A Filipina Mom Blogger

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I believe in hard work. It keeps the wrinkles out of the mind and spirit.
- Helena Rubinstein

I want to take a break and feel good about myself. I have been wanting to write about my “kikay” moments. I often receive comments in facebook that I look young for 53 years old. Not that I had plastic surgery, I explain that it is because I smile a lot. If I don’t wear a smile, I tend to look stern and serious. One can actually look younger in photos with the help of makeup and knowing how to smile for the camera. Here are my Tips on how to smile for a camera.

Some also ask me what beauty or anti-aging products I use. They say that one should keep beauty tips a secret. Well, I will share a few of them here.

See, I only started to become more conscious of my looks when I entered into blogging in 2006. I was then 48 years old. Every time I get invited to an event, there was always a photo session. I started to wear makeup just so I looked good in photos. You can say blogging made me even more vain. If I were not overweight for 13 years, perhaps my facial skin would have been tight. Yet I know it is never too late. Interest in hair, make-up, clothes and fashion peaked now that my kids are all independent. I don’t have the burden of worrying about spending for myself and feeling guilty of shopping expeditions. Caring about appearance, dressing in fashionable, flattering clothes, keeping healthy and active is one ways to pamper myself.

A lot of women are feeling fabulous at 50. Freed from the restraints of dependent, whiny children and the prospect of an end to monthly periods, I feel it is finally time to enjoy without the guilt trip. What is to stop me? Aside from monthly visits to my dermatologist sister at St Luke Dermatology Clinic, here are some of the products I buy :

For my skin care

It is “Age defying solutions” from Juice Beauty because it is mainly organic. I love the citrus-y smell whenever I use their products. This set costs 2,800 pesos at the Beauty Bar and lasts me for a month. The set comes with a cleanser, serum, daytime and night time moisturizer, and facial mask peel.

My dermatolgist-sister tells me that skin care for women over 50 should have a a bountiful blend of antioxidants, including alpha lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, vitamin C and DMAE which I found in Juice Beauty. I have been using this for the past 7 months and loving the results.

For the eyes

I have been pampering my eyes since I was in my mid-twenties when a sales lady at Macy’s showed me their eye cream. I think it was the Estee Lauder brand then shifted to other brands as the years passed by. Now that I am over 50 years old, I love using the Clinique Anti-Gravity Firming Eye Lift Cream which builds cushion into my time-thinned skin. I forgot the cost of this cream because I bought mine at the airport duty-free shop in Singapore.

Collagen eye patch from Etude House in SM Megamall.

Eyebags are the result from working late at night. Before I sleep I apply this on my eye bags and sleep with it overnight. I find t quite soothing. Never mind that the instructions say 15 minutes only. This costs 78 pesos each and I use it three times a week. When I know I have a TV show or photo shoot, I use it daily.

for sun protection

My dermatologist recommended Cetaphil which is quite expensive. I am running out of it now. It has to be SPF 50 for maximum protection. I apply this first before my moisturizer.

For eyebag concealer

The use of the collagen eye patch minimizes the puffiness but I still have strays of it. I use the Rice powder company eye stick ( RC 604 yellow) to conceal a bit of the puffiness and lighten the eye bags. It costs around 500 pesos (forgot the price) at the Beauty Bar.

For brown spots

They say one has either wrinkles or dark spots. I have a few on my cheekbones which started to appear in my mid-forties. One can prevent his from happening by using a sunscreen. While you don’t have dark spots, try applying sun screen daily. To hide the spots, I alternate with the Bobbi Brown creamy (1,250 pesos at Rustans) for the spots or the Flebeaute Collagenic Skin Cover (around 1100 pesos at the Face shop) . The latter is actually a foundation but I only use it to conceal spots. The Bobbi Brown creamy does the job better though.

Powder and Foundation

I used MAC studio Fix 26 before but my skin became fairer and soon my daughter started using it. I am now using a Clinique Dermawhite (forgot the shade) Superbalanced foundation powder that has an SPF 29. You can only buy Clinique at Rustans. I first got introduced to the Clinique foundation through an event . When I ran out of the powder, I got a refill for 1,750 pesos.

When I have TV appearance or photo shoot, I use the Make Up Forever High Definition foundation for a flawless finish. I forgot the price because I bought this at Sephora in the USA.

Eye Makeup

I use to own one shade of eye shadows, mostly gray and brown shades. One day, my daughter bought me a makeup palette from Dollface Cosmetics in neutral matte colors, as a birthday present for my 53rd birthday. I noticed that my eyes lids are slowly sagging so I asked my daughter (check her fashion and beauty blog) to teach me how to apply eye shadows on my sagging eyelids. She taught me how to use a crease brush to darken the crease, which provides the illusion of firmer lids. That’s the trick. One thing to remember for my age group is never use frost eye shadows as it emphasizes fine lines.

Removing Makeup

And to remove makeup, I use Ponds’ cold cream. I also have an eye make up remover. I forgot the brand.

Vitamins and food supplements

Most importantly, vitamins. I take GNC Womens Ultra Mega Timed Release and Fish oils. They have womens’ vitamin for over 50 years old but I bought these so I could share with my two daughters. The fish oils is to help fight cholesterol. I take 3000 mgs daily.

So there, those are just a few of the beauty products I use. I hate it when my husband has to rush me to change and dress up. When time is of the essence, I just place my sunscreen and Juice Beauty moisturizer then pat the Clinique powder on my face.

There is more to looking and feeling good other than owning beauty products

Some reminders:

1. Love yourself.

I found out that nurturing is about how we show love for ourselves. I needed a loving relationship with myself that works so I can have a loving relationship with others that work.

2. You can’t own your beauty if you aren’t confident in your own skin

Faye Dunaway once said that “the best thing for beauty is just being happy.” You can be the most gorgeous woman in the world, but if you’re down on yourself you won’t look wonderful.

Owning your beauty means you accept and recognize the beautiful and characteristic traits that you already possess. It also means that you build upon that foundation, by enhancing and maximizing your best features first. Only after you’ve done that do you move on to tackling your weaknesses.

That’s why I maximize my beautiful traits like the way I smile or emphasizing my eyes.

3. Have a healthy lifestyle.

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables , oatmeal, and removing beef or pork in my diet. I also stay active by going to Fitness First three times a week. I have been a member since 2005 and I have lost 40 pounds.

See this was me borderline obese at 47 years old just before I went to the gym in 2005, and suffering from a heart condition.

I am the one in purple, and that’s my older sister, Lorna.

Yeah, so there is hope. It is never too late. At 53 years old, I am feeling good and having the time of my life. The best is yet to come.

Nope, this photo was not photo-shopped or altered. You can even ask Mike Yu of Blog na Pinoy.

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