Depending on who you ask, beauty seems to have a strict set of rules and regulations. Following these trends is overwhelmingly difficult to keep up with, especially as a woman ages. Let's be honest ladies, we simply don't look the way we once did. Now, this is not a bad thing whatsoever but, a lot of women, including myself, tend to get caught up in the way a certain celebrity looks, or we are consumed by the desire to look eighteen again. Naturally, a woman ages! Our skin isn't as smooth as it used to be, the bags under our eyes get a little heavier, and maybe we even took on a new shape! Of course, we can surely thank our life stresses for this too. Aging, for a woman, is difficult but it certainly has its positives along with its negatives. I talked with a beautiful mother of three children, forty-five year old Yvonne Wooley, about her ideas of beauty and aging, you'll love and relate to what she has to say.
It happens to everyone, aging, what are your feelings about aging and how it effects your personal ideas about beauty along with society's ideas about beauty?
I'll admit that aging is a hard pill to swallow. Looking in the mirror and seeing change, what feels like overnight, is tough. Personally I feel that aging does have the potential to negatively affect how beautiful I think I am but, it doesn't have to. I believe that it is important to embrace your changes and realize that beauty is specific to the individual. I like rocking my gray hairs from time to time, but I also enjoy box dying to cover them up. As far as aging and beauty goes, I definitely do feel outside pressures that society puts on women to look a certain way. Apparently, we aren't supposed to let any grays come out, or have bags under our eyes, have loser skin, etc, but the reality is that it comes with older age. It's up to me whether or not I want to create my own standards for beauty or listen to what everyone else has to say about it.
What do you feel is the biggest factor that contributes to aging in women?
The sun! The sun does damage to our skin that makes us look older, wrinkled, and can even contribute to uneven skin tones. I have a fair/olive complexion and after only a couple of hours being in the sun, I feel like I look burned and tired. It's not a good look, it makes me look a lot older than I actually am. Looking older is not a bad thing, but I would like to look my age. I always tell my children to wear sunscreen, especially my girls. It's important to protect that skin!
Can you share one positive aspect of aging as a woman?
I sure can. I think all women can agree that with aging comes wisdom, and I'm not just talking about knowledge that comes from life experiences. As a woman in her forties, I enjoy the fact that I get to learn new ways to feel comfortable in my skin, and also to find new beauty secrets to put in action. These are things that I would never have learned if I wasn't aging! So look on the bright side, you can learn new things and they help you to feel better about yourself, internal beauty, and your looks.
What do you do to feel beautiful?
I've always been all about the natural look. You know, the "no-makeup, makeup" look and less is always more to me. I do enjoy my Bare-minerals, coloring my hair darker, and cutting my hair into cute short do's. I realize this is not everyone's ideal look but it makes me feel good!
After hearing from Yvonne, has your outlook on aging changed? I know mine has! Aging is a beautiful process, as woman you can either fully embrace and accept it, or take the necessary steps to slow it down. It's all about what makes you happy.
It's never too late to feel beautiful.
