As Wise Women, we strive to embrace the aging process and its precious gifts of wisdom and inner beauty. However, if we’re really honest with one another, we’ll also admit to concern (panic?) about what happens to our faces and bodies as we grow older. It’s OK for us to be old, less OK for us to look old.
And we all have our own personal phobias: gray hair, flabby upper arms, crow’s feet wrinkles or the dreaded double chin.
For those who fear the double (or more) chin, the Neckline Slimmer comes to the rescue! The device allows you to do resistance training to tone your neck muscles. I almost fell off the treadmill when I first saw the informercial for the Neckline Slimmer playing on the TV monitor at my gym. In addition to the remarkable before/after photos, the informercial has a live demonstration of someone (40+ woman, natch) using the Neckline Slimmer. In case the up-and-down head motion is too difficult to learn, a free training DVD is included.
What is wrong with us, ladies?!?!? Are we so desperate that we’re willing to shell out $19.95 plus S&H for this useless device? Do we really believe that “exercising” our neck for two minutes a day will produce such miraculous results? And, who can even nod their head for two minutes straight anyway? Go ahead – try nodding for even 30 seconds. I bet you’ll be dizzy after 10. Seriously, try it right now as you sit at your desk.
Now, before I get too high on my horse, I will confess that I have my own beauty hang-up about aging: wrinkly hands. Remember those Jergen’s hand lotion commercial featuring mothers and their adult daughters? And you had to guess whose wrinkle-free hands were whose? Well, those 1970’s commercials definitely made an impression on me as I’m obsessed about minimizing hand wrinkles. Weird, huh? I slather on hand lotion multiple times per day year-round. It’s even part of my morning ritual as I drive to work. There’s a certain long stop light where I lotion up. (Only the backs of my hands, mind you; otherwise, the steering wheel gets too slippery.) I like to think that my hands could be ready if Jergen’s decides to resurrect its old campaign and does a casting call.
Anyone else willing to fess up to a particular “sensitivity” about looking older?
8-11-2009 14:35:09
I laughed when I read about your hand lotion in-car routine, because I am guilty of the same (even down to doing just the backs of my hands)! My other addiction is eye cream, despite the fact that my dermatologist says they really don’t accomplish too much (I’m convinced that I see a difference, though!).
8-12-2009 08:20:46
I hear ya. I recently battled a weird rash on my forehead after using a new retinol product (I posted something on it on 50-something Moms blog). Deep down, I think we all know that these products don’t work, but as long as advertisers and beauty editors make us feel flawed for getting older, we’ll be sucked in…
8-16-2009 21:19:45
I now keep Neutrogena high-octane hand cream in my purse – I think it’s approved for fishermen or some such thing. In the winter I wear latex gloves when I do dishes because if I don’t my hands take an awful beating.