I’ve never had full, lush eyelashes. And, as I’ve gotten older, them seem to have become thinner and shorter. I’ve considered Latisse (the prescription lash growth serum) but am a little leery of the side effects: namely, that it can actually darken the color of your eyes. So, not wanting to go the prescription route, I decided to test one of the OTC lash boosting serums on the market. I chose L’Oreal’s Lash Serum.

The serum is a light gel that is applied to the lashes with a sponge-tip curved applicator. It is also applied like eyeliner along the base of the lashes with the tip of the applicator. It dries quickly and mascara can be applied over it. L’Oreal recommends using it twice a day, so that’s what I’ve been doing for the last two weeks. This product does not claim to grow lashes, just to nourish them and keep them from falling out as easily.

I expected nothing.

I got healthier, fuller lashes. I’m not sure if the extra moisture in the serum keeps the lashes soft and prevents them from falling out or if the Panthenol in the product actually has some type of dermatological effect. Whatever it is, I’m liking it. I’ve even started wearing mascara again. Something I’d given up because 10 dark lashes on each eyelid is really not that attractive.

This is now a product I  can actually recommend. And, no, L’Oreal is paying me. However I am an affiliate of drugstore.com.

Crabtree & Evelyn Gardeners Hand Therapy Cream

Recommended to soothe and help protect a gardener’s work-roughened hands.

Wedding Day Makeup Guide for the Bride to Be! Get secrets of the blushing bride & other wedding makeup wonders from brands like Stila, Too Faced, Urban Decay, tarte, and more! See and purchase the recommended products from these top brands and look your best on your wedding day!

As the baby boomer generation ages we’ve developed all kinds of new beauty cliches, such as “50 is the new 30.” It makes a good marketing slogan for everything from athletic gear to anti-wrinkle creams. The Great (beauty) Lie of our time may well be that we don’t ever have to get old; we can continue to look young and feel young forever. Just buy the latest cream, inject your face with the latest drug, exercise like a fanatic, eat next to nothing and, POOF, you’ll be 30 forever.

Guess what? You won’t be 30 forever. You won’t look 30 forever. You won’t feel 30 forever. You will age despite your best efforts. Perhaps, as a culture, we’ve become so terrified of dying that we want to fool ourselves into believing that the magic waters of the fountain of youth have indeed been incorporated into our face creams and our vitamin-enriched waters. They have not.

Instead of deluding ourselves into thinking 50 is the new 30, why not take the steps necessary to be beautiful and happy regardless of our age? I hear the “buts.” But this celebrity or that celebrity is way past 50 and still looks great! Really, have you seen her up close and in person or just the photoshopped pictures and the carefully filtered videos? And so what if the celebrity looks great? That’s her job isn’t it, too look like the million bucks she gets paid for posing and acting? Not to mention that if your only idea of a beautiful woman comes from the world of celebrities then you seriously need to Trash Your TV.

Beauty radiates from health and happiness. Trying to look 30 when you’re 50 rarely results in health, happiness or beauty. The Great Lie means that 50-year-old women all over the country are miserable because they are fully aware that they neither look 30 nor feel 30. They have the stretch marks, scars, wrinkles, freckles and menopausal symptoms of a 50-year-old that point the truth out to them every single morning.

Here are some of my ideas for crushing The Great Lie:

1. Look to the women who inspire you and recognize that true beauty can never be defined by how someone looks
2. Embrace a healthy lifestyle
3. Practice being thankful
4. Enjoy being a woman, including the makeup, the hair and the clothes, you don’t have to be 30 or look 30 to look marvelous

Here’s a slide show of some women who inspire me and radiate beauty. Some you may recognize. Some are friends and family. All are beautiful.

Play Video

If you’ve followed me very long, then you know I believe true beauty starts with a healthy diet and exercise. You can slather on all the potions and creams in the world, but if your diet and habits aren’t healthy, you’re just going to be a good-looking corpse at too young of an age.

Here’s an excellent article I found in a past issue of the McDougall Newsletter. It talks about how a healthy vegetarian diet leads to real anti-aging benefits:

Aging in Style

All the Noevir products I personally use and recommend can be requested from me at my online Marketplace. You’ll save a few bucks by asking me directly for your product instead of ordering online. If you want any Noevir product that is not in the Marketplace, just contact me and I will give you a 5% discount and $5.95 flat rate shipping. Products will still ship to you direct from Noevir and be backed by Noevir’s 90-day guarantee.

I’ve added the Noevir 99 sample packs to my new Marketplace. You can order them directly from me and save $7.00 on shipping and whatever your local tax would be.

I only keep a limited number on hand, so order while I’ve got stock. When this stock runs out, it will take about 10 days before I have more on the shelf.

The Beauty Geek has officially moved to its new home on the web, taking over the amyjogarner.BIZ domain name. So, if you were looking for the main site for Amy Jo Garner, please hop on over to AJG Consulting on amyjogarner.ORG.

Hey, David Bowie liked a little makeup back in the day!

But changes are coming to The Beauty Geek in November. This Blogger blog is being moved to a new and improved WordPress site. It’s joining the entire family of my ventures in one convenient location.

I’ll continue posting here until the big change occurs.