Twiggy and gamine catwalk waifs pull off this look super well. Those of us over, say 40, do not. Mascara coated lower lashes draw attention to under eye imperfections like dark circles, crow's feet and hyperpigmentation.
Try this instead: If a dramatic eye is what you're after with all that mascara, you're better off making the most of your top lashes by curling them using a lash primer (lashes get thin and dry as we age) and layering on the blackest mascara you can get your mitts on. Apply it in an up and out motion starting from as close to the root as possible.
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High School Hair
You graduated in the last century but still have the same hairstyle you wore on page 68 of the yearbook. Sound familiar? You're so not alone. Unless you're a ballerina who needs her hair long enough for a bun or have some other occupational need, there's no excuse for being stuck in such a style rut -- so, let's get you out of it. In her book, "How Not to Look Old," longtime beauty editor, Charla Krupp says, "That long, straight flat hair parted down the middle from your teens and twenties will only accentuate your current age."
Try this instead: Krupp recommends bangs, saying that they "are a cheap and easy way to chic up your look." And, that they "also accentuate the positive and camouflage the negative." (Think forehead wrinkle coverage.) And that a "soft fringe of hair falling along the side of your face draws attention up to your eyes and deflects scrutiny from your jaw."
We are a nation obsessed. Oh, not just with the comings, goings and bikini-bod barings of C-list celebrities. Not just with dancing and singing and bad behavior-condoning reality shows. But with aging, wrinkles and sagging -- and, of course, with how to undo all of it.
For centuries, countless cultures have honored and revered their elders (wrinkles and all) but, these days, we worship and kowtow to youth. Think that's all just media hype? Think again.
In 2010 we doled out a mind-boggling $10.7 billion for cosmetic procedures. And, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 2,437,165 of us got Botox injected into our wrinkles while another 1.3 million had fillers injected into theirs.
Then there's the $115.5 billion we spend annually on anti-aging skin care products -- those topical creams and potions and lotions that we hope will undo the toll time has taken on our faces and bodies. Not to mention the vast array of anti-aging supplements (resveratrol, collagen boosters, oral hyaluronic acid) that now pepper the shelves of both vitamin shops and beauty aisles alike.
Yes, we women (though last year men had 750,000 cosmetic procedures done -- some for anti-aging purposes) want to recapture our youth and will, it seems, stop at nothing to do it. But here's the irony; there are seven egregious everyday errors that women make with their hair, makeup and other aspects of their physical appearance that make them look older than they are. That's right, seven relatively simple-to-fix things that you can start doing today to take years off your looks.
