I used to laugh when I was in my early thirties that as a teen, I would pile on the makeup to look 21, and now I do the same thing in reverse, pile it on to look YOUNGER. Now I am in my fifties and I have learned so much. My face isn't actually melting, it's just experiencing gravity and at an alarmingly fast pace so it seems.

A good skin care regimen has helped me a great deal along with great genes to maintain a youthful appearance even at my age because I always took great care of my face. Cleansing and moisturizing were always essential to me both when I was younger and now, but if you're like me, what do you do NOW?

The cosmetic industry is enjoying more profit than any other time in history as the generation who refuses to grow old, the Baby Boomers, will stop at nothing to stay "young" or at least young looking. So with the gazillion of products out there, what do I do to keep my face from aging more or even reverse time?

Truth, there is little difference between pharmacy or grocery store face products and those terribly expensive department or boutique store products.

Main things to remember are that the skin is the largest organ  of the human body. It is a living thing. No less an organ than the heart, lungs or kidneys. Only a small part of the dead top layer of the skin, the epidermis are shed regularly revealing a new skin beneath. So here are MY tips to looking the best fifty something possible or even shaving off a few years in appearance.

First and foremost is a good cleanser. Our baby boomer pores are getting larger, notice that? When we slather on the creamy cleansers, they do remove makeup and dirt, BUT, they also dive into the pores and stay there often causing them to become clogged. As the cream filled pores are exposed to everyday dirt and dust in the air, they become darkened and we have a nice smelling, but nasty looking black head. Are you going to pick at it? Of course you are. Then you wind up with bacteria in the mix, a nasty mark on your face and damage to the surrounding area as you force the contents of the blemish into other surrounding areas. So what should I use to clean my face when they say soap is bad? I agree soap is bad BUT, doesn't it make sense not to pour cream into the pores you can't remove?

Get yourself a wonderful facial quality microfiber cloth. Make SURE it's facial grade. These are wonderful because they cleanse, exfoliate and soften your skin with only water!

If you MUST use a cleanser, use a clear one. A mild astringent like witch hazel is also a good idea if you have large pores or your face is oily. It also takes away any left over traces of makeup left behind after cleansing. Never use alcohol, it will dry you out immediately.

Ok, up to know we've saved a LOT of money. We are using plain water to cleanse and only the price of the reusable cloth was spent. Then we used witch hazel as an astringent, a mere dollar or two for a nice large bottle and maybe some cotton balls for the witch hazel application.

Had we not done that, we would have spent heaven knows how much on a cleanser and an astringent in a department store under many names that contain the same thing we just used.

Moisturizing. This is a MUST do. It should be applied after cleansing and using the astringent. Now we can go back to the expensive products, OR we can get in the medicine cabinet and take out a little Vaseline. Dampen your skin lightly then apply a small amount of petroleum jelly and you're good to go. If you're going to sleep, no problem, if you want to apply makeup after, then tissue most of it off after about five minutes. It's OK, it has already done it's job.

So now we have really really saved. You know what cosmetic companies charge for moisturizers that make such claims you could write a book using the words from the inserts. What they should say is, "Hi, my name is Blank Cosmetics and I am going to laugh to myself in line at the bank while you read the directions after you've shelled out fifty or more dollars for a product no better than plain old Vaseline!

Since petroleum jelly has a bit of a greasy feel, it allows you to massage your face and stimulate blood flow again as the micro fiber cloth did. Massage in a circular motion beginning at the chin and working your way up. Always use your ring finger in a patting motion from the outside corner of your eye, inward toward your nose. This tissue is thin and should never be pulled.

Wow, how much have we saved? Anywhere from ten to several hundred dollars on machines and gizmos and gadgets to do what we just did.

Now it's time for makeup. If you remember nothing else, remember this, makeup after forty has one steadfast rule, LESS IS MORE! Unless you want to look like the prom queen who stayed too long at the dance or worse, a tiny amount of makeup is all you need. Avoid oily sticky makeup, no matter what they say, it WILL seep into your aging pores. A simple dab of water based makeup is all you need. Make sure it matches your skin color or you will have a line that makes you look like you're wearing a mask. Use as little as possible. If you have something nasty to hide, it will only look worse with tons of makeup. For extra coverage, dab a little more makeup on that area follow by dabbing on a small amount of colorless powder and repeat dabbing a small amount of makeup on that area. This can be repeated until you are satisfied.

Brows should be natural looking, not over plucked and the pencil is your best friend. Don't use the point, use the side of the point. gently work your way from the part of the brow closest to your nose and work gently out to the end of your eye. A very light touch is needed and the pencil can be the least expensive one on the rack, no eyebrow pencil is better than another, they are all the same. But what about those brush on's? OK, use a baby tooth brush to gently brush your eyebrows after applying the color. Problem solved.

Eye liner is another product that can drive you crazy. DO NOT USE BLACK unless you plan to stay home and watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show. You can use the same pencil you used on your eye brow to gently draw a line under your lower lashes if it is a soft pencil, working from out to in, and on top working in to out. The idea is to have an illusion of thicker lashes, the ONLY thing liner is for. Kohl is a great color to use but if you use a lighter eyebrow pencil you will need to buy a Kohl liner. Again, the less expensive ones are fine. If you like that smudged look, then gently work with your finger from the outside to the inside of you eye on the liner to smudge it.

Mascara. One good water proof black mascara is all you need. For day, one or two applications are all you need. For evening you can go another coat.

Blush. Oh my, ask yourself, do I want to look like a cockatiel or a woman. Avoid a circle of blush. Also avoid taking your blush to your ear. Believe me, women our age look terrible with too much blush. If someone asks what color your blush is, you are wearing too much! To find the right blush, look closely at your skin. Does it have pink or yellow undertones. Check the inside of your wrist and lower arm.

That applies to your shade of makeup as well. If you have a pinkish undertone, you are cool. If you have yellowish undertones, you are a warm. It has to do with your SKIN COLOR, not your HAIR COLOR. Another lesson we baby boomers need to learn.

Close your mouth and smile. Apply the pinkish for cool skin or peaches for yellow tones to the apple of your cheek. That will be the part of your cheek that puffs out with a closed mouth smile.

Use a light hand and then blend WELL. Never apply ANY makeup or blush without blending or you may be standing in line at the grocery store and someone may grab a tissue and do it for you LOL. I have wanted to do that a gazillion times.

NO WHITE LINERS OR UNDER EYE CREAMS. If you want to lighten a dark area, use a yellow or peach light color concealer. Blend and go over the area again with a touch of makeup. Remember, around the eye, use a patting motion, do not tug or pull at that area.

So now we've saved a ton of money on silly things that are fine for kids, but not for grandmas. We want to look the best possible for our age, we are not trying to look like our grand daughters. Well  we may WANT to, but sorry folks, ain't happening.

Now for lip color. Someone hold me down if I run into a woman with lipstick running up through lines to her nose. I am going to get that tissue out. LOL.

Begin with a simple inexpensive lip liner. For ladies of wisdom, (don't you love that term better that older?) your only goal with the pencil is to stop the bleeding! Get a pencil almost the exact same color as your lipstick. Apply to your lip line, the apply your favorite lip color. The pencil will stop the rivers of lipstick from running up to your nose or down to your chin. If you want a little shine, get it else where, not from your lip stick. A tiny dab of  Vaseline or Chapstick will do the job. No need for an expensive lip gloss. Oh and speaking of lip gloss, it will run up the lines in your upper and lower lip so fast you won't be able to catch it, so only use a lip gloss of any kind as a thin layer of no color to dab on your lipstick or we'll be running all over the place again.

You are DONE! Can you believe it? Everything you've done for your face has been good, has kept your pocket book full and your pores empty.

You have spent next to nothing and if you read the labels on the more expensive items, you will be shocked to find you have used the same products as the ingredients in their products.

As for a sun block, I would recommend that one be used prior to applying makeup. Remember, it does not protect you all day, so keep your face out of the sun as much as possible. We have been very careful with our facial products so far, and if you're smart, you have done likewise to your neck area.

Your hands will give you away really fast. Care for them with sun screen and a nice soothing lotion with a little aloe in it. Again, it can be very inexpensive. Treat your hands like your face.

But you didn't say anything about eye shadow? No, I didn't.

Happy Baby Boomer younger look!  You will be so happy! Oh and one more thing. Hair color lightens as we grow older. It does that and I think it does it for a reason. It softens your face! Eventually we all go gray. Do NOT cover your gray with dark hair color. It will harden your face and look about as natural as a bleached out cotton candy blonde. Use a lighter color to hide the gray. This can be done at home with a product from the pharmacy or at a salon. HMMM let me see, eighty dollars salon, ten dollars home. Oh well, you can do the math.

I hope this has helped. I didn't mention mineral makeup I have another guide for that,  but if you use it, use it very sparingly. It is good for your skin but it will settle into lines no matter what they say, so remember what I said before. For us face melting by gravity baby boomers, massage, simple products and blending is essential AND Less is MORE.