Beauty comes with age

1. My certified fashionista girl friend Cecile encouraged me to write about fashion, beauty and love. Ah what a tall order.

Fashion requires research. Beauty requires reading. But love, ah that’s tricky.

I promised her I will think about it. I do not want to sound vain by discussing the subject matter from my own perspective. But she nonchalantly said, “Why not gorgeous?” Indeed why not?

So let us attempt to unravel the subject matter as light and easy as possible. First, sleep. Some people say they only need four to six hours of sleep a day and off they go to the next activity. Let us describe that as living life on the edge. But most people do not fancy living life on the edge. We are not cut out for that. For some, there may be a great need to sleep less but still, your body will eventually find a way to recover lost sleep.

Well personally, I can’t be sharp with four to six hours of sleep. I need to sleep eight hours a day to feel fully rested, sharp and alert. Deprive me of regular sleep and I turn very dull, lacking focus and cranky. I can’t lack focus with the kind of work I do.

If I incur sleep debt (lack of sleep) the previous night, I need to make up for that loss the following day in order to feel rested. That’s sleep for me. It is vital.

Second, diet. Discipline is the key. Well, my discipline started a long way back from college so it is not very tough for me to keep it. Do not overeat. Naturally your genetic make-up is a big factor working for you: both my parents were slim people but it also helped tremendously that I watched my food intake. I do not overindulge.

In the past, I do not drink as much water as eight glasses a day but when I was assigned in Cebu City for eight months, I developed the habit of drinking several glasses of water every day. I lost count of the number of glasses actually. All I can say is it is good for the body; flushes out the toxins.

And now the vain part, for body cellulite which we all start to develop as we grow older, I used Avon anti-cellulite for nearly three years. I alternated it with Avon body sculpt. Middle of last year however, I found out that Nivea introduced the anti-cellulite gel. Since I had no more Avon lady-contact in Cebu City, I shifted to Nivea. And it has been a very good substitute. I even stuck to it until now.

Exercise. Dance. It is very good exercise.

In Cebu, I was looking for ballroom dancing lessons. However, the classes were provided at Abellana National High School in downtown Cebu and my previous office was located in Talamban. The distance is like Gen. Santos City-proper to Calumpang or Tambler and the traffic is heavy in the afternoons so I did not pursue it.

However, you can dance at home. I used to dance at home for three years until I got tired of it and moved on to treadmill exercise which I only did for less than a year. Some inspiration huh! No luck in the exercise department. So I just clean the house by the weekend for exercise. Then when I bought my car, I wash the car every weekend for exercise. You see my simple notion of exercise is sweating. Many would disagree of course. But like I said, it is my simple notion.

In Bohol when I visit during the weekends while I was assigned in Cebu, we usually go out to dance. Emcy, my sister Charmaine who was vacationing for three months from the U.S. then, Warly and I go out just to dance. You see, we belong to the generation that really loves dancing for fun. Try it. You will forget all your worries and have fun as well. You will sweat and that serves the purpose.

Skin. Plenty of good skin comes from genes. But enhancing it could be achieved through the use of lotions. Don’t laugh now but I have used Johnson’s Baby Lotion for the longest time ever. I do not use fancy lotions; just the simple and time-tested JBL.

And may I add, please do not change the color of your skin. Enjoy the skin you are born in.

Face hmmm. Tricky subject. When I reached my thirties, the freckles started to come out. But since I’m not fair-skinned, I was not so concerned about it. Freckles come with age. Aha. For the face, I use alternately Oil of Olay and Ponds. I tried Celeteque for some time but I always returned to Oil of Olay. We always return to our first love huh! Oh well, just find the product that suits you best. But please, do not experiment with products that are not tested by BFAD or risk destroying your face.

For women in their forties, be generous with moisturizers.

And another good tip for women in their forties. Use lip gloss generously. I read that from a fashion magazine. Women in their forties should use lip gloss.

As for clothes, well, if you are in your forties, I bet you have set your fashion statement. Accentuate the assets. Show off that lovely pair of legs. Emphasize those killer hips, as my pilot-friend said. Expose those slim shoulders. Accessorize that long neck. Dress up; dress down depending on the occasion.

Invest in good jeans. Your wardrobe must include jeans that flatter your body shape, whatever shape it is. I learned this tip from a fashion magazine and it really makes sense.

And here’s what I like best. Wear shorts when doing groceries. It’s very comfy and you definitely look cool. Trust me. You will enjoy doing groceries in shorts. Push your carts in your cool shorts at Robinson’s.

Invest in accessories. They are trendy and will last long. I’m not a watch person but I have some wrist and arm pieces courtesy of my fashionista sister Charmaine. She gave them all to me and I enjoy wearing them. Who would not when they are free huh!

Wear heels. Find heels that will not kill you. Wedge shoes are good for your feet and legs. They do not hurt.

Read, read, read and read some more. Nothing is more appealing than a woman who has a mind of her own. Oh yes, you can appear intimidating as well, but hey that comes with the territory. Just ask the nearest man around.

Hair. Ah I love to color my hair. I usually do it twice or thrice a year. It depends on my inspiration. I do it myself when I feel like it. When I feel like splurging, I go to the beauty salon. Try experimenting with colors. If it is your first time to color, I suggest you try the more conservative shades. Just buy a good product in the market, follow the instructions and voila, you have that new look!

Here’s another tip, if your eyes hurt and you need eyeglasses, wear one. Stop fidgeting and being conscious about wearing them; they do not bite. Some women I know tell me it is inconvenient to wear eyeglasses. They say eyeglasses make them look old; and the like. But hey, what is the real score? You need them; wear them. It is as simple as that. No fuss. Invest in a good pair of eyeglasses and just wear them.

For pampering, indulge in facials from time to time. I say occasionally because it could become expensive if done regularly. But if you have the extra budget, go for it. After all, it’s all about you occasionally. Yes, there must be a time when “it’s all about you”.

And to complete the story, I have discovered for over two years now that complete body massage not only relaxes me but more effectively, minimizes my premenstrual syndrome or PMS. I finally found the therapy! And so I am now a believer of monthly complete body massage.

So you see beauty is not about products. Products enhance yes, but beauty is all about knowing yourself. “Know thyself” according to at least six ancient Greek sages, is the best way of keeping your beauty about you.

Comments are welcome at belca.87@gmail.com.

Revisit

“Once a writer always a writer”. How melancholic. It sounds like a century has passed you by and there you are, finding yourself tinkering with your computer keys again to write. But like all artists would tell, you can never abandon your first love; you always find yourself drawn to your first love.

Whatever it is that you are most passionate about, you always find yourself pulled back or pulled in. Sounds familiar?

So for starters, thank you to Mindanao Bulletin for allowing me to write again. What an inspiration. You are the best guys!

Since this is my first column after three years, and written three days after my birthday (published after a week), I think it is fitting and proper that I dedicate this column to my father, the original writer in the family who passed on to me the gift of writing.

My father passed away on December 14, 2009. It is lonely losing your remaining parent. As my friend Emma Concepcion Ingking-Ytol said, “It’s too early for you to lose both parents Bett”. I had to agree. Many of my parents’ friends and contemporaries in Bohol are still living. I see them in malls. I meet them at airports and seaports. They are alive. They may not be as healthy as they were some fifteen years back but definitely alive.

Oh well, some leave very early; others early; while some others late. Each has a reason for being.

My sister Delora and I worked on father’s head stone. He worked on Mother’s; we worked on his. We chose the words carefully. We chose a minimalist design. He chose an elaborate design for mother’s head stone complete with roses. And colored at that. I mean the roses.

We all have memories of our parents. Some of these are good; some are not so good. But through it all, we remain their children.

In my Facebook account, I wrote this: It is lonely to lose a parent. It is lonelier to lose both parents. Thus, enjoy your parents while you still have them. It does not matter if you are grown men and women and lead your own lives. When they go, you will have maximized your time with them and regret nothing.

It must have touched hearts because I received several feedbacks. It only goes to show that the subject on parents is not lost on us. It is essential. In fact, it is an integral part of our being. It is real.

And so I am dedicating this column to the first person who taught me how to proofread at fifteen; do dummy at seventeen; illustrate and oftentimes loudly at that, the basics in newspaper work while I was going through college; and train me how to write which I silently resented because I felt I was forced into something major when all my high school and eventually college friends were so enjoying the movies and lacuacha.

Who would have thought that the girl who resented her father’s training would ultimately start writing professionally at thirty-four! Some twist.

But what goes around; comes around. All of us will eventually come full circle. The earlier we embrace it; the better and sharper we become. And life becomes more challenging and color-filled.

It is said, writers are not made. They are born. It is a gift. That’s my father’s gift and boy! Am I glad that he shared that gift with me, my brothers and sisters, and the upcoming generations. After all, genes are handed down from one generation to another. Or are they not?

And so father, it is time to write again. By writing, I will always revisit your memory and be inspired by your story.

- o 0 o -

As I write this column, the power supply situation in Gen. Santos City has improved a bit. The load-shedding or load curtailment schedule (in the Visayas Island, it is called Manual Load Drop or MLD) has decreased to three hours. It is an improvement from the nine-hour load shedding scheme broken into three sets.

For the longest time, Mindanao has been dependent on hydro power. We never learned our lessons. I remember when I first set foot in Gen. Santos City some nineteen years ago and the long dry spell triggered a massive power interruption of sixteen hours. That was the worst then. Boy was that bad! And that was straight sixteen hours.

The reason given then was the occurrence of El Nino. At that time, the water elevation in Lake Lanao was abnormally low hindering the hydro power plants from operating at full capacity which caused the enormous load curtailment scheme.

Fast forward to 2010, the reason for the power shortage is the inability of the hydro power plants to generate power supply because of the low water elevation of Lake Lanao. So what’s the difference? Nothing is. It is totally a repetition of the past.

Mindanao is caught unaware again; unprepared for the dry spell and its impact on our power supply scenario.

Mindanao needs additional power supply. That’s a fact. True, hydro is a cheap source of power supply, however, it is unreliable during dry spells.

The government planners could have learned the lessons of 1991-1992. The planners could have worked on ensuring the balance of power sources.

On the one side, some distribution utilities maintain their own generating sets so their consumers do not feel the wrath of the power shortage. But it comes with a price. It’s pricey. They only need to check their power bills to know. That’s the cost of reliable power supply during crisis situation. It always comes with a price.

We hope that this present experience will finally teach our government planners a lesson. There ought to be a balanced mix of our power supply sources to ensure that this experience will not happen again.

And consumers have to bite the bullet. We can raise our voices to hell but the fact remains that if we do not invest on other sources of power and continue our heavy dependence on hydro power because it provides the cheapest source of power supply anyway, translated into cheaper power bills, we can be sure that this situation will revisit us.

Give it some time and we will be back to this present state. It will be a never-ending cycle for all of us.

- o O o -

I want to thank Ms. Marie Espina of Robinson’s Gen. Santos for the opportunity to join the Fab Mom mini fashion show on May 9, 2010, Mother’s Day.

The experience was fantastic for me and the kids. It made for a colorful summer experience.

More shows to come?

Comments are welcome at belca_87@yahoo.com.