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John Gustafson
Getting older is one thing, but looking it is quite another. Find out how to maintain your youthful looks with John's top skin-protection tips.
Every day your skin is put through an assault course. If it is not the UV light from the sun and your computer, it is the grime of city living. Pollution, cigarette smoke, alcohol and stress mean your skin takes a beating on a daily basis. It is as terrifying as an episode of Fear Factor… without having to eat any insects! And no matter how hard you try, nobody is immune. So what are we going to do about it? The first thing is education. Don't worry, there will be no homework in this class, and no test at the end of the course. But if you don't pay attention, you and your skin are at risk. Let's do a little risk assessment.
Smoking
This is a bad one. And even if you should decide not to suck large amounts of tar, nicotine and free radicals into your own lungs, there are always others around you who are more than happy for you to share in their pastime second-hand. So just how bad is smoking for you? Fact: smoking increases wrinkles by 82%. You'll get them around your mouth from sucking on that delightful habitual white stick, around your eyes from squinting through the smoke that encircles your head and each drag produces about a billion free radicals. A free radical is a scavenger cell. Where most cells have partners, a free radical is a cell without one. If a cell doesn't have a partner, it will tear around trying to take one from some other cell. They are the cellular equivalent of a 'home wrecker'!
So, how many drags does it take to get through a single cigarette? Multiply that by a billion, and that is approximately how many free radicals you have tearing around in your system. And how many do you smoke a day. Five? 10? A pack? And for the virtuous among you, do you spend time in smoky pubs? Does your partner or any member of your family smoke around you? If so, I am afraid you are getting at least a goodly dose of that smoke as well. And it is not just the internal damage it will cause to the body and skin. That residue that you see on the walls of pubs, and the fingertips of smokers? That sits on the surface of your skin.
The easiest way to think about how smoking effects your skin is this: if you were to cut an apple in half and leave it to the side for an hour or so, it will start to turn brown. That is oxidization. The air has started to destroy the flesh of the fruit. Your skin is the apple, and the smoke is the air. If you put salt on the apple, it doesn't turn brown as quickly. Salt works as an anti-oxidant on the apple and protects the flesh of the fruit. Certain vitamins such as A, E and C will do the same for your skin. They provide vital protection from not only the smoke but, as you will soon see, several other aggressors as well. Make-up will also give you some barrier protection. That works more like a physical shield, placing something between you and the smoke. How do you know if your moisturiser gives this sort of added benefit? Ask the consultant. If you are shopping outside of a cosmetic hall, read the box. Believe me, anti-oxidant protection is a valuable and expensive benefit to provide; the manufacturer will make an issue about it. And if you can't find it on the box, pick up another brand that makes it clear what sort of protection the contents will or will not provide.
Pollution
Here is one that is very difficult to avoid. Pollution is all around us. Even those of you who live out in the country are not immune. Be it pollution from traffic, water, or air: we have you surrounded. If you live in an urban area and need to use public transport, you will only have to look at your hands at the end of your journey to see exactly what effect the grime that hangs in the air has on the surface of every exposed inch of you. Clothes are filthy, hair is dull and lank, and the skin is coated with a layer of pure toxins. And if you are lucky enough to be out of the congestion of city life, don't think you don't have to be concerned. It is difficult to get around out in suburbia without a car. And have you seen the inside of your kettle lately? The limescale you find there should give you some idea of what is being left behind each and every time you bathe or shower.
Pollution has become a fact of life. Whatever your lifestyle, healthy or otherwise, every breath you draw contains something that should not be there. Again I will use the analogy of the apple again. In the simplest of terms; you are one gigantic walking apple! Pollution has the effect of disallowing your skin to breathe and function properly, pretty much the same way your lungs cease to function when you are standing in the middle of Piccadilly Circus at 5.30 on a Friday afternoon. Not very nice, and unavoidable except for those of you that are currently living on idyllic island paradises... that, strangely, still have Internet access!
Solutions? First and foremost, get the grime off your skin at the first possible opportunity. I don't mean that you have to walk in the door and go remove your make-up and clean your face, but leaving it overnight is not the very best of plans. It happens occasionally and it is nothing to beat yourself up about, but as a general rule, get yourself clean before going to bed. Your skin is covered with billions of small pores that not only help to regulate body temperature, control moisture, eliminate toxins and various other tasks. But they are also the perfect little opening for all of those nasties to enter the skin through. And if the skin is covered with a layer of grime and filth, how are the pores supposed to do their jobs properly? The answer is that they can't. Once more, look at daytime moisturisers that have the anti-oxidant protection I was speaking about above. The vitamin protection will also help to provide valuable assistance to the skin in combating the potential damage caused by daily exposure to pollution. For women, again, make-up will give you a barrier from the grime actually resting against the skin. However, keep in mind that the two layers still need to be removed at the end of the day.
Environmental damage
Wind, cold, extremes in temperature and moisture levels also wreak havoc with our skins. It takes time for skin to adjust to these changes. That is why most of us find our skins behave completely differently from summer to winter. What happens if we go from our nice warm house to the icy chill of January without giving our skin some sort of protection? We feel stripped and taut. Then we gratefully go into the office where it is nice and warm. Another quick change and more moisture loss as the skin struggles to adjust itself to our surroundings. And if you have ever had a proper windburn, you know it is every bit as uncomfortable as sunburn. And should we talk about what happens when you leave the shores of sunny Britannia mid-winter and head for the beaches of Barbados for a much-deserved 10-day rest… only to come back and give your skin the equivalent to an assault with a bucket of ice water? We are simply not prepared. All of these take their toll on the skin's ability to maintain balance and moisture levels. The skin becomes depleted and recovery times slow down even more.
So prepare. Be aware of your skin. If it is really cold outside, you add another layer of clothing. Why not do the skincare version as well? Use a slightly more protective moisturiser those days to give your skin a little bit of assistance. You tend to do the same in the summer. When it is really hot and humid, most of you will use a lighter-weight moisturiser on those days. If you are headed for the piste, use a barrier protection cream to help seal in your natural moisture and heat, as well as sealing out the cold and the wind. Not too tough - it just takes some thought and a little bit of common sense. A walk on the moors? Again, a barrier protection cream to ward off the wind. That doesn't always mean going to buy yet another product, either. How about using up that cream that you got in a gift that is just that little bit too heavy for your normal condition of skin? Before heading off on holiday, build up your water reserve so your skin doesn't arrive on a beach already dehydrated from travel – there are several features on handbag.com about preparing for out-of-season holidays. Twenty billion Boy Scouts can't be wrong.
Stress
Much harder to control. The reason? Most of my stress is caused by someone other than myself, and for some strange reason it is still illegal for me to simply shoot them! That would not only relieve me of my stress, but it would remove the cause of any future stress as well. Mind you, I am pretty sure I would experience some stress during my impending trial and prison sentence! Anyway, we all know that when we are completely worn out and under more mental stress than usual, our skins go to hell in a handbasket. Dryness, dehydration, blemishes and excess oil can all be external signs of internal stress. Not only that, when we are stressed out or unhappy, we will often spend a great deal more time with frowns on our faces. And those lovely creases can and will turn into lines. Permanent lines. Look at the face of someone who has led a very hard life and their face will tell you quite a story.
The only solution is to relax and take it easy. Remove yourself from the situation. Dazzlingly simple, huh? And extraordinarily difficult. If you find you are getting stressed out, take 10 minutes in the evening and apply a face mask that will re-hydrate and nourish the skin. Not only will it benefit the skin itself, but also taking 10 minutes out to do something for yourself is very relaxing. And once you look into the mirror and see your newly rejuvenated face, you should feel much better and a little bit more calm. If blemishes and oil production are the manifestations of your stresses, use a deep-cleansing and purifying mask. The results will be the same. You have addressed a problem and given yourself 10 minutes out. Be conscious of your facial expressions. If you find you are frowning really hard, you might even want to look into one of the new-technology facial products that help the muscles to relax more quickly. Or you might even give some thought to Botox so you can't frown as deeply in the first place. Sounds radical, but it does the trick.
UV light
Here is a nice juicy can of worms for you. Shall I hand you the can opener? Official research released by one of the biggest anti-ageing clinics in the world produced the following figures: 95% of skin ageing is caused by UV light damage, but 90% of that damage does not happen in the summer and on your holidays. It is what you get from your daily life. The US Food And Drug Administration guidelines say that the lowest SPF you can wear on your face and still minimise the damage caused by UV is an SPF15. For your body, the number drops to an SPF10. Why? UVB (the burning ray) emits approximately 0.5% radiation. UVA (the ageing ray) emits approximately 4.5% radiation. Artificial UV light from sources such as halogen and fluorescent lights, as well as computer screens, can go as high as 70% radiation. Where are you sitting right now reading this feature? In the office under artificial light? Because I know for a fact you are sitting in front of a computer screen!
Here is some even more recent research. SPFs are becoming outdated. The immune system is becoming compromised due to all of the 'external affairs' that are affecting our skin. One company will be launching a new series of moisturisers next month that will look at a new IPF – Immune Protection Factor. As of yet, there are no official standards for how to rate these numbers, but it will most likely not be long before more companies are talking about this advanced sort of skin protection. Again, why? Because UVB, even though it does not go as deep in the skin, causes cellular DNA damage that leads to potentially cancerous cells. UVA causes loss of immune surveillance – the skin starts to lose its ability to police for free-radical damage and to fight off the aggressors that break down the support system of the skin. All of us will react differently to UVB, depending on natural protection and ethnicity; however, all of us react the same way when it comes to UVA damage. And, sadly, that damage is invisible until it is too late. Plus, UVA penetrates twice as deeply as UVB. I am always scared to death when I see that television commercial with all of those stunning boys and girls frolicking around on the beach, and as the commercial progresses, you start to see the effects of UVA damage superimposing on their faces and bodies. I know how incredibly stupid I was when I was young and I thought I was impervious to ageing; now that I am coming up to 43, I am starting to see the effects of age on my skin, and it is not a pretty sight. The time for you to do something about it is now: before the damage has been done.
If you do not wear a moisturiser or foundation with some UV protection now, start the next time you need to buy a new product. If you wear a foundation, look for one that also has protection. Better safe than sorry. If you have children, get them in a daily protection product right this instant. It is your responsibility as a parent to protect them until they are old enough to make the decision as to whether or not to protect themselves. Enough said.
Alcohol
The damage caused by alcohol is not only the embarrassment of dancing topless at the office conference; it also has consequences for your skin's general health. Breakout and dehydration, as well as the fact that if you go and get 'off your face', you most likely will not be getting enough sleep, either. Not to even mention that if you are 'three sheets to the wind', the chances of you going home and properly cleansing the remnants of the day are slim and none!
We are all getting pretty tired of reading about the problems of binge drinking, but the effects are very real. Not only do we do really stupid things when we drink too much (particularly when it is not a planned night out and you will most likely have to work the next day), we put our entire detoxification system into overdrive. The liver and kidneys all of a sudden have to filter out a huge amount of additional toxins, and so does your skin. Digestion goes up the spout, which in turn affects different parts of the facial skin. You will have probably have been in an environment that includes people smoking, maybe even doing a bit of social smoking of your own. Some alcohols will be beneficial in moderation – namely red wine. It provides anti-oxidant polyphenols, but when I say moderation, I really am talking about a single glass with a meal. Nobody expects you to be a teetotal, but use your head.
To minimise the damage, you really need to hydrate the skin. When you clean your face that night (…IF you clean you face that night), try to apply a hydrating mask instead of your normal moisturiser. If you don't manage that, apply the mask as your moisturiser the following day, or apply it as you are eating your breakfast the next morning, before you bath or shower. The evening after the night before, you might want to take the time to do a cleansing mask to help the skin to detox.
Your skin will be lacking in water, so the last thing you want to do is pile on a huge amount of make-up to try to hide the evidence of the night before. Keep make-up simple that next day. And steer clear of a very matte finish. When you are already lacking in water, the last thing you need is to have a crusty-looking face.
At the end of the day there are some things that we have very little, if any, control over, such as our environment, pollution and the actions of others around us. But all of those, and more, can have a profound effect on our skin. It is up to us to take some action and do something about it. If we don't, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. It unrealistic to expect the factors I've mentioned in this article never to affect us, but we can do something to keep the damage to a minimum. You only get one skin. If you bugger it up you will have a very difficult time trying to rectify the damage. You may even be one of those lucky people who has a skin that nothing really seems to bother, but trust me - it doesn't last. When we are in our teens, the thought of being 40 and concerned about lines seems obscure and remote. But at 43, I can see 50 looming up ahead! I am increasingly aware of how silly I was when I was able to do something about it. Could have, should have, would have. Is it too late? Not until they nail me in my box!
Copyright © 2005 handbag.com
Getting older is one thing, but looking it is quite another. Find out how to maintain your youthful looks with John's top skin-protection tips.
Every day your skin is put through an assault course. If it is not the UV light from the sun and your computer, it is the grime of city living. Pollution, cigarette smoke, alcohol and stress mean your skin takes a beating on a daily basis. It is as terrifying as an episode of Fear Factor… without having to eat any insects! And no matter how hard you try, nobody is immune. So what are we going to do about it? The first thing is education. Don't worry, there will be no homework in this class, and no test at the end of the course. But if you don't pay attention, you and your skin are at risk. Let's do a little risk assessment.
Smoking
This is a bad one. And even if you should decide not to suck large amounts of tar, nicotine and free radicals into your own lungs, there are always others around you who are more than happy for you to share in their pastime second-hand. So just how bad is smoking for you? Fact: smoking increases wrinkles by 82%. You'll get them around your mouth from sucking on that delightful habitual white stick, around your eyes from squinting through the smoke that encircles your head and each drag produces about a billion free radicals. A free radical is a scavenger cell. Where most cells have partners, a free radical is a cell without one. If a cell doesn't have a partner, it will tear around trying to take one from some other cell. They are the cellular equivalent of a 'home wrecker'!
So, how many drags does it take to get through a single cigarette? Multiply that by a billion, and that is approximately how many free radicals you have tearing around in your system. And how many do you smoke a day. Five? 10? A pack? And for the virtuous among you, do you spend time in smoky pubs? Does your partner or any member of your family smoke around you? If so, I am afraid you are getting at least a goodly dose of that smoke as well. And it is not just the internal damage it will cause to the body and skin. That residue that you see on the walls of pubs, and the fingertips of smokers? That sits on the surface of your skin.
The easiest way to think about how smoking effects your skin is this: if you were to cut an apple in half and leave it to the side for an hour or so, it will start to turn brown. That is oxidization. The air has started to destroy the flesh of the fruit. Your skin is the apple, and the smoke is the air. If you put salt on the apple, it doesn't turn brown as quickly. Salt works as an anti-oxidant on the apple and protects the flesh of the fruit. Certain vitamins such as A, E and C will do the same for your skin. They provide vital protection from not only the smoke but, as you will soon see, several other aggressors as well. Make-up will also give you some barrier protection. That works more like a physical shield, placing something between you and the smoke. How do you know if your moisturiser gives this sort of added benefit? Ask the consultant. If you are shopping outside of a cosmetic hall, read the box. Believe me, anti-oxidant protection is a valuable and expensive benefit to provide; the manufacturer will make an issue about it. And if you can't find it on the box, pick up another brand that makes it clear what sort of protection the contents will or will not provide.
Pollution
Here is one that is very difficult to avoid. Pollution is all around us. Even those of you who live out in the country are not immune. Be it pollution from traffic, water, or air: we have you surrounded. If you live in an urban area and need to use public transport, you will only have to look at your hands at the end of your journey to see exactly what effect the grime that hangs in the air has on the surface of every exposed inch of you. Clothes are filthy, hair is dull and lank, and the skin is coated with a layer of pure toxins. And if you are lucky enough to be out of the congestion of city life, don't think you don't have to be concerned. It is difficult to get around out in suburbia without a car. And have you seen the inside of your kettle lately? The limescale you find there should give you some idea of what is being left behind each and every time you bathe or shower.
Pollution has become a fact of life. Whatever your lifestyle, healthy or otherwise, every breath you draw contains something that should not be there. Again I will use the analogy of the apple again. In the simplest of terms; you are one gigantic walking apple! Pollution has the effect of disallowing your skin to breathe and function properly, pretty much the same way your lungs cease to function when you are standing in the middle of Piccadilly Circus at 5.30 on a Friday afternoon. Not very nice, and unavoidable except for those of you that are currently living on idyllic island paradises... that, strangely, still have Internet access!
Solutions? First and foremost, get the grime off your skin at the first possible opportunity. I don't mean that you have to walk in the door and go remove your make-up and clean your face, but leaving it overnight is not the very best of plans. It happens occasionally and it is nothing to beat yourself up about, but as a general rule, get yourself clean before going to bed. Your skin is covered with billions of small pores that not only help to regulate body temperature, control moisture, eliminate toxins and various other tasks. But they are also the perfect little opening for all of those nasties to enter the skin through. And if the skin is covered with a layer of grime and filth, how are the pores supposed to do their jobs properly? The answer is that they can't. Once more, look at daytime moisturisers that have the anti-oxidant protection I was speaking about above. The vitamin protection will also help to provide valuable assistance to the skin in combating the potential damage caused by daily exposure to pollution. For women, again, make-up will give you a barrier from the grime actually resting against the skin. However, keep in mind that the two layers still need to be removed at the end of the day.
Environmental damage
Wind, cold, extremes in temperature and moisture levels also wreak havoc with our skins. It takes time for skin to adjust to these changes. That is why most of us find our skins behave completely differently from summer to winter. What happens if we go from our nice warm house to the icy chill of January without giving our skin some sort of protection? We feel stripped and taut. Then we gratefully go into the office where it is nice and warm. Another quick change and more moisture loss as the skin struggles to adjust itself to our surroundings. And if you have ever had a proper windburn, you know it is every bit as uncomfortable as sunburn. And should we talk about what happens when you leave the shores of sunny Britannia mid-winter and head for the beaches of Barbados for a much-deserved 10-day rest… only to come back and give your skin the equivalent to an assault with a bucket of ice water? We are simply not prepared. All of these take their toll on the skin's ability to maintain balance and moisture levels. The skin becomes depleted and recovery times slow down even more.
So prepare. Be aware of your skin. If it is really cold outside, you add another layer of clothing. Why not do the skincare version as well? Use a slightly more protective moisturiser those days to give your skin a little bit of assistance. You tend to do the same in the summer. When it is really hot and humid, most of you will use a lighter-weight moisturiser on those days. If you are headed for the piste, use a barrier protection cream to help seal in your natural moisture and heat, as well as sealing out the cold and the wind. Not too tough - it just takes some thought and a little bit of common sense. A walk on the moors? Again, a barrier protection cream to ward off the wind. That doesn't always mean going to buy yet another product, either. How about using up that cream that you got in a gift that is just that little bit too heavy for your normal condition of skin? Before heading off on holiday, build up your water reserve so your skin doesn't arrive on a beach already dehydrated from travel – there are several features on handbag.com about preparing for out-of-season holidays. Twenty billion Boy Scouts can't be wrong.
Stress
Much harder to control. The reason? Most of my stress is caused by someone other than myself, and for some strange reason it is still illegal for me to simply shoot them! That would not only relieve me of my stress, but it would remove the cause of any future stress as well. Mind you, I am pretty sure I would experience some stress during my impending trial and prison sentence! Anyway, we all know that when we are completely worn out and under more mental stress than usual, our skins go to hell in a handbasket. Dryness, dehydration, blemishes and excess oil can all be external signs of internal stress. Not only that, when we are stressed out or unhappy, we will often spend a great deal more time with frowns on our faces. And those lovely creases can and will turn into lines. Permanent lines. Look at the face of someone who has led a very hard life and their face will tell you quite a story.
The only solution is to relax and take it easy. Remove yourself from the situation. Dazzlingly simple, huh? And extraordinarily difficult. If you find you are getting stressed out, take 10 minutes in the evening and apply a face mask that will re-hydrate and nourish the skin. Not only will it benefit the skin itself, but also taking 10 minutes out to do something for yourself is very relaxing. And once you look into the mirror and see your newly rejuvenated face, you should feel much better and a little bit more calm. If blemishes and oil production are the manifestations of your stresses, use a deep-cleansing and purifying mask. The results will be the same. You have addressed a problem and given yourself 10 minutes out. Be conscious of your facial expressions. If you find you are frowning really hard, you might even want to look into one of the new-technology facial products that help the muscles to relax more quickly. Or you might even give some thought to Botox so you can't frown as deeply in the first place. Sounds radical, but it does the trick.
UV light
Here is a nice juicy can of worms for you. Shall I hand you the can opener? Official research released by one of the biggest anti-ageing clinics in the world produced the following figures: 95% of skin ageing is caused by UV light damage, but 90% of that damage does not happen in the summer and on your holidays. It is what you get from your daily life. The US Food And Drug Administration guidelines say that the lowest SPF you can wear on your face and still minimise the damage caused by UV is an SPF15. For your body, the number drops to an SPF10. Why? UVB (the burning ray) emits approximately 0.5% radiation. UVA (the ageing ray) emits approximately 4.5% radiation. Artificial UV light from sources such as halogen and fluorescent lights, as well as computer screens, can go as high as 70% radiation. Where are you sitting right now reading this feature? In the office under artificial light? Because I know for a fact you are sitting in front of a computer screen!
Here is some even more recent research. SPFs are becoming outdated. The immune system is becoming compromised due to all of the 'external affairs' that are affecting our skin. One company will be launching a new series of moisturisers next month that will look at a new IPF – Immune Protection Factor. As of yet, there are no official standards for how to rate these numbers, but it will most likely not be long before more companies are talking about this advanced sort of skin protection. Again, why? Because UVB, even though it does not go as deep in the skin, causes cellular DNA damage that leads to potentially cancerous cells. UVA causes loss of immune surveillance – the skin starts to lose its ability to police for free-radical damage and to fight off the aggressors that break down the support system of the skin. All of us will react differently to UVB, depending on natural protection and ethnicity; however, all of us react the same way when it comes to UVA damage. And, sadly, that damage is invisible until it is too late. Plus, UVA penetrates twice as deeply as UVB. I am always scared to death when I see that television commercial with all of those stunning boys and girls frolicking around on the beach, and as the commercial progresses, you start to see the effects of UVA damage superimposing on their faces and bodies. I know how incredibly stupid I was when I was young and I thought I was impervious to ageing; now that I am coming up to 43, I am starting to see the effects of age on my skin, and it is not a pretty sight. The time for you to do something about it is now: before the damage has been done.
If you do not wear a moisturiser or foundation with some UV protection now, start the next time you need to buy a new product. If you wear a foundation, look for one that also has protection. Better safe than sorry. If you have children, get them in a daily protection product right this instant. It is your responsibility as a parent to protect them until they are old enough to make the decision as to whether or not to protect themselves. Enough said.
Alcohol
The damage caused by alcohol is not only the embarrassment of dancing topless at the office conference; it also has consequences for your skin's general health. Breakout and dehydration, as well as the fact that if you go and get 'off your face', you most likely will not be getting enough sleep, either. Not to even mention that if you are 'three sheets to the wind', the chances of you going home and properly cleansing the remnants of the day are slim and none!
We are all getting pretty tired of reading about the problems of binge drinking, but the effects are very real. Not only do we do really stupid things when we drink too much (particularly when it is not a planned night out and you will most likely have to work the next day), we put our entire detoxification system into overdrive. The liver and kidneys all of a sudden have to filter out a huge amount of additional toxins, and so does your skin. Digestion goes up the spout, which in turn affects different parts of the facial skin. You will have probably have been in an environment that includes people smoking, maybe even doing a bit of social smoking of your own. Some alcohols will be beneficial in moderation – namely red wine. It provides anti-oxidant polyphenols, but when I say moderation, I really am talking about a single glass with a meal. Nobody expects you to be a teetotal, but use your head.
To minimise the damage, you really need to hydrate the skin. When you clean your face that night (…IF you clean you face that night), try to apply a hydrating mask instead of your normal moisturiser. If you don't manage that, apply the mask as your moisturiser the following day, or apply it as you are eating your breakfast the next morning, before you bath or shower. The evening after the night before, you might want to take the time to do a cleansing mask to help the skin to detox.
Your skin will be lacking in water, so the last thing you want to do is pile on a huge amount of make-up to try to hide the evidence of the night before. Keep make-up simple that next day. And steer clear of a very matte finish. When you are already lacking in water, the last thing you need is to have a crusty-looking face.
At the end of the day there are some things that we have very little, if any, control over, such as our environment, pollution and the actions of others around us. But all of those, and more, can have a profound effect on our skin. It is up to us to take some action and do something about it. If we don't, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. It unrealistic to expect the factors I've mentioned in this article never to affect us, but we can do something to keep the damage to a minimum. You only get one skin. If you bugger it up you will have a very difficult time trying to rectify the damage. You may even be one of those lucky people who has a skin that nothing really seems to bother, but trust me - it doesn't last. When we are in our teens, the thought of being 40 and concerned about lines seems obscure and remote. But at 43, I can see 50 looming up ahead! I am increasingly aware of how silly I was when I was able to do something about it. Could have, should have, would have. Is it too late? Not until they nail me in my box!
Copyright © 2005 handbag.com
/emoticons/
