We’re all ageing but how we age differs from one person to another.
There are those people who fear getting old and everything that comes with the ageing process while there are others who simply embrace it and accept that it is part of our journey.
Having said that it’s not always easy to let go of your youth, especially for women.
As a woman in her late 40s I find myself at a point in my life where the signs of ageing are no longer avoidable.
There are signs that people don’t get to see like joint pains and deteriorating vision while there are others that I simply cannot hide.
Those pesky grey hairs that were once simply a strand here and there now seem to rapidly multiply and proudly on display, my smile and frown lines are more pronouns and everything that can sag is doing so (ladies, you know what I mean).
So I find myself at a crossroads. Do I simply let nature takes its course or do I buy into all the anti-ageing remedies out there?
A little bit of Botox to make those lines disappear? A nip and tuck here and there? A visit to the hair salon to vanquish the silver threads?
Admittedly it’s oh-so-tempting to try and hit the pause button with all these beauty treatments, but my pocket will not allow it.
So I have no choice but to embrace the fact that I’m no longer the dewy-skinned, perky-breasted young women I was.
It’s refreshing to see that more and more women are now opting to do the same.
It’s especially inspiring to see more celebrities embracing their age when it’s almost expected that many celebs have work done on their bodies and faces.
I recently watched the movie “God Luck to You, Leo Grande” which starred 63-year-old Emma Thompson and I was blown away by how she unashamedly showed off her ageing body in a full-frontal nude shot. A brave move for any woman but especially so for a woman her age.
Talking to The Wrap the “Love Actually” star said that plastic surgery was a form of “collective psychosis.”
“Why would you do that to yourself, I simply don't understand,' she said. “I do honestly think the cutting of yourself off to put it in another place in order to avoid appearing to do what you're actually doing, which is ageing, which is completely natural, is a form of collective psychosis. I really do think it's a very strange thing to do.”
“The Devil Wears Prada” star Meryl Streep is another celebrity who has shown us the beauty of ageing.
The 70-year-old actress said, “You have to embrace getting older. Don't waste so much time worrying about your skin or your weight. I think the most liberating thing I did early on was to free myself from any concern with my looks as they pertained to my work. Develop what you do, what you put your hands on in the world.”
64-year-old Jamie Lee Curtis, who the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Everything, Everywhere All At Once”, has spoken about ageing in the past.
The star previously revealed that a cameraman’s comments about her ‘puffy eyes' on the set of “Perfect” in 1985 led her to make some changes.
But she later detailed her plastic surgery regrets, including Botox and lipo, as she admitted that the cosmetic procedures made her “feel worse” and added, “It didn't work, I hated it!”
During an interview with Lorraine Kelly she said, “I have been an advocate for natural beauty for a long time, mostly because I've had the trial and error of the other part.”
“The first time I cut my hair short I went, ‘Oh! Oh my god. Oh wow! I look like me!’ Since then I stopped dyeing it, and then I've been an advocate for not f**king with your face. And the term, anti-ageing… what? What are you talking about? We're all going to f***ing age! We're all going to die? Why do you want to look 17 when you're 70? I want to look 70 when I'm 70.”
Curtis also spoke to Fast Company about her views on plastic surgery and popular cosmetic procedures.
“The current trend of fillers and procedures, and this obsession with filtering, and the things that we do to adjust our appearance on Zoom are wiping out generations of beauty. Once you mess with your face, you can't get it back,” warned the actress.
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