At some point in your life you will read some finger-wagging article that will tell warn you that everything changes once you hit 40, that without warning your hair will thin, your skin will dry and your boobs will sag so low you’ll need a harness to lug them around.
Product-shilling and scare tactics aside, the glossies aren’t wrong: shit WILL fall off when you hit your 40s. But…also in your 20s. And your 30s. In other words, the body is constantly ageing, so the spotlight on 40-somethings is a Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!-level mystery.
Glossies tell you that anti-ageing options are the same across the board: you can stick to a legacy brand wrinkle cream from the day your mum passes its praises down to you; you can swear off the sun and resort to sunglasses, brimmed hats and a daily dose of Vitamin D; you can spend a small-but-worth-it fortune on creams, serums, light therapy and jade rollers; you can call your dermatologist and sign up for the latest laser technology that will burn the old right off of you; and/or you can bite the bullet and get yourself to a med-spa and have them (chemical) peel every last laugh line off of your face.
What the glossies never tell you is the most important thing you need to know: ageing is whatever you make it. But if you’ve opted to nip-tuck-suck the wrinkles out of your body, well, ageing is no longer something that happens to you; it’s a decision you can — through the wonders of retinols, lasers, and innovative beauty start-ups — somewhat control (or at least manipulate to your advantage).
Like every Midlifer I have a handful of friends who swear they’ll never let a needle touch their face, that they’re choosing to live their best life and happily display every well-earned wrinkle, Botox be damned. As the years pass and the perky-boobed 20-something body gives way to the everything-catches-up-to-you body, friends begin to question whether they were hasty with their knife-free martyrdom. Sure, we discuss over rosé-fuelled weekend brunches: ageing is hard, but accepting your ageing body might be one of the biggest obstacles you’ll ever face.
As friends we don’t agree on everything (should Carrie have married Mr. Big???), but we do agree that it’s a daily struggle to love every wrinkle and grey hair without reaching for the concealer and hair dye, and we’d be lying if we said that we don’t want to look on the outside how we feel on the inside.
How you choose to age is your choice, whether you choose to proudly show every wrinkle or have a cosmetic surgeon on speed dial. In the end, it’s all about you and how you wish to put your best face forward.
Let every hair flip be fabulous.
XOXO
Le Snobbery
original photo by les anderson || manipulation by built this cool
Le Snobbery 