Beauty After 50

Aging…it happens to the best of us!  Yes, even Angelina Jolie, one of the most beautiful women in the world, is feeling it.  “…I also see myself aging and I love it because it means I’m alive…” says Angelina in the April issue of In Style Magazine.

Ok…let’s be real, ladies – she’s fighting back those years with everything she’s got including great skin care products, regular facials, laser treatments, micro-needling and guaranteed a little Botox & filler if needed!  I mean, we all should be proud of getting older – with age comes wisdom, experience…guts!  After raising our families we suddenly have time for ourselves, to do things that are important to us, to see the world, to indulge in luxuries our young self only dreamed about, and most importantly to finally make ourselves a priority.  And while we all enjoy this time in our lives, our 50+ years, I can tell you one major truth – we most certainly don’t want to look old!!!

It’s these very same “grateful to be alive” years where we spend a whole lot of time in the magnifying mirror gasping at the next fine line, wrinkle or enlarged pore – cringing at the slight downturn we notice on the sides of our mouths or the sudden group of “smoker lines” above our lip that appeared even when we never smoked!  The word “crepey” takes on a whole new meaning when looking at our skin, especially under the eyes, and when someone mentions your “bags,” they aren’t referring to the new Louis Vuitton you’re carrying!  It’s enough to drive us MAD!!!

So what do we do?  I talk to woman my age and older all day long – they call to inquire about our services here at Divinity Med Spa and 9 out of 10 will say, “I just don’t want to look fake” or “I don’t want to look over-done like a Real Housewife!”  None of us do, I assure them (although if you ask me, it depends on the Housewife!!! 🙂 That’s why it’s important to do your research before you decide which treatments to get, and who you’re getting them from!

Throughout my 12 years in this industry, I’ve learned so many things about anti-aging & beauty.  I’ve also grown to look at people in a different way – definitely not judging (I always see the beauty in every person I meet), but it’s almost like assessing…hmmm, if she just used a little Retin A & sunscreen, her skin would look so refreshed…is a common thought that goes through my mind!  I’ve also seen amazing transformations through the years – have been a part of helping women to actually turn back the clock and look like their younger selves.  There are several steps to the process…it’s definitely a combination of treating both wrinkles AND skin!  Here are some of my tried and true “Tips from Tami” –

1) If your injector looks crazy, so will you!!!  

I’m just kidding (no I’m not!)  It may seem like there’s so much to watch out for when picking a doctor/practitioner to work on your face, it is an important decision, but truthfully it’s pretty simple:

• Check their ranking with Allergan (or Galderma) – they usually can’t get to a high level without being good at what they do.
• Check their reviews – we have a world of information at our fingertips! People these days can’t wait to share their feelings on services they receive – trust me, if someone is good, you’ll see the love, but if they’re bad, you’ll know about it! Keep in mind that some people you just can’t make happy no matter what, but going through a handful of reviews will help you make a decision.
• See what they look like!  Would you go to a hairdresser with horrible hair or an esthetician with terrible skin?  If they look overdone, then they probably treat their patients the same.  Keep in mind that aesthetics is an art – filling voids in a face, relaxing certain muscles to achieve a specific look – this takes knowledge, skill, and LOTS of practice to be really good, but to be truly great takes artistic talent & a God given gift.  For my face, I’d search for “great,” but wouldn’t settle for anything less than a “really good” injector no matter what the cost…I mean, it’s my face!!!

2) Injectables alone are not enough!!!

Although the instant gratification of fillers & Botox feeds our need for speed these days, injectables alone are not enough to anti-age an early Gen X or Baby Boomer. After 50, skin condition becomes just as important. Women who “don’t look their age” have a beautiful, healthy glow to their skin (and not from a tan!!!). Smooth texture, small pores and no brown spots / sun spots / age spots (whatever you call them, they are not good!) are the key to staying “forever young” and trust me; this is achievable with minimal work most of the time. It includes:

• Laser! Technology is our friend, ladies! The things machines can do these days still amaze me, and for the most part, have become pretty reasonably priced. Something as simple as a series of 3 IPL treatments (Intense Pulsed Light Laser Treatments, also known as a Photofacial or Photorejuvenation) can erase brown spots, broken capillaries (those annoying red squiggly veins around our nose & cheeks), tighten pores and help with skin texture – it’s a virtual eraser of at least 5 years!!!
• For deeper lines/wrinkles, a Fractional Laser Treatment can be used. This is for skin resurfacing, collagen production, a little skin tightening, skin irregularities, blemishes and scars. Again, a great way to turn back the clock, especially when done with IPL!
• Use pharmaceutical grade skin care products! YES, it does really make a difference. Brands like OBAGI, SkinMedica and others out there, are clinically tested & studied; they actually can penetrate the epidermis (unlike over the counter products) and make changes to damaged cells under the skin. At med spas, dermatologists and plastic surgeon’s offices you can purchase 4% hydroquinone (bleaching cream), prescription strength tretinoin (retin A) and medical grade sunscreen that has both titanium dioxide AND zinc oxide to give you maximum protection without feeling thick and greasy…all of which are key pieces to the anti-aging puzzle! A good serum feeds the skin; a good hyaluronic acid smooths the skin; a good eye cream can help keep that delicate area hydrated and tight – are they a fortune? Not really – they’re about the same as any well-known department store brand, but they last longer because they are so much more concentrated and a little bit goes a long way. Plus, you don’t have to use them all…a few key pieces for your particular issues will do the trick (and you’re worth it!).

3) See your inner beauty!!!

I was the daughter of a beautiful woman – opposite of me, my mom was a tiny, bleach blonde haired, blue eyed, single lady who turned heads wherever she went. She taught me to NEVER go anywhere without makeup & hair on-point, to always dress to flatter your figure and that being sexy was a good thing. Way before Angelina & Kylie, my mom told me to embrace my full lips and accentuate my Latin features…she called me exotic and I believed her, even when the image in the mirror didn’t quite reflect her words.

Ironically, I began working in the beauty field just as I turned 40. I consider myself “lucky” because I was exposed to medical grade skin care and the anti-aging options available just before big hormonal changes & gravity started kicking in. (Remember, it’s much easier to prevent than reverse!) Through these years I’ve found that too often, women get so stuck hating the changes they see in the mirror as they age, and much like my mother, they forget to see the beauty that lies beneath…the one that really counts. I love what I do because I get to tell women every day that they are beautiful, and that it has nothing to do with what they see in that mirror – it’s about their experiences, their knowledge, their heart.

To me, our true value in the Aesthetics Industry is that we can help tweak someone’s appearance – lift a cheek or a brow, take away a furrow from between the eyes, or puppet lines from the sides of a mouth – so that a person can get beyond the mirror; so that they can smile at the world and let their inner beauty shine. That, my friends, is the true meaning of aging gracefully…we don’t have to look old, but we don’t have to look fake or weird either – “refreshed” is our word of choice – just enough so we can hold our head up high and take on this next phase of our lives with pride!

By Tami Juliano, Manager of Divinity Med Spa