What beauty and hair lessons have you learned over time?

[something2say]

Hi! I am a long time poster who loves a thread in this section, because it is so simple and pleasing in a complicated world. Threads on this board make me smile and feel nicer.

I was reflecting this morning on how much I have learnt about what beauty routines work for me and what suits me, and am curious about what you've learned?

• I struggled to find a light foundation / powder combination to just dust over. I tried Trinny, Mac and Terry. All made me oily / too made up. I now use Laura Geller and it is great. Can hardly see it, never shiny.

• Eye makeup - black doesn't work for me now, the Maybelline dark grey eyeliner is the only one that doesn't smudge (tried loads of others) and it looks best on me as a side wing with a touch underneath, corner only. Layering black inside and out makes my eyes look small and I always regret it. Wing tips make them look wide. Mascara top only.

• No lipsticks really work for me now. I wish to find a nice one but they just don't work for me.

• Hair has also been a big change. I've got long, thick curly hair which will be dry and frizzy if I let it. I have gone full Curly Girl and it has done wonders for my curls, which are now like coils on wash day. I use Faith In Nature shampoo and condition, their aloe vera conditioner which is the lightest and which works beautifully on my low porosity hair. I grew out the lowlights, stopped using a hairdryer and started doing deep conditioning hair packs in a heated hair cap from Amazon.

• Hair longer than bra strap no longer works for me and I need layers. I will never try to grow it longer again as it is boring.

What have you tried and learned?

To use fewer products and those that I do use must be silicone/paraben free, with the fewest ingredients possible.

Avoid blow drying hair and only use henna to colour greys.

Eat home cooked foods with plenty of vegetables. No alcohol and very little sugar in the form of refined carbohydrates.

Exercise. Face and body.

That most products are unnecessary, expensive ones aren’t much better than budget ranges and that if you can find a hairdresser who can dry cut your hair you’re on to a good thing.

Get a haircut that suits your hair. If your hair is wavy or curly have it cut by someone who has naturally curly or wavy hair themselves.

Life is too short to have a daily battle with your hair and live in fear of humidity.

You wear your hair all day every day.

That a bob hairstyle puts 20 years on me.

I love red lipstick but it wears me rather than the other way around.

Revitalash eyelash serum has had an astonishing effect on my previously short, straight lashes.

Beauty Pie Wrap Star tubing mascara is the only one that never, ever smudges. Ever.

I absolutely do not suit flowing linen layers. I look good in a shift dress.

My skin looks good but I've no idea which product has made a difference. Maybe all of them working together in a perfect storm?

I don't ever drink water. I know it'd make a big difference if I did, but I just fail every time I try.

I love the skin on my feet now that I give myself regular pedicures. CCS cream is fantastic for dry heels.

As you get older, less is more. I often use CC/BB cream not foundation or concealer where it's needed, tinted lip balm etc

Make-up/skincare/toiletries price and quality aren't directly connected IMO. Some inexpensive brands are great, even if the packaging isn't great.

My grandmother had beautiful skin and said not to use the various lotions and potions advertised. She used soap and water and Oil of Ulay.

@Jewelanemone , I don't know how old you are but I found that when I reached my mid-50s I was told I needed to cut my hair into a bob. 😆
I'd look like Wendolene.

I had a bob for a few years when I was younger and was always being mistaken for other women.
I worked in an office with women with blonde bobs and they looked almost identical from a distance.

Ooo great thread OP!

A few drops of Hair oil - doesn’t make my hair greasy, it just makes it feel lovely and soft. Helps put back what years of hair dye have stripped away. And smells yummy!

Dont hold back, Draconian! Say what you really think!🤣

...because women literally look like Ronald McDonald with this look.
Do they really?

That professional hair colour is much better than standard dyes, even when applied at home

That it’s fine to not brush your hair for a week. No one notices and it looks the same.

Bar soap gets you the cleanest.

You look much better without makeup.

Going bra-less is far more comfortable.

I don't know, I think I have got more open minded. I think some people look good with all the trends you mention. Overdone lips don't look good but I know a few people who have had lip filler and I wouldn't know - just think they have full mouths that suit them. Overdone brows again. I don't like the look of lamination when it looks very red toned. I don't know if that is just the cooling down period. Don't know anyone who does it.

I have 2 teenage/early 20s daughters and I think they look beautiful with skimpy shein clothes and big huge lashes. I am pretty indulgent to that age group generally. I think it is about having fun.

and I think bouncy blowouts, like everything else, look great when they are done well. Not for me but....

Ah, I wish the not brushing hair and going braless were true for me. Sadly not!

Agree on the bar soap and no - or at least minimal - makeup.

Soap bar for me. Shower gels and similar products are bad for the environment.

Well actually I notice when someone has slept on their back and they have bedhead, and I think it looks awful and unkempt.

📍 Using dry shampoo on freshly-washed, dried and styled hair makes it last for at least a day longer and gives more volume and texture. (Long, fine, oily, aggressively limp hair that only holds a GHD curl if permed once a year)
📍Hot cloth cleansing balms are the shiz
📍Tretinoin is amazing and I wish I had started on Skin + Me in my early 40s
📍Fragrance, lip colour, earrings and nicely-kept nails make you feel lovely
📍If you want decent hair and nails in your late 40s and beyond, you need to stay on top of your iron levels, your thyroid, your collagen, your vitamin D and your hormones. It’s like being a farmer and it’s exhausting.
📍 I bloody love a gorgeous lip colour (favourite is Dior Lip Glow in Rosewood) but this cheapie, miserably-packaged ceramide balm is OUTSTANDING - lovely colour, moisturising and non-transfer and is the one I reach for most days. It’s SPF50 too. https://amzn.eu/d/04btTSC4
📍 This shower gel smells so wonderful, is so thick and good quality and cheers me up every day - I can’t stop sniffing my skin. https://amzn.eu/d/0gudEQmS
📍 People are scathing about Clinique Clarifying Lotion but my goodness it doesn't half get dead skin off
📍Blusher applied really high up, level with your eyes, lifts your whole face after 40.
📍I’ve used so many expensive blushers but the one I reach for is this ELF one in Glimmering Guava https://www.elfcosmetics.co.uk/products/monochromatic-multi-stick So easy to blend and gives you a glow without being glittery.
📍The Espa hand cream is wonderful and absorbs within 60 seconds. No stickiness or clagginess. I buy it again and again.
https://amzn.eu/d/0eCyubkG

(Apologies for the Amazon links - I have Prime and so it’s the site I use most because I don’t want to pay £3.99 postage every time I buy something. And yes I do know I’m part of the problem)

Going braless is not more comfy with big boobs imo.

In the last few years I’ve realised that spending on skincare strangely isn’t worth it IME, but spending on hair care and makeup definitely is.

I use Garnier Micellar Cleanser and just Nivea body lotion on my face - it absorbs very quickly and sort of plumps my face.

I swear by Lancôme concealer and their Hypnose mascara though, plus Mac liquid eyeliner in brown.

It’s hair I spend the most on - I have it cut and coloured by a brilliant at-home hairdresser who recommended Redken All Soft shampoo and conditioner. I’ve found the difference between salon and supermarket hair products is huge, so definitely worth the spend.

That no matter what you do if you don’t drink water and eat well and sleep as much as you can it will be insanely difficult for any beauty product to live up to its potential.

Keratin is not for dry/ dehydrated hair, in fact it is evil!!!!!!!

Primer, spf and a cooling/ hydrating eye cream are essential for anyone over 30

In my 50s I started to get my nails, brows and lashes done in the salon. A bit of tanning oil in my moisturiser gives me a great vibrancy boost. Foundation and lipstick make me look awfully overdone.

Less is more. I don’t look better with £60 face cream and £25 conditioner.

Leave your face alone. It doesn’t need serums and Botox and sea algae. It needs you to treat it with a bit of respect. Your skin at amazing on its own.

No

Don't drink alcohol
wear sunscreen
always have your hair expertly cut and coloured ( yes we always know when you or your husband do it yourself)
get lots of sleep
Keep hydrated
use retinol
look after your teeth and nails
wear some make up

I bloody love a gorgeous lip colour too! I know the recommendation to treat yourself to a new lipstick if you can't afford much else is a bit of a cliché - but it is the one thing I love doing above all else!

My latest two are Dior Goldie Red Matte, a warm orange-red in a beautiful finely ridged gold case, & Dries Van Noten (maybe Favourite Red? A warm red shade anyway) in a case that I just love! And there are five more cases that I may have to hunt down too ... (I bought both on eBay).

I think both e.l.f. & NYX are really great budget make-up brands. I've had to cut costs on some of my make-up items since going freelance, & think that some of their products are better than the big name ones that I used to use! Admittedly the packaging isn't as pretty ...

• Sleep, water and exercise really do make all the difference.
• For both make up and skincare, you don’t need to have some big, elaborate multi-product routine - pare it back to a few things that really do work for you.
• Almost everything looks better on you with really great sunglasses and a good bag.
• life is too short to wear heels.
• to look effortless and a bit sun-kissed use a tinted moisturiser then use your bronzer lightly brushed across your t zone and also in place of eyeshadow, and use a lip and cheek tint, and also put the tiniest bit on your nose. (Tip picked up from my colleague’s teenage daughter!)
• almost forgot the most important part - SPF in absolutely everything, even in winter!

Watching. These threads always make me feel like a bit of a failure as a woman as I barely do anything... what I do know is:

Night cream with retinol is amazing for my 40-spmething skin

Mascara and eye brows will do generally, although a shadow can look nice if you can be bothered (i generally cant!)

Foundation has never ever worked for me. Ive tried every one and tints and moisturisers and bb creams etc. It either gives me teenage acne or dries my skin out and I either look like a pierre clown or a barbie doll, neither are appealing.

Mousse on my wavy hair gives it bounce and volume.

Drink more water!