Miss MoneyPenny is going to rant and rave, so if you don't want to hear it, stop now.
I was reading an article in a magazine the other day that really irritated me. It was about how to be beautiful in your 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. What? What about me? I don't remember waking up on my 60th birthday and looking into the mirror and seeing somebody different than the day before, when I was in my 50s. What are those idiot ad guys thinking? Who do they think has all the money, anyway?
I'm sure I'm not the only woman who was washing her face every night with Noxzema when I was 10. In my neighborhood, all the girls were at least two years older, except Little Miss SmartyPants, who was four years younger and working on her attitude. Sometimes, the older girls, who I worshipped, would let me hang around with them if I could keep myself under control. I learned how to rat my hair and apply eyeliner. I remember feeling so cool once when they let me walk up to the service station with them for a Tab.
Anyway, I was really hooked on cosmetics at an early age. I never left the house without my face and still don't. But as I have gotten older, I've become sensitive to almost everything. No more hair dye, no perms, no eye makeup and most body lotions and washes. Maybe these ad guys are onto something, because most of my friends have the same problem. So, what ends up happening is, cosmetics become more expensive. You have to buy them at department stores and they are never on sale and you can't use coupons. Bummer. What to do?
I remember reading an article in a magazine that said as you age, use less makeup. I was in my 20s and didn't get it at the time, but it stayed in my head. I'm down to Cetaphil for washing my face and body, Origins Precipitation body lotion, Lancome Absolute moisturizer, Revlon foundation and lipstick, eyebrow pencil, Mac blusher, Youth Dew Perfume, Origins Make a Difference hand cream and Pantene. That's it. Everything else makes me break out into itchy bumps or makes my eyes swell shut. I guess that article was right because I sure am using less products.
The Origins and Lancome are pretty expensive. The way I work the Origins is wait until it hits the Ebates daily double and go for it. The body lotion is $58 for 33.8 ounces, so I need two a year. The hand cream is $19.50 and I go through about six of those a year. I get free shipping and 8% back on my Ebates account. That's about $19 straight into my Ebates account. The Lancome is about $150 for two ounces at Macy's. I get it on Ebay for about $25 with free shipping. Revlon and Pantene go on sale regularly and there is always coupons for them. I get Cetaphil at Target, on sale, or at Costco. The rest, I just suck it up and pay for it.
Those ad guys can't really make a lot of money on us Boomer Babes because we are too smart to waste our money on their ridiculous claims, so they aren't going to include us in their articles on beauty. We know we can't turn back the clock and who wants to? It would be nice to read articles that address our beauty issues, though. Until then, we just make it up as it comes, and I think we are doing a pretty good job of it. Sixty is the new sixty and we are lookin' good.
Miss Money Penny and I are alike in a lot of areas (we even sound like each other on the phone. It was always fun to talk on the phone to MMP's favorite ex.), however, the makeup thng is where we part ways. Unlike Miss Money Penny, I'm the one that happens to look in the rear view mirror before I get out at the store and realize that I (once again) didn't put any part of my face on. I always remember to brush my teeth though :-). Since beauty products have never been a priority in my life, I have always just copied MMP and use whatever she uses. She always knows which products are the best bang for the buck. When I was younger I thought that her make-up bag was community property and helped myself to it. That was a BIG mistake! I still have the scars to prove it. I don't have any allergies, so she gives me the products that don't work for her and more savings for me. So, my time and money savings hint for beauty products is to use someone else's ideas and research, then you can use the extra time and money savings backpacking and kayaking.
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