Ever wished you could defy time? Well you can with this amazing beauty hacks 

You look in the mirror and expect to see your 20 year old face reflected back, by irritatingly one of the things about ageing is, well, there’s no easy way to say it, we just look old! Have you ever wondered how some women just defy time and seem to look younger with each year.  Well here are some of their secrets, and (spoiler alert) they don’t involve face lifts or botox. 

 1 FOUNDATION IS KEY 

You’ve heard the phrase ‘great buildings need great foundations’ well the same is true of makeup.  No amount of fancy mascara and luscious red lipstick is going to work if your foundation is wrong.   

I have tried many foundations as I’ve aged but they’ve all been a bit bleh! That is until I found IT Cometics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+.  This foundation is a revelation.  Not only does it cover wrinkles and corrects skin tone it also gives sun protection and smells glorious. It’s a full coverage makeup but feels like a moisturiser.  Ok, for a foundation its expensive at £31, but that’s a lot lot less than a course of Botox! 

2.  SMILE

Investing in a designer bag or a pair of must have heels rates high on the feel good factor chart, but before you rush out, credit card in hand,  to Selfridges, take a trip to the dentist.  Nothing ages you more than grey uneven teeth.  Your smile is your best asset, so invest in it.  

There are diy teeth whitening kits at all pharmacies.  A great kit to try is  iWhite Instant 2 Teeth Whitening Kit, get it here on Amazon , which uses a mould filled with bleaching gel to give an instant boost to your smile.  A professional laser treatment will set you back anything from around £50 a session but gives much better results and of course at then top end there are veneers, which can also be used to straighten a crooked smile and fill in gaps. 

3.  RAPUNZEL, RAPUNZEL LET DOWN YOUR HAIR

Our mothers’ generation were told never ever to keep long hair over 40, let alone 50,  but for this generation of over 50s its very easy to rock long hair and (oh my gosh, shock horror) it can actually make you look younger.  I’m all for the ‘deception is all’ approach: not only do in dye my hair but I also have hair extensions. But just because you want to embrace the grey and non with what you have doesn’t mean you have to cut it short.  Some of the hottest looks today are shades of grey. 

Hydration is the key to keeping your hair long, especially if you have extensions.  On the subject of hair extensions, todays methods are a blast of fresh air from the glued in,  hair breaking extensions of the past. If your hair is fine and thinning (as it does when we age) its a great trick for turning back there years. But that’s a whole post in itself! 

4.  SO MANY HATS AND ONLY ONE HEAD

Marie Antoinette knew a thing or 2: Nothing flatters a face more than a great hat, and boy did she have some great hats! From the humble beret to the  Ascot Ladies’ Day extravaganza, a hat just , literally, tops off the look.  The easiest hats to throw on (and you do need to look like you’ve just thrown them on, try too hard and you will fail) are the fedoras.  But be sure to buy one that fits your head size.  Too wide a brim will make you look and feel out of proportion.  Black is safe, but red or pink is taking it to an entirely different level.  Other great hats that are easy to wear are   the baker boy hat, the cloche  and the Panama (basically a straw fedora) 

5.  AND FINALLY … ITS ALL IN THE ATTITUDE

Self belief can so definitely be learnt, and guess what, it’s infectious.  If you believe in yourself others will believe in you too.  So get out there and rock the attitude.  Spray on the scent (you  should definitely have a signature scent by the time you hit 50) and walk Into the room as if you own it. 

Above all, in the words of the designer, Daniel Lismore ‘be yourself, everyone else is already taken’.   So you may not be able to carry of the hot new fashion looks but you’ve also had a good few decades to learn what suits you and above all what you love to wear. And in case you’re interested ‘Dior La Colle Noire’ .