Ah! the late-40s for a woman — the hair starts thinning, falling out, and graying…the skin and lips become drier…and gravity just messes with you among other things.
I still believe in looking the best ‘you’ at every age naturally. Love and work with what you got. Age gracefully. Below are products that can help bring out your natural and unique beauty.
FACE
Kiehl’s Epidermal Re-texturizing Microdermabrasion – Your skin is constantly renewing itself. Why not encourage the process? Use this treatment once a week or once every two weeks. Slough off those dead skin cells.
Additional help with dark spots:
Besides wearing a hat when going out in the sun, try alternating the microdermabrasion treatment with Sunday Riley’s Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment (not as scary as it sounds) or for serious skin sloughing, use Venofye’s Facial Peeling sparingly.
La Mer – They have the best cleansing foam that gets your skin squeaky clean. I religiously use their concentrate or revitalizing rehydrating serum, eye concentrate, the treatment lotion, pats of their legendary moisturizing cream, and the face oil. Pat. Pat. Pat. It’s a ritual. Prepare to get compliments on your skin.
When you take care of your skin, you find you don’t need to use a whole lot of make up.
HAIR
Nuxe huile prodigieuse oil – As one ages, the hair tends to lose shine and luster. Let’s get that back. After showering or styling your hair, pump two sprays of Nuxe oil onto the palm of your hand and massage palms together and apply to hair. You can start mid-length and work your way toward the ends. Pat any excess oil on your décolletage.
Wella Root Shoot – Thin fine hair can leave you with flat limp hair. Because of its tiny nozzle, the mousse delivers wonderful volume in places where you need it. You have to really examine your hair to your face shape and determine what looks good. I just need volume on the sides of my face, the space between my brows, going to my ears.
Strategically apply the mousse around the crown and then massage in. Blow dry the hair upside down if you prefer. A spare toothbrush or a Kitsch edge brush sprayed with a bit of hairspray can tame stubborn flyaways.
You can also use the best-smelling, best dry shampoo of all time: Oribe Gold Lust Dry Shampoo.
Voila effortless French girl hair.
MAKE UP
Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation – Bobbi Brown is a makeup artist who was one of the first makeup artists in the 90s to create yellow-based foundations. It was groundbreaking. She’s a pioneer in her craft. Her true-to-skin tone foundations feel airy on the face. Not too heavy.
3 swipes test: At the makeup counter, swipe 3 shades that might match your skin tone across your cheek and then go outside in natural daylight to see which is the closest shade that blends naturally with your skin. The one that closely matches your skin tone (face and neck) is your perfect shade. (Mind you that your skin gets darker in summer and lighter in winter. If you don’t want to have two shades on hand, use bronzer in the winter. Here’s the best video on applying bronzer.)
Tip: For more coverage, use Bobbi Brown’s Skin Foundation Stick as an alternative.
Cle de Peau concealer – Do the 3 swipes test to match your perfect shade. This concealer helps with the dark circles under the eyes and covers the most stubborn of dark age spots.
You can also pair with Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat All Over Brightening Pen if your eyes and face look and feel tired. Use the pen on your smile lines.
Anastasia Beverly Hills brows – As one ages, the brows appear sparse with less color. Try to precisely match the shade to your natural brow color (or hair color) and follow your brows natural shape. Use a light hand when applying color to the brows. I use the Brow Definer pencil in Ash Brown. You’re probably going to go through several shades until you find the right one. The perfect shade won’t look artificial (too brown, too red, too black) but will blend into your hair and skin around your brows naturally without looking too harsh and Groucho Marx clownish. You can use their pomade or brow gel to set. (Helpful video of Anastasia applying brow makeup.)
Jones Road Miracle Balm – After Bobbi Brown left her Bobbi Brown Cosmetics company in 2016, she founded Jones Road in 2020. The innovative Miracle Balm she created truly adds dewiness and warmth to the face. Your skin just looks better with it on.
As one grows older, the skin starts to get drier. The Jones Road Miracle Balm is really great for mature skin especially during the winter months. (Here’s a good video on the different color swatches. And here’s another video of Bobbi Brown introducing her various Miracle Balms.)
For less stickiness, always use face powder before patting on the balm. My go-to face powder is Make Up Forever’s Ultra HD Microfinishing Pressed Powder.
BODY
Le Labo perfume – One should own two perfume scents. One to use for fall/winter and the other for spring/summer. I use Le Labo during the cold months. Deep and musky. Intoxicating and heady. Your favorite scent will be your signature for that special (or potentially special) someone to pleasantly remember you by when you’re no longer in the room. Perfume must be wielded with a gentle hand. Lightly dab only on your pulse points or spray the perfume only once in the air and walk through its mist. Also, just by smelling it on yourself it enhances your overall mood just a bit.
Note: If you’re not going to use your Le Labo perfume/cologne for a while, keep it in a cool refrigerator to prolong its scent.
Sezane – Wearing a Sezane piece is like wearing a work of art. Something in the way that the French make clothing that just feels like it’s naturally tailored to flatter whomever wears it. I remember a lady made a beeline toward me while I was shopping for groceries just to compliment my Sezane blouse. I hope she was inspired to get one.
To bring out your French girl style, watch clips from ParisianVibe for inspiration.
Elle Peyarre - The Magazine 