It may be my upcoming 50th birthday, but it seems that everywhere I go, everything I read, all the events I've been invited to recently have been about fighting aging. I've ended up with several "firsts" this week, most likely jumping into the anti-aging game with a little more bounce and enthusiasm to squeeze all I can out of my waning 40's.
I had my first microdermabrasion treatment on Saturday. A friend is running a new salon, Ko'an in Beverly Hills. They make all natural compounds onsite. This treatment was less intense than most apparently because it used Vitamin C to gently "peel" the skin. It felt amazing and I must say my skin looked fabulous, and my face looked more rested than it actually is. I am a new fan.
Before this week I had never heard of Bentonite clay before, but on Monday my accupuncturist prescribed taking some in pill form for a virus I'm trying to get out of my system. I found it in powder form and started reading about it.
Turns out, you can ingest it, bathe in it, pack it on your skin -- heck you can probably clean your oven with it! I did it all, except the oven. And, I must say my skin does look better. (I also had a massive poison oak rash on my neck, and it instantly relieved it.) I have now done so much in one week, my face looks like I'm 7 years old. Too bad the rest of me is so old.
As I soaked in the hot Bentonite clay bath, with a Bentonite clay mask on my time-traveling face, I read the magazine I picked up at the health food store where I got the clay. I never give much thought to my lips, other than throwing Origins Lip Gloss on them or Jo Malone Vitamin E Lip Conditioner (that I happened to buy on the fly one cold dry day in London when buying perfume). Well, to my dismay our lips age. I don't remember looking at either of my grandmas -- or anyone else's grandma for that matter -- and thinking "Holy Hell I hope my lips don't look like THAT when I'm her age!"
I am so NOT a 'girly' girl.
It turns out we should be exfoliating them too. I am certain I am the last person on Planet Earth to hear this, but the recommendation was to brush your lips with your toothbrush and then put Aloe Vera on them. We I put Aloe and Vitamin E on my face every day so I am usually smearing it on my lips accidentally, because, again, I'm so not girly.
I use a Sonicare toothbrush, so last night I tried brushing the old lips. I have to say it felt really good. And, wouldn't ya know it: my lips are like a nine month old baby's! Not quite, but they are definitely soft after two brushings. Mostly, I like the feeling, but we'll see how long it lasts.
In one week my face has been abrated, mud-packed and Sonicared in ways it has never before experienced. I think my face is saying "Really? Is this what we're going to be doing from here on out? Waging a Holy War against aging?"
I think I'll probably ease into it once the 50 hits, but for the last 2 weeks of 40-something I may very well be manifesting invitations like the one I got an hour ago -- a new anti-aging spa is opening up down the street from my house. The open house will be two days into my 50th year: martinis and age-reversing mini-treatments will be served. We'll see. By then my lips may look so damn young I won't be able to leave the house because I'll look like such a baby-lipped freak.
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