I'm trying to concentrate on having hydrated skin and using lighter make up and gentler colours etc. I definitely don't want to go down the route of dressing like an 'old person' but at the same time I don't want to be a slave to current fashion (although I never have been interested in fast fashion). I do want to be a bit edgy as that's always been my personality but more on the classic end of edgy.

I feel as my face and body are still fairly youthful looking that as I age I will grow into my hair colour more. I try and remind myself that I chose to go with my natural grey as current reactions to me go to show people find grey hair 'ageing' as the only people they see with it are older whereas in reality it is the natural hair colour for women who are a lot younger. I see a lot of women on my daily commute who are grey and stylish and I always give them a mental fist bump for flying the flag for grey hair.

Do what makes you happy.

For a few years I went natural. I’ve never had Botox or fillers, but I used to have hair coloured, wear makeup, paint nails etc. After a couple of years of not bothering, I realised it was making me miserable, so I started becoming higher maintenance again. I like clothes, makeup, pampering etc. It brings me joy.

I’ve recently started having monthly facials, manicures and pedicures. I’ve been highlighting my dark hair for years and don’t see that changing until the silver becomes more prominent. It just seems like maintenance has become more of a priority now that I’m late 50s. I want to avoid needles and surgery.

50 here. Due to various illnesses and a type of cancer I’m not allowed injectables but I’d tell you what kinda works for me and despite my rotten health luck, I’m wrinkle free and aging very well. I’m not mentioning exercise, decent diet with vitamins etc. cause that’s understandable but I can’t stress enough how much biotin helps in hair. I take some H&B supplements recommended by a cancer charity and they helped me.
I used to dye my hair but I did it alone with professional dye from Sally’s. My hairdresser shown me. No box dye. Helps that I had almost black hair so I didn’t need various highlights. But when I left it natural post chemo fall out, I was religiously with masks and oils. Now, that I left it grey, I do keratin treatments twice a year and have a really really nice cut to show off shine and health with minimal effort. Can’t stress enough a decent haircut and moisture back in hair. Also, I don’t wash more than twice a week as I don’t travel daily in stinky London any more.
Face I’ve been out of the sun for decades, huge fan of acid toners and tretinoin. I have no wrinkles but I’ve aged in thinning skin under the eyes and loss of volume on my cheeks. But that’s ok cause I can look healthy but older with glowy skin. The plan is to look healthy and polished for your age and not younger. No one looks younger ever, invasive stuff make you look different not younger. Your eyes will always betray your age. Let’s not kid ourselves. You’ll can look well but not 25 again.
I’m under huge amounts of steroids at regular intervals so I’ve learned to do a lot of lymphatic massage both on my face and my body and that helps a lot avoiding moon face and redefining my jawline quite a bit.
plenty of videos online but I’d pick medical professionals over influencers. Drop me a line as I have a decent list. Since my illnesses, I’ve been working with various charities and have had quite the experience between the influencer hacks and people that know their thing.
When I go out, I always make sure I have a few current fashion bits but also wear many flattering for me staples. Shoes, accessories are easy to keep current as not to look stuck in a 2012 loop.
My makeup is minimal, my skin is good so tiny bits of cc-creams, tinted moisturisers do the trick without heaviness. Don’t have fake eyelashes or eyebrows but that’s cause I’m Mediterranean dark and don’t need it, if you do, it’s worth adding decent mascara or bits to come out as polished.
Also, no stress about these things. If life shown me something is you can die in a second and all you manage to do is worry about aging and to some of us that’s a present that we will never receive.