In a hilarious and hugely popular episode of I Love Lucy, Lucy Ricardo touts the myriad benefits of Vitameatavegamin for a TV commercial and proclaims that the answer to all your problems is only a great big tablespoonful away.
Sure, many busy caregivers to seniors may wish that it were that simple as they find themselves putting themselves last on a to-do list. The thought of making and keeping even a hair appointment hardly crosses their mind. They have others depending on them, who may have multiple medical appointments or even behavioral issues to manage. Caregivers may be trying to keep the boss from noticing their many sick days, and trying to keep all the balls in the air at once. This can leave them exhausted and with little or no time to take care of themselves.
Self-care however, is so important. We must take the time and invest in ourselves to not only feel good but look good as well. With the right products and planning in place, you can set up a workable beauty routine right at home.
Best of all, looking good and feeling good doesn’t have to break the bank and it can be fun and easy. Here are a few suggestions and product recommendations to help boost your mood and lift your spirit:
The Eyes Have It
Give your face an instant eye lift with face-framing brows.
As we start to age, our brows begin to thin out but we can fill them in with these easy to use products that will give you a natural, non-Sharpie effect.
- L’Oreal Paris, Brow Stylist Definer has a fine tip you can use to draw in hair-like lines and it comes with a brush for blending.
- Joah Brow Down To Me Precision Brow Pencil is another fine-tipped pencil that comes in a wide range of shades, as does the
- Nyx Micro Brow Pencil, which is also available in deeper cool tones.
Once you’re done, you can set your brows with a coat of clear mascara such as the Maybelline New York Great Lash Clear Mascara for Lash and Brows.
Want To Make Your Skin Glow?
Put some acid on it! Sound crazy? Not so.
There are many acids on the market that target specific skin concerns such as dull discolored skin, a loss of firmness, and fine lines and wrinkles. You just have to try them out and see how your skin responds to different acids.
- Start off with something like Hyaluronic Acid plus Vitamin C serum from Timeless Skin Care, which is formulated to brighten and hydrate the skin. A similar product, and exceptionally well-reviewed product, is available from TruSkin.
- Ascorbic Acid, also known as Vitamin C is another popular acid that is great for building collagen and brightening up lackluster skin. Timeless Skin Care also makes a 20% Vitamin C + E Ferulic Acid Serum known as “The Brightener,” which is fantastic.
Perhaps the gold standard for building collagen, increasing firmness, treating fine lines and wrinkles, discoloration, and reversing sun damage is retinoic acid, commonly known as tretinoin or Retin-A.
This is available by prescription and can be rather expensive, not to mention irritating if you start off at a high strength.
An alternative for obtaining prescription tretinoin is to order it online through Curology.
What is Curology you ask? The Curology.com website states that:
Curology makes a custom skincare formula just for you. A licensed dermatology provider evaluates your skin profile, skin type, and medical history, and prescribes a custom mix of three simple ingredients.
Their prices start at $19.95 and I think the products are worth every penny. But, you can be the judge.
Play Up Your Color Game
Many of us have been holed up indoors and unable to get to our local parks and beaches the past few months and that can definitely leave our skin looking washed out and pale but the right products can bring sallow skin back to life.
- Let’s start with some bronzer. Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer is a great option and it comes in a wide range of shades. Just sweep that across your nose and forehead and your friends will think you spent a day out under the sun.
- Not a fan of bronzer? No problem. Put a bright pop of color on the top of your cheeks and blend back towards your ears. Milani makes a beautiful Rose Powder Blush so named by the actual rose-shaped blush in the pan. My favorite is the light pinky nude shade called Romantic Rose.
- Want to play up your pout? You’ll want to reach for one of Maybelline’s Superstay Ink Crayons. These matte lipsticks are highly pigmented, long-lasting, and super comfortable to wear. There’s sure to be shade just for you and best of all, they don’t dry out your lips and they don’t bleed into lip wrinkles so don’t be afraid to reach for the red.
Graying Gracefully? You Decide
Many of us have also had to take a DIY approach to our regularly scheduled personal service appointments as hair and nail salons have been closed during the pandemic.
But there’s no need to fear. Here are some ideas to keep you looking beautiful from head to toe.
You might have already noticed that many celebrities like Diane Keaton, Helen Mirren, and Meryl Streep are rocking their natural gray hair and they look amazing but are you ready to go gray all the way?
If you’re not quite ready to take the plunge, then read on for the best products to cover up the grey.
- Go gray another day with products from Clairol and L’Oreal. The Clairol Nice & Easy and L’Oreal Excellence Creme are probably the best permanent hair color for covering grays and both come in more than 40 shades which give the hair a great multidimensional natural color.
- If you’re only looking for a touch-up, then reach for Clairol’s Permanent Root Touch-Up which will blend your roots out seamlessly with your existing shade.
- In a pinch, you can spray away the gray with L’Oreal’s Magic Root Cover Up, which is super quick and easy and will last one shampoo.
If you’re ready to embrace a new look, then you’ll have to take a few things into consideration as you grow out your grays.
- Understand that it’ll be a lot easier if you’re starting out with blond to light brown hair.
- For those with dark brown to black hair, the transition to gray will take a bit longer and require a few more steps.
Either way, you’ll want to start by coloring your gray roots a shade lighter than your base color.
- Then, you will want to highlight the rest of your hair also with a lighter color to help lighten the all-over color and blend the roots with the rest of your hair.
- You will have to repeat this process until the desired result is achieved, which may take six months to a year depending on how dark and how long your hair is to begin with.
- You should also wait six to eight weeks between highlights to prevent damage or hair breakage.
- Make sure you also read and follow all instructions precisely to prevent any unanticipated results.
Check out the products below that are best suited for your hair color.
- For medium to dark brown hair try Revlon Colorsilk Frost & Glow Highlighting Kit.
- For light to dark blonde hair, try the Clairol Highlighting Kit for the look of balayage highlights.
- For dark hair, the L’Oreal Couleur Experte Express allows you to change your base color and get highlights as well and they take the guesswork out of matching your highlights to the base.
Whatever you decide, treat your tresses to a deep conditioning masque once a week.
- Amika’s Soulfood Nourishing Mask with sea buckthorn berry is a great option to repair, restore and revitalize dry or damaged hair, plus it smells wonderful.
- Arvazallia Fortifying Protein Hair Mask infused with argan oil and macadamia oil helps to repair and strengthen brittle and thinning hair.
Need a Mani-Pedi?
Your hands have probably taken a beating with the extra hand-washing coupled with alcohol-laden hand sanitizer, so pamper your paws with Theraplex Barrier Balm for dry, sensitive skin.
Put on a generous layer of this super-emollient balm and work it into your hands and cuticles and then slip them into a pair of CARA Moisturizing Eczema Cotton Gloves. The next morning your hands will be super soft and hydrated and ready for another day.
Take a similar approach with your feet.
Try Kerasal, One Step Exfoliating Moisture Foot Therapy and put on a pair of soft cotton socks at night. The salicylic acid will help to soften the skin while the urea provides hydration.
Use a long-handled brush in the shower to give your feet a good scrubbing and all that yucky dead skin will slough right off leaving you with soft, pretty feet that are ready for sandals and summer weather.
In addition, it’s recommendable to use a proper nail strengthener regularly, there are very good choices online to get these from sites like Coteshop.
Slather On The SPF
Speaking of summer weather, don’t forget the sunscreen! When it comes to sunscreen don’t take a set it and forget it approach.
Find one that you like for your face and another for your body and apply liberally and reapply at least a couple of times a day. Here are a few suggestions to suit various needs and concerns.
- Best under makeup or worn alone. Australian gold botanical tinted sunscreen SPF 50.
- Best for deeper skin tones. Drunk Elephant Umbra Sheer Physical Daily Defense SPF 30.
- Best beach and sport sunscreen. Neutrogena Clear Body Breakout Free Oil-Free Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30.
- Best moisturizer with sunscreen. Cetaphil Oil Control Moisturizer SPF 30.
As you can see, there’s a sunscreen to suit everyone so there’s no excuse not to protect your skin from the sun’s damaging rays. This is even more important if you use tretinoin or other acids on your skin because these products can make your skin more photosensitive and the goal is to reverse the signs of aging.
Final Thoughts
There are so many ways to treat and pamper ourselves without feeling guilty or compromising our roles as wives, mothers, and caregivers, “so, why don’t you join all the thousands of happy peppy people” and invest in yourself today?
Sometimes all it takes is that perfect shade of red lipstick in a shiny black tube to give us the will and the boost that we need to make it through another day.
This post contains a sponsored link
Leave a Reply