Sixty Really Isn’t The New Forty

by Linda Franklin

Do you ever catch a glimpse of yourself as you walk by a store window?  For a split second you wonder who is that woman?  Then reality hits.  It’s you.

As I age,  I find the disparity between how I feel on the inside and how I look on the outside grows ever greater. Some days I feel 20; others 35; on a bad day, perhaps 45 But more than that? Never. 

It’s scary heading for senior status in a society that places so much premium on being young.  Women over 60 complain they become invisible, ble — unless, of course, they happen to be Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda or Helen Mirren.

In a room full of women you can have a great debate on the right way and the wrong way to handle aging. How do you live life as a 60-something to the fullest, without behaving like a fool.  Should women succumb to aging gracefully or is disgracefully the way to go?  

Unlike for our mothers’ generation, there’s no road map for being a woman of 60-plus today. It strikes me there’s a good, a bad and an ugly to this state of affairs. On the upside, far from slowing down, for many women fun and freedom beckon in their seventh decade

Fashion may, for the most part, be aimed at the young, but there’s plenty of grown-up glamor to be found in upmarket labels. There’s no excuse for being a fashion frump, whatever your age.

The majority of women I know approaching 60 continue to work.  Many of them because they are the sole source of income, others because they love what they do.  But, then there are the women who spend their days shopping and doing the granny shift.  

It’s interesting that the divorce rate of folks 60-plus has increased.  The idea that divorce and starting over is the cure for the disease of old age is becoming increasingly common currency. While increasing numbers of 50 and 60-somethings are busy playing sex gods and sirens on the internet, many are discovering that finding a mate late in life is no easy task.

When friends’ marriages end in their 50s, the women discovered the joys of sex and dating anew. But now they’re in their 60s, they are facing up to the fact that they may have to spend the rest of their lives alone.

They’re getting on with life as best they can, but it’s not a prospect they relish. Some of those who were abandoned by their spouses are bitter; some who did the dumping are beginning to regret it; others who found Mr. Right are thanking their lucky stars.

Beauty has always been treated as a virtue, and with cosmetic surgery promising faces and bodies that deny the years, it’s easy to understand why women are increasingly desperate to turn back the clock.

There’s no refuting that women feel empowered when they view their surgically improved selves in the mirror — but 60 is 60, no matter what the smoke and mirrors

To say I’m glad I’m not young any more would be a lie. But I’m not sad either. I remember the Swinging Sixties as if they were yesterday.

Bottom line –  as you approach the big 6-0 there is a hell of a lot of living to do.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says,”there is no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

Cindy Crawford – What Have You Done?

 by Linda Franklin

Cindy Crawford admits she has used cosmetic enhancements. That’s unusual given the fact that she has her own skin care line called Meaningful Beauty, which brags that it’s “Cindy’s anti-aging secret”.  

There’s no way to stop the natural  aging process.  It happens to all of us and it first shows up on our faces.  The cheekbones start to drop making them look lower and flatter.  The face looks more oblong losing what the doctors call the “triangle of youth”.  And, if that’s not enough, the lips turn down at the corners, creating an inverse triangle.

Today, rather than using old face lift methods to pull the skin back and eradicate wrinkles, cosmetic surgeons found that reinstating the golden triangle is what women want.  They do that by adding fillers to the cheekbone that supposedly will bring back the illusion of youth.  

It is this kind of procedure that dermatologists are suggesting could be behind Cindy’s newly plumped-up cheekbones.  

Women all over are doing what Cindy did and they all end up looking exactly alike.  Look at the faces the next time you are with a group of women and you will immediately pick out the ones who have been injected with the lastest filler.

I don’t know about you but when I saw this picture of Cindy I didn’t recognize her.  She has such a beautiful face, why would she want to look like every other costmetic enhanced woman. 

I have no obection to wanting to look your best, just opt for the more subtle approach.  Chipmunk cheek belong on chipmunks.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says,”there is no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

Plastic Surgey Boosted This Woman’s Career

by Linda Franklin

A female Wall Street investment banker believes that her career has been boosted by an arsenal of cosmetic surgery.

The anonymous woman – who says that her life motto is A Chorus Line’s ‘Keep the best of you, do the rest of you’ – has undergone ten different operations to achieve a ‘killer body’ and is convinced that the drastic changes are the making of her career.

Speaking with Oprah.com, the 55-year-old said she’d started with liposuction on her thighs at age 24.  That was followed by breast implants – then a nose job: ‘Twice – the first one was botched. I had my ears pinned back. My eyes done. A forehead lift. Filler in my lips. And then lip surgery to repair the damage done by the filler. I had a tummy tuck. A facelift. And I’ve had my teeth veneered.’

She says that the work changed her life.

‘Not only did my romantic options explode, but my career instantly shifted into a higher gear. I was suddenly being courted by senior partners, included in meetings with the CEOs and CFOs of current and prospective clients. 

‘That’s when I began to believe that the surgeries were an investment.’ 

‘Having a killer body gave me a kind of confidence I’d never had. But the way men reacted to me after my first surgery was the way I thought people would treat me if I had suddenly become famous.

‘It was clear the reaction had nothing to do with who I really am. I’m not as vulnerable as I was before my surgeries, and I’m more careful about who I choose to be with. I choose people who love me for me.’

Certainly, her career was already on the upswing in her early 20s when she first went under the knife. She admits that despite ‘becoming very successful as an investment banker at a big Wall Street firm,’ her first operation was very much driven by a self-esteem of ‘zero.’

Looking ahead, this woman says that she has taken a lead from her CFO, who advised her that ‘it’s critical to allocate adequate resources to asset maintenance.’

One reader at Oprah, writes that she was ‘furious’ at being passed over for promotions for being ‘too overweight,’ despite having a ‘mover and shaker’ position at a major company.

While another said, ”Face it: we live in a culture, no matter what industry you work in, that values youth and beauty. We can fight that fight but we can’t alter the entire culture in one person’s lifetime.’

So what do you think?  This flies in the face of inner beauty trumps outer beauty and is likely to anger women who campaign for self-esteem and body confidence – as well as those in corporate jobs to whom the news may come as no surprise. 

Looks are a part of the equation, whether we want to accept it or not.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality.  Linda Franklin says,”there is no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

Plastic Surgery Disaster – The Before Better Than The After

By Cynthia Rowland 

What if you make the decision to have plastic surgery and the before looks better than the after?  That happens more times than you can imagine and it happened to Laura. Here’s what she said – “I wasn’t going to leave a suicide note. People would know why I’d killed myself. One look at my face said it all — I’d made myself look ­hideously ugly. My face was lopsided, my nose was too skinny, my lips were ­distorted and my chin was crooked”.

Laura is typical of many patients who are left profoundly depressed by their appearance ­after undergoing facial plastic surgery. 

Underlying psychological disorders may trigger the desire for change but doctors are hard pressed to know if  every man or woman who makes an appointment for a surgical procedure is ready to accept the results.

Disappointing results plague over 30% of facial plastic surgery patients and that may be the upshot of unrealistic expectations. If you elect to have a streamlined nose, enhanced bosom or a face lift, the end result just might be too much when you see your new self.

There is any easier way to go where you can lift and tone your face without surgery.  Facial exercise is a non-surgical alternative that has shown remarkable results throughout the years by millions of satisfied faces.

Lifting sagging facial features without incisions and sutures not only saves your facial features from possible disfigurement – we’ve all seen the over-inflated cheeks, the squinty eyes, the wind tunnel face – on celebrities and even our friends. Facial exercise will keep you looking like you – only younger.

Considering the current trend of men and women wanting natural results – the results of lifting and toning using facial exercise begins Day One. Just like exercise works wonders for slack and atrophied bodies, the very same principals are applied when using facial exercise to tighten sagging facial features. Resistance, contraction and isometric movements shape and contour droopy cheeks, hooded eyes, double chins and more. Those sagging and droopy facial features make you look older because the underlying muscles have lost their oomph. Once you begin contracting the muscles oxygenated blood is forced into the facial tissue so that skin and muscles reposition and this helps you look younger.

Back to Laura: Laura Pillarella, 41, wanted to “fix herself” and chose plastic surgery. Now after 15 unsatisfactory procedures she has written a book charting her excessive amounts of procedures, titled Chasing Beauty: My Cosmetic ­Surgery Takeover. Laura is not alone – there are others who have experienced great anguish when seeing their after surgery results. Patients frequently schedule revision surgeries only to feel less confident in their appearance after the second or third or tenth procedure. Are the doctors to blame for this dissatisfaction or the patient who cannot accept their God-given beauty?

Yes, some people are afflicted with Body Dysmorphic Disorder and most likely they will suffer the silent epidemic of disappointment no matter how many procedures they undergo. But anyone can change their thinking about their options and about the modalities they choose.

Using facial exercise is empowering. Your confidence will soar as you realize the control is in your hands. Turn back the hands of time naturally, self assured and positive that you can look 5, 10 even 15 years younger in just weeks.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says,”there is no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

FindingThe Right Plastic Surgeon

By Linda Franklin

If you are considering plastic surgery, there are a lot of things to think about before making a final decision.  First, you have to decide what procedures you want done and why you want them done.  Then, after you’ve answered those questions, you have to make the most crucial decision of all – deciding on the right plastic surgeon to perform your surgery.

Choosing the right plastic surgeon can actually be quite a difficult process, and there is no such thing as being too careful. 

Fortunately, there’s a plastic surgery website that can help. About Plastic Surgery has tools in place to help you in selecting the right doctor for you.  Many women don’t realize that although “plastic surgery” is its own branch of medical treatment, not all surgeons can perform all surgeries. Much like a heart surgeon may not be authorized or able to perform brain surgery, a plastic surgeon who is trained in facial surgeries may not be able to perform a breast augmentation. So, you need to find a surgeon who is specifically trained to handle a procedure like the one you are hoping to undergo.

With the tools in place at  About Plastic Surgery, you can actually perform a nationwide search for plastic surgeons specifically relevant to the surgery that you want. This greatly simplifies the beginning of the process, and gives you contact information that can serve as a great starting point.

You always have to be very careful.  It’s not in your best interest to blindly trust what any doctor tells you. You always want to put the odds in your favor, so I recommend doing  research on your surgeon before trusting him or her with your body or face.  If at all possible, you will also want to talk to past patients of your surgeon, or at least try to find data that provides information on patient satisfaction. 

Once you have performed enough research so that you are confident you made the right choice, then schedule a meeting with that surgeon.  You will want to make sure you are both on the same page about the procedure you choose.  And, while you are there, make sure to ask to see their patient’s before and after pictures.

I know this can be confusing but here’s the bottom line – it’s all about the research you do and the trust you have in your surgeon.  Ultimately, the most important factor may simply be the feeling you get while you are sitting in their office.  Pay attention to that and you will be on your way to a successful procedure.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality. Linda Franklin says,”there is no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

Disguising The Effects Of Aging

by Cynthia Rowland CynthiaRowland.com

Once a face is injected with chemical substances it is forever changed. It's the same with lopping off sagging skin; no matter how experienced the surgeon is the once untouched face will forever display signs of alteration. Even laser treatments have proven to be iffy at best, with unexpected burns and holes in the chin and around the eyes when over aggressive actions are used.

Disguising aging is big business these days; not only are the docs vying for your dollars, the department stores, spas, drugstores and internet sites want you to buy their hyped anti-aging lotions, potions and serums.

We have been deluged with all sorts of anti-aging concoctions from the foreskin of baby penises, to a specially bred fish that are willing to eat away at dead skin. EW!  Do these preparations deliver on their promises or are they just clever ads to have us spend our hard-earned dollars?

Kirstie Alley’s Choice – Her Body Or Her Face

Kirstie Alley, and most women over 50, have to lose weight. Right now I am in the process of losing that unwanted 15 pounds that magically attached itself to my body. 

It’s always a surprise when you get on the dreaded scale for the first time after avoiding it for months or years.  When I did step on I told him I thought it was broken.  It wasn’t broken.  I was in denial.  I knew I was gaining weight but I wasn’t ready to do anything about it.  But, having put on 12 pounds, was enough of a shock to finally take action.

I am not on any crazy diet now  - just eating less and cutting out my ice cream free-for-alls.  So far it’s working became I have lost the 12 pounds and a few more.  

At a certain age – cougar age – we have to be careful about losing too much weight because it really ages our faces and our bodies.  As the years pass we lose elasticity and we lose collagen.  So when we LOSE weight we GAIN wrinkles, sags and that dreaded turkey neck.  Of course, aesthetic doctors lick their chops when that happens because they are at the ready with scalpels, lasers and dermal fillers. 

I think Kirstie made the right choice is losing her 100 pounds. Health always comes first.  There are plenty of ways to bring back the plumpness to your face.

The Real Cougar Woman is a 5-carat diamond who knows the importance of taking care of her health, beauty, relationships, finances and spirituality.  Linda Franklin says,”there is no stopping a woman who has a strong belief system, passion and a dream. All things are possible”. Linda’s book, Don’t Ever Call Me Ma’am helps women of all ages tap into their power and live life to the fullest.

Cosmetic Procedures Taken To The Extreme

 

Cindy Jackson says she is redefining what aging means. The 55-year-old, has spent over $100,000 on 52 procedures over the years.

She told ABC News how it was never her intention to win any records – she just wanted to look better in a natural way.  Natural – don't think that was the best choice of words do you?

Beauty Poll Reveals 1 in 3 Women Over 40 Wants Plastic Surgery

 
Superdrug, Britain's second-largest beauty and health retailer, polled 3,000 women between the ages of 40 and 60; the results disclosed that one in three women over 40 is thinking about plastic surgery.

The Superdrug survey also revealed that a fifth of the women between 40 and 60 would happily get a face lift if they had the money.  And,almost one third of those polled, said they’d rather look 20 years younger than be a millionaire.

What would you say is the cosmetic procedure most women over 40 want?

Cougar Women Getting Their Faces Fit For The Holidays

Over the holidays we see friends and relatives we might not have seen for a long time. And, I know I am always a little surprised to see how their faces have aged since the last time we visited with each other. Their bodies may not be showing wear and tear because they are working out.  But oh that face!

When we look into the mirror we are so critical of every little flaw.  We focus on the bag, the sag and the newest wrinkle.  That's why so many run to get botox, wrinkle fillers, or even a face lift.  All of those treatments are invasive and very expensive.  That's why, over 20 years go, I created a better way to look fabulous at any age.

The solution to a youthful face is facial exercise.  Using contraction and resistance you can reclaim the face that you had years ago. Just like exercise works for your body, you can now apply the same principles to your facial muscles and they will respond by plumping up, filling out your skin and repositioning so you look younger and healthier.