Why Bother With Makeup When You Are 'Over the Hill'?

The reason it bothered me was because the implied sentiment behind it was "you're too old to be caring what you look like and nobody cares about you anyway". So I thought I'd write about the pro's and con's of wearing makeup beyond the age of (say) 60 years of age.

The Reasons I bother to Wear Makeup:

• It finishes off my overall appearance. I make an effort to wear nice clothes, and makeup is the final touch which I feel makes me look that bit extra soigné and sophisticated.
• It makes me feel better. I'd rather apply makeup than take Prozac - and it has exactly the same effect. Makeup is a daily mood booster. Once I have applied my 'face' I can face up to things, face the world and face down any problems I might encounter.
• It makes other people treat me better. We live in a strongly visual world surrounded by colour and contrast. Makeup restores those two things to my ageing face and means that I don't fade into the background and become invisible.
• It makes me look prettier and more attractive. Yes - I know that sounds vain - but I know what I look like without it (see the video of me without face makeup!) The words 'pretty' and 'attractive' are not often associated with 67 year old women but I believe that my makeup substantially improves the way I look.
• It's something that gives me pleasure every day. I am actually talking about the creative process of painting a face. I trained as a makeup artist two years ago before launching Look Fabulous Forever and realised just how much I love the ritual associated with applying beautiful cosmetics and the transformational result.

Now I am going to give the other side of the case I have made (I do realise that not everyone believes or behaves as I do!)

• Life is too short to bother with that palaver every day. Really? I am awake for about 14 hours a day - that's 840 minutes. It takes (at most) 20 minutes to do a really professional makeup on myself. I NEVER retouch it. That leaves 820 minutes to live a very full and satisfying life.
• Vanity and pride are sins - you should be ashamed of being so obsessed with the superficiality of appearance. If I was under holy orders I would readily agree with you but I am a female who likes to look nice. I don't see why I can't be a bit vain and take some pride in my appearance despite being 'over the hill.'
• It's expensive to buy makeup. Yes - the initial outlay is not cheap, but a friend remarked recently that her Smooth Out Eye Prime had lasted for a whole year and she'd used it every day. It costs £16 - so that's around 4p a day. I reckon my makeup works out at about 50p a day outlay. Which is brilliant value for all the benefits it gives me!
• It's bad for your skin to wear all that gunk every day. I have worn makeup (pretty much) every day of my life for the past 50 years and have therefore cleansed, toned and moisturised every day too. And used exfoliators regularly. I have very few wrinkles on my face and part of the reason must be the daily care it has had.
• Older women shouldn't wear makeup - it's for the young and beautiful. I know we live in a youth obsessed culture but I have earned the right to do what I like! I am not trying to look younger or compete - I am just determined to look as fabulous as I can!!

As always - do have your say by posting comments below. I always love and value your opinions.

The photographs above are of my beautiful and very dear friend Carol whose 70th birthday was on June 13th 2015 so - Happy Birthday Carol! She features in our most popular video below which has had nearly 370,000 views on YouTube.