1000!

Hi all,

1000 people have viewed this page, and I'm SO excited about it. I thought this would be a little blog for me and my friends, but 1000 people!

Visitors to Beauty Over Thirty have mostly looked at the 5 Ingredient Look and Basic Face. I will continue in that vein, making videos and writing posts and reviews for busy women who want to enhance their beauty with a little bit of makeup, a little more fashion, a little extra fun.

I want to tell you what I've got on my BOT to-do list, and I'd love your feedback on what you want to see from BOT. Coming up, I'll be writing and making videos about:

• Colour correcting - a lot of us have developed redness, sallow skin on our faces and discolouration around our eyes as we've gotten a bit older. I'm researching how the pros do colour correcting and what products they use. 
• Spring fashion update - I'm going to do a summary (with pictures!) of what the trends for fashion are going to be in Spring 2015, as shown in recent fashion weeks around the world. I'm talking about ready-to-wear fashion, not couture! We have professions to dress for!
• Common ingredients in skincare - A few months ago, I did a lot of research into skincare to develop my own routine for my own needs, and right now I'm in the middle of looking for a new serum as mine is about to run out. I've found that knowing the ingredients in cleansers, serums, moisturizers and treatments that do what you want is the key to success. I'm going to write about what ingredients do what and how to look for them in your skincare choices. 
• Information sources - I know you don't get all of your beauty info from me! I want to give you a rundown of what sources I've found the most reliable and which sources can be kicked to the curb. 
• The cost of beauty - This post will be a while down the road as I get more information gathered, but I want to talk to you about how beauty doesn't have to be costly, and building on the common ingredients posts, how you can recognize when a product is overpriced for what is in it. 
• And of course, I'll be filming more 5-ingredient looks, nighttime looks that take a bit longer and use a few more products and reviews galore! I have a growing list of products to test - I've just done a test of Maybelline's 14-hour lipsticks and, spoiler alert, there is no reason (other than THE HYPE) for this product to be flying off the shelves in the drugstore. 

As always, I shall do my very best to research and learn and pass on good, reliable information about beauty.  I swear, this winter has been awful for my own skin - I've been waking up scratching myself in the middle of the night. As I write this, I have two different very dry skin (aka winter skin!) moisturizers on each half of my body so that I can pass on which works best and how to relieve winter skin dryness and itching. I'm also trying to learn to take better pics!

Thank you all for coming over to BOT, reading a bit, watching a bit, and maybe learning a bit. Don't forget to comment, share, all that stuff so that BOT can reach the next goal - 5000!

Til next time,

Amanda

The Base: Skincare

I learned from reading a fair amount of reddit that makeup really can't do a lot for a person if the base, i.e. your face, isn't shipshape and Bristol fashion. Like all things beauty, I hadn't really paid that much attention to skincare.

I assumed that any old cleanser would be fine as I've never had to deal with any skin problems, other than some oiliness later in the day in the forehead/nose area - aka the t-zone - and some cheek redness. I used a moisturizer after cleansing (usually with an Aveeno ultra calming wipe) at night and in the morning after a shower. I've since learned that wipes are good for removing surface dirt and makeup, but not much more. I've been committed to Health & Beauty moisturizers for several years and have been working their products into my new routines as much as I can. And that, my friends, was that. Until about six weeks ago.

I learned from the good people of a sub-reddit called Skincare Addiction (warning: rabbit hole) that as a person gets older, their skin changes and needs more care, if that person cares about their skin. It began as an "ought to care" and turned into an "I totally care" situation because in my regular mirror I started to see the dreaded fine lines where none had been before. This is the reality of Beauty Over Thirty, friends. If you don't deal with these things, then, well, you know what happens.

The Importance of Being Clean. And Moisturized. And Serumed. And Acid...ed. 

Alright - let's get down to business. Everyone knows why you have to have a clean face. It's because of science and getting a bit older. And as you get older, your skin generally gets more dry, necessitating moisture(izers) and if you want to deal with fine lines and such, serums can pack a real punch.

Finally, you need to help your face get rid of dead skin cells by exfoliating. Manually exfoliating with microbeads and that kind of thing is not only bad for the environment, but also not too terribly effective. This is where the acids come in - AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) and BHAs (beta hydroxy acids). These gentle acids chemically exfoliate your skin and clear out your pores so that the nice new skin forms your base. Cool, huh? I never knew! Just a caveat - if you don't use acids now and have sensitive skin, you might need to build up from 1% to 5% over time. Acids can take some getting used to!

My Skincare Routine

To be clear (punny!), this is just my routine to address my own concerns, which are fine lines, facial redness and overall skin clarity. I cannot recommend Skincare Addiction enough, or alternately, Paula's Choice is an excellent source of information. Yes, she has her own range of skincare, but her education is top notch.

Morning

1. Splash face with warm water (cold water first thing is insane) and drink a glass of cold water. 

2. Paula's Choice 2% BHA all over face and neck with a cotton pad. Wait til dry, about 10 minutes.

3. Health & Beauty Lifting & Firming Serum on face and neck with fingers. Wait about 10 minutes.

4. Health & Beauty Pomegranate Firming Cream with SPF 15 on face and neck with fingers.

5. Health & Beauty Anti-wrinkle Eye Cream with SPF 20 on, uh, eyes, out to temples with fingers.

Evening

1. Wash face with Aveeno Ultra Calming Foaming Cleanser or Neutrogena thingy. I'm not committed to a cleanser yet.

2. Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Exfoliating Pad (AHA) all over face. Wait about 10 minutes.

3. Health & Beauty Pomegranate Night Cream all over face and neck with fingers.

4. Una Brennan Neroli Firming Eye Cream (just til it's done, then I'll use the H&B eye cream).

2x Each Week

About twice a week I do a masque of some kind, usually one of the Balea masques you can get at Shoppers Drug Mart for 3/$5 in the skin care section. I have several kinds, but I like the exfoliating and the microdermabrasion masques best. Here is a good review on Makeupalley.

A few little things I've learned...

• You don't need to spend a gazillion dollars on this stuff. No one product I use is over $25. I've got about 1000 high-end skin care samples and have tried them, but not one (not even the Guerlain Abeille Royale serum) is any better than what I use. 
• SPF is ultra important, even in the winter. Make sure you use it if nothing else!
• If you're going to use serums and acids, the wait time is essential so that the product sinks in. I've tried it both ways (one quickly on top of the other/waiting for product to dry) and I swear by letting serums and acids dry.
• When you start using acids, a "purge" is normal, i.e. it's normal to break out as the acids clear out your pores and exfoliate. 
• Consistency is key. My skin looks frakking fantastic after about 3 weeks with the same routine, day after day. I'm going to post pics so you can see it too. 

Share your skincare tips and routines with the class, will you? I'm not married to my routine and am interested in what everyone else does. 

The Beginning of Beauty Over Thirty

Welcome to Beauty Over Thirty!

My name is Amanda and I'm a 37 year-old advocacy professional living with my 19 year-old (!!) son in Toronto. I've never been into makeup or skincare, and my fashionista mum is my fashion advisor who makes sure I at least have nice clothes to wear. That's where I started from.

Makeup and skincare had never been a concern to me, but I started thinking about it when my boss-at-the-time told me (marginally inappropriately?!) that I should start upping my makeup and fashion games. I always thought I had pretty good skin, that I didn't need foundation because my freckles did the trick, and hey, I had 23 lip products in my bag to whip out when I had a meeting or a date or something. Good enough.

My basic issue with makeup has always been that when I put eyeshadow (to me, the most basic of makeup) on, it seems to just disappear, and thus pointless to spend time on. But with the boss' words ringing in my ears, I started thinking perhaps the problem was user error.

I started looking for eyeshadow application tutorials and stumbled upon one for "hooded eyes", meaning your eyelid is generally covered by skin from below your eyebrows. All it took was a look in the mirror to discover that I've got these type of eyes. WHO KNEW?! The best part? Hooded eyes are also referred to as bedroom eyes. This started my trip down the beauty rabbit holes of makeup, skincare, fashion and jewelry, and so much more.

I'm still deep in those rabbit holes and I am absolutely loving it - because I'm not doing it to give my mum a girly girl daughter, or to impress a man, and that boss isn't a part of my world anymore. I'm doing it because I think I can be a better version of myself, step by step. Beauty Over Thirty is a hobby-in-the-making with real world application.

I don't think I'm alone in this. If I'm just learning beauty over thirty, then I'm certain other women (and maybe even some guys) are too. I hope you have a great time on this page as it grows and as we all learn about what works best for each of us. I'm really looking forward to learning and sharing together!

You'll find the Beauty Over Thirty Facebook and Twitter links on the right side, and I'll be adding Instagram and Pinterest feeds as well over time.