Lessons from my Grandma: Part 2--Beauty

To read part 1 of this tribute to my grandma, click HERE.

My Grandma is a beautiful woman. She is in her mid-80s and most people would never guess. My grandma has a way with fashion and beauty. She always tells me about the latest fashions she saw in the catalogs, and how she thinks I should wear my hair. Perhaps she is a little on the vain side, but no one can say that my Grandma doesn't know how to look good. She also definitely has aged well, with few deep wrinkles on her face and a beauty that has lasted into her elderly years.

Me and my grandma at my bridal shower

One thing my grandma has always liked to share are her beauty tips. She has a million of them. But let me share some of the ones that have stuck with me, whether they are useful of not:

Never touch your face
I can still hear my grandma's reminders from when I was a little girl "don't touch your face, Amy Joy." The result of this philosophy is that my grandma is remarkably unwrinkled. Not touching the face also keeps germs off of it, and can prevent blemishes.

My husband is a face toucher, or at least he was when I met him. He would cup his cheek with his elbow on the table, rub his eyes, or pick at his skin while in thought. I could always hear grandma's voice shrieking in my head "stop! do you want to ruin your skin?!"

Ok I'm a little extreme, but all of grandma's prodding has led to all the women in my family aging very gracefully.

If you must touch your face, treat it like baby's skin
Don't rug, rub, pull, or pluck. Treat your skin as if you are touching your baby's skin. Would you abrade a baby's skin with scrubs or pluck hairs out of it? Of course not! Be gentle and be careful of the chemicals you put on it. When applying lotion or cream, pat and gently smooth it on, don't rub it in like you are trying to scrub dirt off the floor.

In fact, my grandma is so fanatic about this that she never plucks her eyebrows, but uses a tiny straight-edged razor. I'm still fearing the lecture about the "delicate, thin skin around the eyes" when she finds out that I pluck mine!

Vaseline is king
Grandma has always used Vaseline (petroleum jelly) as her facial moisturizer. I don't use it, but every time I go to her house she gives me another testimony she heard about the wonders of Vaseline.

Put your make-up on
 Grandma puts her make-up on every day. Again, it sounds a little vain, but I find this to be a great practice for myself. I always feel so much better and ready for the day when I put my make-up on, even if I'm home all day and even it it's just a little mascara and lip gloss.

My husband's cousin told me she remembers my Grandma from my wedding shower. She said she looked over at my Grandma during the shower and saw her take her compact out and touch up her lipstick. She thought that was great! Even at 80+ years old, with a nerve disorder which causes her terrible chronic pain, she always makes an effort to look nice, even if she sits on the couch all day.

Lead with your heart
Literally, your heart should be leading you when you walk, not your head, your shoulders, or your hips. The result of leading with your heart is that you appear more confident, graceful, and stave off a lot of muscle and back pain.

Grandma is a stickler about standing tall. She is a tall woman for her generation at 5'7". She always taught me to never hide my height. The result is that all the tall women in my family (my mom is 5'9" and I am 5'10 1/2") are comfortable with their height.

Don't hide behind your hair
If it were up to my grandma, all women would have pixie haircuts. She thinks that all women should show off their facial features, not their hair. She has always had short hair, and constantly encourages me to cut mine. After all, "it's in fashion" she always says. I compromise by keeping my hair long, but mostly wearing it off my face with headbands, clips, and ponytails... at least when I go over to her house!