False dichotomies: What if the opposite of trying too hard isn’t being lazy?
What’s the thing that you MOST identify with? If you had to pick one quality that most defines who you are and everything you do, what would it be? And then what’s the opposite? And then what if YOU’RE TOTALLY WRONG ABOUT THAT?!
Here’s the favorite thing I learned at my midlife crisis workshop…
Mother, spinster, crone: No matter your path, ALL women are subject to criticism
We’ve all seen it: Tenacious and spectacular women — those whom Kerouac would call The Mad Ones — rounding their edges… They grow bitter, mean, judgmental. They cry when no one is watching, lost somewhere between never thinking their shit is together, and never being able to get their shit together.
Unparalleled is the devastating agony of seeming like a failure…
Hidden Blessings: Dispatches from the midlife trenches
This weekend I am doing one of the most cliche things I’ve ever done: I am going to a midlife crisis workshop. Let me pull back and say it even bigger: I am a white divorced 42-year-old mom, and I am going to a midlife crisis workshop. I built a literal empire on offbeatness, but the current reality is pretty fucking stereotypical: just a confused midlife white lady going through a midlife crisis, here! NICE TO MEET YOU.
Dye or dye not: Do you dye your grey hairs?
I’ve had natural dark brown hair for decades and generally not spending much time or money on my follicules. I’ve reached the point where my grey hairs can no longer be ignored. My reflection is further muddled with (less practical) thoughts on self-esteem and growing old and other’s opinion of me and superficiality and vain-ness and expectations and ugh!
Do you dye YOUR grey hairs? Why or why not?
World making you feel old? Here’s why I’m not letting it
Did you happen to see this 60th birthday boudoir shoot we posted recently? It’s deliciously sexy and makes age seem irrelevant, so much so that it sent a couple of our staff members into look-inward-mode about aging. It was a tiny reminder that age is just a number and you don’t have to succumb to those being-old tropes if you don’t want to. For me, it was a reminder that we don’t have to pre-age ourselves (AND especially not have it thrust upon us by our peers).
Just try not to be empowered by this stunning 60th birthday boudoir session
Mrs. MC wanted to do a 60th birthday boudoir session to celebrate the beginning of another decade and to give her husband of six years an exciting anniversary gift. And she surely wowed him as much as she wowed us. This session is classy, striking, timeless, and hot. Girl looks seriously GOOD.
Secrets from a makeup artist: The best makeup for mature skin
As a makeup artist, I have worked on nearly every type of face there is, including mature talent from middle age to quite elderly. Working on mature clientele — or working on yourself if your skin is starting to show signs of “maturity” — is just a matter of knowing how products work on the skin, and what products to use, and when.
For successful makeup for mature skin, there are two equally important components: Selection of proper cosmetic products — which we will get to in a minute — and prepping the skin thoroughly with proper skincare…
Fuck yeah, I’m getting older! My alternative anti-aging manifesto
The daily realities of aging have also terrified me — losing my physical strength and vitality, and also the effect the years will have on my appearance. As a woman in a society obsessed with youth and beauty it is hard to shake off the stigma of aging. As I approach my 33rd birthday I set about devising my own, alternative “anti-aging manifesto.” I began to write it down, and found myself smiling, as my words were light hearted and empowering. I was focusing on all the things I want to embrace.