I love makeup. My favorite gift ever was my first make-up kit given to me by my favorite Aunt when I was 12. One item in the kit was a beautiful light pink lipstick. I loved it. It smelled so good, and made me feel a little more grown up. I also got “Love’s Baby Soft” cologne; I still adore the smell of that.
As I got older, I experimented with lots of looks. I wore heavy eye shadow and liner (under and on top of my lids) lots of blush and endless shades of red, pink, purple, and peach lip color.
My most favorite thing to do was go shopping for cosmetics when stores had the “bonus bag” of cosmetics. If you bought a certain dollar amount of the cosmetic brand you got the bag. The best ones are the ones I got from Barney’s NARS counter. They threw everything in that goody bag – for lips, eyes, face, body, hands, hair, you name it. How fun.
I recently cleaned out my makeup storage area and wistfully said goodbye to things I haven’t used in years, or never used at all. I discovered things that I didn’t even know I had, like moisturizer, eye cream, and sunscreen I bought last month. I thought I was out of them. I bought them again the last time I was at Barney’s. Oops. I can still use them. Now, my motto is “less is more.” My top beauty concern is my skin, and keeping it in tip-top condition. The better my skin, the less makeup I need.
When I keep my skin well-hydrated and exfoliated, I’m able to get away with little more than a tinted sunscreen, immaculately-shaped eyebrows, and my favorite lip-color.
Friends also ask me how I keep my skin so young. The secret to good skin for me is moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Nothing plumps up the replica watches skin better than hydration. And it helps everything glide on better: my concealer, foundation, sunscreen, blush, everything.
I get rid of flakey dry skin with daily exfoliation. Those flakes are not attractive or youthful. I exfoliate every day with either a moisturizing facial scrub or a washcloth dipped in coconut oil. I use it on my face, as well as on my entire body.
I never go to bed without taking off my makeup, no matter how tired I am. I also use a creamy moisturizer after I wash my face, right before I go to sleep. I also like to apply a retinol cream every few days as well. Nothing makes my skin glow more.
I try to keep my face, neck, and hands out of the sun. I wear sunscreen on my face rain or shine. I also apply to my hands and neck.
At night, when I’m going out for a night on the town, I’ll apply more dramatic make-up. Shimmery shadows, dramatic bush, lash lengthening mascara, bolder lip colors. It’s still so fun.
But during the day, I believe women over 50 look older with a fully made-up face. I’ll stick to the minimalist look, and protect my skin at the same time.
Barbara Bishop is President of Santa Monica-based BBPR, Inc. For comments or suggestions, email barbara.bishop@bbprinc.com.
