BoomerGirl Diary

If I reflect on beauty over 40, I think this is the first time in my life that I feel totally beautiful on the inside. I am harder pressed to say that about my outer beauty. I often wonder how, in a youth-obsessed culture, does a 42-year-old keep up? How do you come to terms with lines, wrinkles, freckles, brown spots, broken capillaries and hot flashes in an age where 22-year-old women advertise the latest and greatest miracle cream that promises to turn back the hands of time?

In short, what I have learned and hope to share with you in this column over time is that beauty is not about competing. Indeed, one of the most common mistakes women over 40 make is not updating their look and trying to hold on to an image of themselves that is 10 or 15 years old. But beauty over 40 is not about trying to keep looking like you are in your 20s or 30s; rather it is about embracing who you are, simplifying and paring down to basic essentials and working with your features in ways that maximize what you have become.

So where to start? Each week, I will focus on a specific area — skin, hair, makeup or body — and write about the things and products I love, what has and hasn’t worked for me, what’s new and hot, and what’s tried and true. I also want to hear from you about the same. Share with me your tips, what products you are using or are curious about, what products have simplified your life and what you believe have made a difference and what you found to be all hype. There is no magic beauty wand, but I truly believe in the power of being an informed consumer as the beauty world is a particularly treacherous one.

In the meantime, try this easy mask at home. It’s incredibly inexpensive, and will make your skin unbelievably smooth. Take 4-5 plain aspirin; mix them with several drops of water so that they dissolve enough to form a paste like substance. Rub the mixture onto your skin, wait approximately five to 10 minutes. Allow more time if you are oily, less if you tend to be dry, and then rinse. Do this once a week, and you will be amazed at your skin. You glow, girl.