The Baby Boomer Woman’s Guide to Looking Younger than Your Age
Can you really accurately guess a person’s age? I think it is the hardest thing to do. Is a child 2, 3 or 4? Is a teenager 13 or 17? Is a Baby Boomer woman 51, 59 or 72? We take lots of things into consideration when we make age judgments – physical body, dressing, posture, words and attitude.
When a woman says she wants to look younger than her age, it is about perceptions and expectations. Today’s Baby Boomer woman has grown up and participated more openly and actively in society than her mother. She will usually have worked longer, be better off financially, healthier, travelled more and have a global rather than a small community awareness.
As we age, we fear becoming invisible, overlooked and not actively contributing to society. It is stagnation we fear more than growth. Stagnation makes others perceive you as being older.
Each day you live you are getting older. If you stop to think about what age you want to be perceived as being, it is more about being active, noticeable, vital, energetic and seen as a valuable consumer.
Here’s my three-point Baby Boomer woman’s guide to looking younger than your age.
Your Skin
As you stayed in or came back into the workforce, you have been judged on your skin. Australians spend $300 million a year on Botox to get rid of facial wrinkles. Some of that amount includes men. Women have always been judged more on looks than men and many industries have judged older women harshly. Botox was seen as the No 1 way to look years younger.
It is changing as now the UK President of the Plastic Surgeons Association says ‘looking younger was never about wrinkles’. It is about skin tone and texture. The young have clearer dewy skin. He admits that plastic surgery cannot create that. So skin care and cosmetic retailers, MLM companies and beauty therapists provide products that reduce the pigmentation of aging and add ‘light’ to create a younger, dewy look. It’s a massive growth industry.
Look after your skin and choose the products and treatments that fit your budget and your environmental focus.
Your Hair & Makeup
After your skin tone, people notice your hair and makeup. Grey hair does not necessarily age you nor does coloured hair always make you look younger. Our skin tone lightens with age: so add lighter variations of your basic colour to keep your hair looking natural. It is easy to recognise when a woman is trying too hard to look younger.
Keep your hairstyle modern. A small tweak can make you look younger and slimmer regardless of your wrinkles. We judge a woman’s age on how current her hairstyle looks.
It’s the same with makeup. Modern makeup is more natural than heavy. So is eye makeup and lipstick. How long has it been since you changed your foundation, eye shadow, eyebrow pencil and lipstick colours? Eyebrows (particularly thin shapes and darkly pencilled colours) are aging giveaways.
Your Clothes
Women’s fashion has always been in evolution. Yes, styles are recycled but they are never interpreted exactly the same way. Because your clothing covers a large proportion of your body, its prominence is a focus for guessing your age. First impressions count.
It’s not about slavishly following every trend or sticking rigidly to one style forever. It’s about being selective. Choose what suits you and interpret it in modern, stylish ways to look ‘current and individual’. That’s the secret.
That’s why I write for you and offer Colour & Image Services to keep you vital, energetic and current.
Last Words
As a Baby Boomer woman you have to decide how you want your physical appearance and dress to be perceived. Is it as being a certain age or as having a certain ageless attitude?
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