How do you handle your appearance asyou age?

Hi, I am 79 years old and can relate so much to your post. So many of us have had the same feelings and I talk about it with my sisters a lot. There’s five of us all over 60. You’re definitely not alone. When I saw your photo I thought you looked wonderful. When I go out I am so focused on staying upright that I don’t notice or think about how others look.

@ginger123 I wasn’t restricted from wearing makeup (and sunblock especially where I live), aside from eye makeup which I had to give up years ago because I have those eyelids that are “hooded” à la Charlotte Rampling. When wearing mascara started turning my eyelids black because the ends of my eyelashes kept hitting them, I gave up eye makeup.
I use several serums and moisturizers, a layer of EltaMD UV AOX Elements Broad-Spectrum SPF 50 sunscreen on my face (plain old Coppertone Sport 50 on my neck, ears and arms), and then lightly pat one of three makeups that I like, from low cost Selena Gomez, to Estée Lauder Futurist to expensive (buy it when it goes on sale 25% off) but the lightest, most forgiving of wrinkles Koh Gen Doh on top.
I would love to go makeup free but I spent my youth sunbathing on the beaches of Southern California and was outdoors all the time and my fair skin now has discolorations and lots of little broken blood vessels and I just look better and feel better, with a little something to even out my complexion. I will say, that many times, the tinted sunblock is just fine. It’s pricy but worth it and I reserve it for my face. I’ve had a lot of those actinic keratosis things removed from my face and even now, I’ve just had my ears blasted a second time with that frozen nitrogen to take off pre-cancerous spots. I now put sunblock on my ears as well. I live in the Southwest, high altitude and our sun here is intense. I wish that I had taken better care of my skin when I was young, but I started early enough I guess that my dermatologist is happy with how much damage I’ve managed to avoid. I like The Ordinary products for low cost serums and stock up when they have their annual 23% off sale. I also like CeraVe products which are low cost, found in my supermarket and seem to work just as well as more expensive brands. I also like La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer which is moderately priced and Trader Joe’s moisturizer. I often mix all three in my palm and apply to my face and neck, as they range from thin to thick and have different ingredients in them. I wait to buy the Estée Lauder makeup that I like, until they offer their free gifts with purchase and then I get their lovely moisturizers for free.
I understand that Trader Joe’s has a really good vitamin C and a good Retin A product as well, but I haven’t found them in our Trader Joe’s yet, but I don’t get there very often. They are highly rated and inexpensive.

@kildaren96 Lots of good info here! Always love to get new sources for creams. Thanks for taking the time to write!

I'm a 73 year old man and hopefully I don't offend anyone, but I think that shorter hair looks better on most senior ladies. I have seen some women who can pull off the long hair look, but I have also seen many others who look 10 years older because of their long hair. This is not a criticism, just an opinion for anyone looking for one.

@kjoed53

I am an 83 year old woman who never mastered her hair, long or short. It always looks bad. But, this is a love story. My husband who noticed me when we were both 20 always said the thing which he saw first and intrigued him the most about me was my messy hair. We were married for 55 years until he passed.

I'm a 73 year old man and hopefully I don't offend anyone, but I think that shorter hair looks better on most senior ladies. I have seen some women who can pull off the long hair look, but I have also seen many others who look 10 years older because of their long hair. This is not a criticism, just an opinion for anyone looking for one.

@kjoed53 It isn't offensive for you to have that opinion. I tend to agree.

I am 70 and have long hair, below my shoulders; but 90% of the time I wear it up in an elegant "bun" style; my hair wants to naturally do this and it is so simple and easy each morning.

Even at 70 I am a blonde (still - it is genetics with Scandanavians I believe) but I do have some grey. My grey blends well with the blonde therefore it is hard to tell what is grey and what is blonde. I don't do any color dying or highlighting, I just keep my hair clean and shiny, smooth.

While I agree many women look better with shorter hair as they get older, and I wear mine up because it lifts my facial features. My hair is impossible when it is cut short. This is due to the way it grows: half straight and half curly. I also don't have a pretty shaped head to wear a short style, so the up swept bun makes my head a prettier shape. A win-win situation.

Wish I did have a pretty shaped head which is conducive to a short haircut, because it sure would be cooler and easier to wash each day. However, I look like a "pin-head" with short hair! This because I am tall, strong built, not petite (I am active athletic).

I'd look like a gay woman if I wore a short hair style. A woman has to have certain features to wear a short hair style or just not care what short looks like on them, i.e. "masculine".

It makes me feel ugly having my hair cut short. I don't have a beautiful shaped head like Jamie Lee Curtis or Halle Berry.

I'm a 73 year old man and hopefully I don't offend anyone, but I think that shorter hair looks better on most senior ladies. I have seen some women who can pull off the long hair look, but I have also seen many others who look 10 years older because of their long hair. This is not a criticism, just an opinion for anyone looking for one.