A veteran magazine beauty editor/writer (and a member of the 40+ club), Genevieve Monsma created MediumBlonde to help Gen Xers and Baby Boomers age the way they want.
I’m finally emerging from the crazy rush-crush of the holidays, my little brother’s New Year’s Eve wedding, and a pile of freelance projects that proved to be more time (and brain) consuming than I’d anticipated. Caffeine is to be largely credited for helping me hold it together. But so is my new Urban Decay Quick Fix.
My cuticles are a mess this time of year. They grow thick and dry—and then they tear and bleed. Regular hand creams don’t even begin to soothe them. And cuticle oils help but are often inconvenient and messy to apply. I find most don’t absorb quickly enough, and then they drip all over my keyboard or iPhone.
I’m not a makeup artist. But I’ve interviewed hundreds of artists for magazine stories, I’ve had countless experts sweep, swipe and stipple my face, and I’ve worked alongside dozens of artists on photo shoots. Thus, it goes without saying that I’ve picked up a few (thousand) tips over the years. And yet, the learning never seems to stop.
For years, I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect gold nail polish. I love the idea of glittering, golden nails for the holidays. Like a statement cocktail ring, it’s a chic, easy accessory to an LBD. However, most gold lacquers I’ve tried have been too yellow or too pale for my skin, leaving my nails looking more fungus-ed than festive. Until now.
My skin is not sensitive, but it is prone to becoming seasonally sensitized (my own term for the red, rosacea-like blotchiness I battle come winter).
Since moving to Ann Arbor, I’ve been in a constant battle with hair brassiness.
As part of a regular series, I’ll be asking inspiring, in-the-know women (all 40+, of course) to share their best tips and favorite products. The point? As always, to find out what works. This week's beauty insider: Natasha Cornstein, the CEO of Blushington makeup studios.
For most of the month of December, my motto is: Stay warm. As I write this, it’s 39 degrees, raining sideways and I’m wearing a turtleneck sweater and my thickest ski socks. The only skin showing? My face—and only barely, thanks to my high neckline. Thus, bronzed legs and décolletage are not high on my priority list. (Neither is shaving, if I'm being honest.) But, by next week when the parade of holiday parties (and cocktail dresses) commences, they will be.
Blow-drying is damaging to hair. Period. But it’s a necessary evil for most of us, so figuring out how to do it, while inflicting minimal harm, is the goal. Here’s my strategy.
As part of a regular series, I’ll be asking inspiring, in-the-know women (all 40+, of course) to share their best tips and favorite products. The point? As always, to find out what works. This week's beauty insider: Tiffany Masterson, founder of Drunk Elephant Skincare
Nude: a beigey hue that appears so benign, so neutral, so easy to wear—but is actually not. At least not past the age of 25. Most nudey lipcolors I’ve tried leave me looking washed out, like I applied concealer to my mouth. However. Stop the presses (or, more appropriately for 2016, press the refresh button): I’ve found a formula, at long last, that’s wearable, that should work on most skin tones—and that will be the perfect complement to festive, smoky eyes this holiday-party season.
I’ve written a lot about what I do to promote healthier hair growth—and minimize age-related loss. But I also have a strategy for making the fine hair I have right now look and feel fuller too.
Raise your hand if you owned MAC Spice Lip Liner in the 1990s. Me too. I also had pencils in pink, peach, red and plum—a rainbow of colors to match whatever lipstick I was wearing. Then, around the turn of the millennium, we all stopped wearing lipstick and started swiping on gloss. Which rendered lip liner kind of obsolete—unless you wanted that ring-around-your-lips look when your gloss faded. (P.S. No one I knew wanted that look.)
I’m generally not a fan of skin highlighters (e.g. glimmery creams and powders that claim to boost radiance). And just last Friday I posted that anyone 50+ should consider steering clear of them. But I’ve decided to amend that statement.
Whoosh. It’s been a long week. So, rather than write another post on what we need to do/add/improve, let's cut ourselves some slack and discuss what we can skip.
