I caught the second half, and was surprised at how uncomfortable it made me feel. I am thinking about what I could do to try to stave off the dreaded wrinkles and I am probably at the stage where if I don't start now, it will be a full face lift at 50 or nothing (see deep laughter lines around my eyes and mouth).
I found the program a little disturbing and probably disappointing too, I was particularly interested in the injectibles section.. But the scary group of twenty year olds who were having Botox, were a cautionary tale, they looked wax works, formed in their mid forties in a strange frozen limbo. They had the vacant, emotionless look that I associate with the Eastern European call girls who look like they have lived a million lives and have seen God knows what. It is neither natural, youthful nor attractive, but slightly unnerving and grotesque, in the traditional sense of the word.
Is something that is alien and unnatural, ultimately always ugly? I see people who have had work look stunning, absolutely beautiful, and then they go one step further and that one thing becomes the marker that points to all of the other 'tweaks' that they have done....
I'm not poking fun at this selection of pictures, I just feel terribly sorry for all of them. They were all attractive women, who were looking for that extra bit of confidence through a surgery that was costly and painful and they end up looking ugly and distorted. Whoever did this to them should not be allowed to practice as a doctor.
I've never been into spa treatments and beauty therapy, but looking at this, it has to be preferable to spend a few hours a week being pampered, talking to some one who you trust, who helps you to accentuate your best features and makes you feel good about yourself. May be anyone considering surgery should be obliged to spend 6 months going to to a local beauty parlour to see if their perceived shortcoming is really worth the pain and cost of surgery.
Ultimately do you want to look young or feel young? I only look in a mirror a couple of times a day and most of the time have no idea how old I really look. These are my tips for keeping vigorous...
1. Barleygrass every day, if I don't have it, I crave it, and when I do have it I feel spritely and fill of energy.
2. A multi vitamin if I have done loads of exercise.
3. Aerobic, red-face-sweat-making, gulp-back-water-needing, heart-beating-until-exploding exercise, at least twice a week.
4. Stretch or yoga with a blissed out relaxation at the end.
5. Weight training to keep muscles in good shape.
6. Fake tan and factor 30 (when I remember, which if I am totally honest is only when the sand is so hot that you can't walk on it)
7. Factor 30 on the face in the UK...I MUST start to do this.
8. Eat farm fresh vegetables and local meat (doing quite well with this one, and about to start my kitchen garden)
9. Avoid all unnatural/ unnecessary chemicals in food and cosmetics etc ( pretty good with this except for deodorant for which I just can't find a natural alternative that works)
10. DEPORTMENT stand up straight, shoulder blades back and down, takes off 5 years and 10 pounds!
Most importantly...
SMILE, laugh and feel positive about life and count my blessings, not my shortcomings.
What are your top tips for How Not to Get Old? I would love to hear from anyone who uses Caci or those muscle exercising facial units, I know that it is the polar opposite of Botox, but I spend hours making sure the rest of my muscles don't whither away so Botox is a little alien to me.
