The ravages of time�

As a middleaged woman, I am desperate to maintain (read "cling to") whatever youthful looks I have left. Not that I'm so badly off in the looks department compared to other women my age, but there are definitely more creases around the eyes, and if I didn't dye my hair, it would be almost totally grey. Visible aging is nature's way of telling us that life is short, youth is fleeting, and death is inevitable. I am not being morbid. The cosmetic industry is doing a burgeoning business based on this premise. I know. I am a great contributor to its success.

In my bathroom drawers are vast quantities of lotions and creams designed to keep the signs of aging at bay. Every morning I apply a special lotion to my breasts to keep the skin supple and my cleavage firm. I massage a firming lotion into my neck and throat area. Anti-wrinkle moisturizer goes on my face, and eye cream keeps the delicate skin around my eyes in tip-top form. Except that I don't know if these things really work! I spend so much money on this junk, and I daren't not use them in case they really do make a difference. And I think the cosmetic industry has me exactly where it wants me!

Once a month I dye the roots of my rapidly whitening hair dark brown. I have a counterful of products for curly hair, which I also use every morning after my bath. Where once I prided myself on being able to rise, dress and be on my way in 15 minutes, I now spend close to an hour bathing, applying anti-aging products, makeup, and doing my hair. There is something terribly wrong with this picture.

On the other hand, I do not look my 46 years. People are forever telling me this. It is just that I know that those little lines around my eyes will get deeper, that those creases that appear when I smile will not disappear when I stop, and eventually I will get old looking, and be indistinguishable from my mother. And there is nothing that the cosmetic industry, with all its alpha-hydroxy and retinol-A lotions can do about it. There is no escape from the ravages of time.

And on that happy note, I will call it a day.

|

<~~~ * ~~~>