Not Fade Away
It would seem that some people are reluctant to relinquish their time in the sun. The Baby Boomers are a self-centred lot!!
With all the freedom afforded to young people after the end of the 2nd world war and in its turn rationing, if you were talented, it was an intoxicatingly alluring path to becoming a singer or a model or an actor. Next step was to hold the stage with great panache and swagger and become an adored icon.
Have you noticed how many ageing rock stars are playing at festivals up and down the country this summer? Their original fans will be donning sensible sun hats to protect the bald spots along with open toed sandals and taking up space that should be filled with the young!
These very rock stars will be prancing around hoping their bad knees hold out and their hands can still form the chords needed to play their hits. Painfully thin is in their minds equal to being young but instead they look like skinny fourteen year olds from the back and scary old men from the front. Wearing black trainers, trailing scarves and excessive jewellery with what is left of their hair artfully arranged they think they are still in their twenties.
Along with the dinosaur bands the super models from the Sixties and seventies are still plying their wares albeit with softer focus, looser fitting clothes and an enormous amount of help from lighting and make-up. These two things are easy to understand as most of the disposable income in the country is in the hands of a generation who still just want to have fun.
It is clear that these doyennes of the Sixties are not seeing themselves clearly what with their massive egos blocking out the sun and all.
They are not doing it for the money – they have plenty of that - but for the adulation. If your every move since the age of nineteen has been applauded it’s a hard thing to give up.
The biggest hits for this crowd cited dying before they got old, talking about their generation and getting some satisfaction before senility set in! All sentiments that they now sing about with not a trace of irony.
But what about the loyal fans and their view of life? The generational divide was so much easier decades ago. Middle age was middle age and did not start, as it does now, in your late sixties. You knew when to step down and leave the spotlight to the younger crowd.
It is after all a young person’s game and sooner or later one should leave the stage gracefully (to do other great things of course) and become a mentor to the new comers rather than hindering their success. It is hard to grow if you are always in the shadows.
When do you decide that arena concerts are too loud and crowded? At what point do you decide that parts of your body are better left uncovered? And why shouldn’t you wear a bikini in your sixties if you have the figure to pull it off?
Well, all of that is personal choice but one that should be arrived at with some smidgen of dignity.
Skin is a fickle thing; pretending everything is fine and then overnight deciding to sag and wrinkle, throwing up areas of uneven pigmentation, age spots and the final insult; removing that bounce you took for granted.
Do not despair, it is never too late to administer damage control. However, if all is still well, then you should take some offensive action today. Even people in their nineties can build muscle and regain stamina. At some point we start to desiccate from the inside out leading to papery dry skin and brittle hair.
Wrinkles form because the skin is thinner and less elastic. Bones become more visible as there is less fat stored under the skin. Excessive dieting can lead to an unattractive gauntness so eat up! Lack of moisture in the body leads to problem hair and ridged nails. Using a good leave in conditioner and applying cuticle oil to the nails and cuticles each day will soon bring good results.
The sun is a devil in disguise. There is nothing like the warmth and well being that comes from lying in the sun all day. You sleep better, your skin is golden making your eyes look sparkly and setting off those bright colours shunned in winter.
All those summers spent basking in the sun will be coming back to bite you now with the face and the thin skinned areas of the neck and décolleté taking the hardest hit. Blotchiness, red spots, ruddiness, extreme dryness and even rosacea are things to contend with even as early as your twenties. Wearing an SPF15 everyday will slow down anything else developing while a BB or CC cream can do wonders with covering up the unwelcome rosy glow.
BB creams offer coverage with built in SPF and some anti-oxidants. Lighter than a foundation but heavier than a tinted moisturiser. You may be reluctant to apply enough to ensure the SPF level works as it adds colour so layer this over your regular sun block.
CC creams are colour correcting and are lighter with a more whipped consistency than BB creams but less heavy than foundation. CC creams do a great job of covering redness and sallowness.
Foundation is the last stop in correcting uneven tone and with its many shades means you can get an exact match to your own skin. Some people find that using a BB cream as a primer then putting their foundation over the top very successful for coverage with benefits.
As with all these products different brands give different coverage so it’s worth testing them out on the backs of your hands, that are probably suffering from sun damage also, and will give a good indication of which one is right for you.
So if you are venturing out to a festival this summer don’t forget to cover up and make sure you stay hydrated. Remember that those old rockers will have had a nap in the afternoon to give them the staying power to stay up later than the ten o’clock news but you may still see a yawn or two.
Happy Trails, Reader, Happy Trails . . .
First Published July 2013 By The Dart
